He attended Notre Dame High School, in Sherman Oaks, CA. Later career Īs he moved into his teenage years, Mathers retired from acting to concentrate on high school. During his high school years, Mathers had a band called Beaver and the Trappers. In 1962, near the end of the run of Leave It to Beaver, Mathers recorded two songs for a single 45rpm: "Don't 'Cha Cry", a retread of " Spanish Harlem" and for the flip side, the twist ditty, "Wind-Up Toy". "In Japan the show’s called 'The Happy Boy and His Family.' So I’ll be walking through the airport in Japan, and people will come up and say, 'Hi, Happy Boy!'" Music "I can go anywhere in the world, and people know me," Mathers has said. Jerry has noted that the Leave It to Beaver phenomenon is worldwide. The original sitcom has been shown in over 80 countries in 40 languages. The Leave It to Beaver show still generates merchandise revenue today, 48 years after its original production run ended. He was the first child actor ever to make a deal to get a percentage of the merchandising revenue from a television show. Mathers played the Beaver for six years, appearing in all 234 episodes of the series. The producers found his candidness appealing and perfect for the role.
Jerry reportedly got the role of Beaver Cleaver when he told the show's producers he would rather be at his Cub Scout meeting than auditioning for the part.
His early movies included This is My Love (1954), Men of the Fighting Lady (1954), The Seven Little Foys (1955) and The Trouble with Harry (1955). Soon after, he starred in a commercial for PET Milk opposite vaudeville comedian Ed Wynn. Mathers began his career at the age of 2 when he appeared as a child model for a department store ad. He has two younger siblings, Susie and Jim Mathers, who also became child actors. Mathers was born in Sioux City, Iowa, the son of a high school principal.
Jerry mathers leave it to beaver series#
Jerry is best known for his role in the television sitcom series Leave It to Beaver (1957-1963), in which he played Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver, the younger son of archetypal suburban couple June and Ward Cleaver (played by Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont), and the brother of Wally Cleaver (played by Tony Dow). Gerald Patrick "Jerry" Mathers (born June 2, 1948) made a guest appearance as a fictionalized version of himself in the Season 5 episode of MWC titled "You Better Shop Around, Part II". Portraying Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver in Leave It to BeaverĬameo as Himself in the episode "You Better Shop Around, Part II" in Season 5 Heal), Ronald Reagan (Larry), Troy Donahue (Norman Blake), and Stuart Whitman (Oliver, the bartender who spills the beans about the illicit affair).Jerry Mathers appeared as himself in the epiosde "You Better Shop Around, Part I" in Season 5 of MWC. Although nothing ever came of this, it would have consisted of the following ensemble had it did: Jeffrey Hunter (Martin Heal), Earl Holliman (Christopher Allen), Tab Hunter (Simon Fowler), Lew Ayres (Count Vancott), Robert Wagner (Mitchell Aarons), James Garner (Peter Day), Jerry Mathers (Little Martin), James Stewart (Mr. Like the female version, this would have involved an all masculine cast and the plot would have involved a man (Jeffrey Hunter) who recently discovers among his comrades that his wife is having an affair with another man (Earl Holliman) and after going to Reno to file for divorce and begin a new life, he later finds himself doing what he can to rectify matters later on when he discovers that the other man is only interested in money and position and he decides to win his true love back again.
In 1960, MGM toyed with the idea of doing an all-male remake of 1939's The Women which would have been entitled, Gentlemen's Club.