Jerry Mathers: The Life of the 'Leave It to Beaver' Star in Photos

Ed Gross

July 19, 2024 at 10:04 PM·4 min read

You can't turn on a classic TV network without bumping into a cute kid, and few of them came cuter than Jerry Mathers in Leave It to Beaver, the 1957 to 1963 family sitcom that delighted television audiences and secured both it and its star a place in our pop culture history.

He was born Gerald Patrick Mathers on June 2, 1948 in Sioux City, Iowa and began his acting career at the age of 2 when he served as the model in an ad for a department store, before making his TV debut in a commercial for PET Milk.

Then it was off to the movies for a few uncredited roles in Bob Hope's Son of Paleface (1952), Men of the Fighting Lady (1954), This is My Love (1954) and The Seven Little Foys (1955), before what was a fairly big break by being directed by Alfred Hitchcock — as a character with a name — in The Trouble with Harry (1955). He would shoot parts in another four movies and five anthology TV shows between 1952 and 1956 before the debut of Leave It to Beaver.

What follows is a look at Jerry Mathers, via a variety of images, through the years. It really is a remarkable journey.

The Trouble with Harry (1955)

Jerry Mathers holds a ray gun in 1955's The Trouble with Harry — John Springer Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

MOVIE: The Trouble with Harry; RELEASE YEAR: 1955; DIRECTOR: Alfred Hitchcock; JERRY MATHERS' ROLE: Arnie Rogers; CO-STARRING: Edmun Gwenn, John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine

That Certain Feeling (1956)

Bob Hope and Jerry Mathers in 1956's That Certain Feeling — FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images)

MOVIE: That Certain Feeling; RELEASE YEAR: 1956; DIRECTORS: Melvin Frank and Norman Panama; JERRY MATHERS' ROLE: Norman Taylor; CO-STARRING: Bob Hope, Eva Marie Saint, George Sanders, Pearl Bailey

The Shadow on the Window (1957)

Jerry Mathers in 1957's The Shadow on the Window — ?Columbia Pictures

MOVIE: The Shadow on the Window; RELEASE YEAR: 1957: DIRECTOR: William Asher: JERRY MATHERS' ROLE: Petey Atlas; CO-STARRING: Philip Carey, Betty Garrett, John Drew Barrymore, Corey Allen

Leave It to Beaver (1958 to 1963)

TV SHOW: Leave It to Beaver; SEASONS/EPISODES: 6 Seasons, 234 Episodes; JERRY MATHERS' ROLE: Theordore "Beaver" Cleaver; CO-STARRING: Hugh Beaumont, Barbara Billingsley and Tony Dow

circa 1955: Tony Dow (L) and Jerry Mathers wear swimsuits in a promotional still for the television show, 'Leave it to Beaver'. Dow is holding fins while Mathers is holding a snorkeling mask. — Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The Leave It to Beaver cast, 1958 — ?CBS/courtesy MovieStillsDB.com

Further into the run, Jerry and Tony are definitely growing up — ?CBS/courtesy MovieStillsDB.com

Leave It to Beaver would be revived in 1983 as the TV movie Still the Beaver, which reunited Jerry with the original cast (the exception being the late Hugh Beaumont). So successful was the film that it led to the Disney channel series The New Leave It to Beaver, which aired from 1983 to 1989 for a total of 101 episodes.

California Air National Guard (1966 to 1969)

Following the conclusion of Leave It to Beaver, Jerry Mathers began pursuing what he hoped would be a bit of a normal life. While he was attending high school with other kids, he also served in the California Air National Guard in Van Nuys, California from 1966 to 1969. He did not, it should be pointed out, ever get involved in military action.