Jerry Mathers

Jerry Mathers
in 2007
Born	Gerald Patrick Mathers (1948-06-02) June 2, 1948 Sioux City, Iowa, U.S.
Nationality	American
Other names	Jerry Mather
Education	Notre Dame High School
Alma mater	University of California, Berkeley
Occupation	Actor, Singer
Years active	1950–present
Known for	Portraying Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver in Leave It to Beaver
Home town	Los Angeles, California, U.S
Spouse(s)	Diana Platt (m. 1974–81) Rhonda Mathers (m.?-?) Teresa Modnick (m. 2011)
Children	Noah Mathers Mercedes Mathers Gretchen Mathers Lindgreen
Relatives	Jim Mathers (brother)
Website
www.jerrymathers.com

Gerald Patrick "Jerry" Mathers (born June 2, 1948) is an American television, film, and stage actor. Mathers 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).

Early acting career

Mathers was born in Sioux City, Iowa, the son of a high school principal and grew up in Rock Rapids.^[1] He has two younger siblings, Susie Mathers McSweeney and Jim Mathers, who also became child actors. Mathers began his career at the age of 2 when he appeared as a child model for a department store ad.^[2] Soon after, he starred in a commercial for PET Milk opposite vaudeville comedian Ed Wynn.^[3]

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).

Leave It to Beaver

Mathers 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. The producers found his candidness appealing and perfect for the role.^[3] Mathers played the Beaver for six years, appearing in all 234 episodes of the series. He was the first child actor ever to make a deal to get a percentage of the merchandising revenue from a television show. The Leave It to Beaver show still generates merchandise revenue today, 51 years after its original production run ended.

The original sitcom has been shown in over 80 countries in 40 languages. Mathers has noted that the Leave It to Beaver phenomenon is worldwide. "I can go anywhere in the world, and people know me," Mathers has said. "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!'"^[4]

Music

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".^[5] During his high school years, Mathers had a band called Beaver and the Trappers.^[6]

Later career

As he moved into his teenage years, Mathers retired from acting to concentrate on high school. He attended Notre Dame High School, in Sherman Oaks, California. While he was still in high school, Mathers joined the Air Force Reserve, in 1966. He appeared as a presenter at the 1967 Emmy Awards ceremony in his dress uniform. After graduating high school in 1967, Mathers continued to serve in the Reserve and made the rank of Sergeant.^[7] In December 1969, a rumor began that Mathers was killed in action in the Vietnam War. Although the origin of the rumor is unclear, Mathers never saw action and was never stationed outside of the United States.^[8][9] Years later, in 1980, Mathers and Dow appeared with Bill Murray on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update segment, making fun of the Vietnam War death rumor.^[10]

Mathers later attended the University of California, Berkeley, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy in 1973. He then worked as a commercial loan officer at a bank before using well-invested savings from his acting career, which began at $500 a week,^[11] to begin a career in real-estate development. In 1978, he reentered the entertainment industry. That year, he and Tony Dow starred in the play Boeing, Boeing which ran for ten weeks in Kansas City. Mathers and Dow then toured the dinner theater circuit in a production of So Long, Stanley for 18 months. In 1981, he worked as a disc jockey at KEZY-AM radio in Anaheim, California.^[6]

In 1983, Mathers reprised his role in the television reunion film Still the Beaver, which also featured the majority of the original Leave It to Beaver cast.^[6] The success of the television film led to the development of a sequel series of the same name. The series began airing on the Disney Channel in 1984, then went on to be picked up by TBS and broadcast syndication, where it was retitled The New Leave It to Beaver and ran until 1989.^[12]

Mathers has since continued his career in films and television roles. In the 1990s, he guest starred on episodes of Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Vengeance Unlimited, and Diagnosis Murder. In 1998, Mathers released his memoirs, And Jerry Mathers as The Beaver.^[13] On June 5, 2007, he made his Broadway debut with a starring role as Wilbur Turnblad in the Tony winning best musical Hairspray at the Neil Simon Theater.^[4]

Other ventures

In 2009, Mathers became the national spokesman for PhRMA and their Partnership for Prescription Assistance program.^[14]

Personal life

Mathers has been married three times. He met his first wife, Diana Platt, in college. They married in 1974 and later divorced.^[15][16] Mathers met his second wife, Rhonda Gehring, while touring in the production of So Long, Stanley. They have three children, a son (Noah) and two daughters (Mercedes and Gretchen). Mathers and Gehring later divorced.^[17] Mathers married his third wife, Teresa Modnick, in Huntington Beach on January 30, 2011.^[18]

Diabetes

Mathers was diagnosed with diabetes in 1996.^[19] On the advice of his doctor, Mathers enrolled in a weight loss program with Jenny Craig in May 1997 and lost over 40 pounds.^[13] He later became the first male spokesman for Jenny Craig.^[6]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1952	Son of Paleface	Child at Finale	Uncredited
1954	Men of the Fighting Lady	Richard Dodson	Uncredited
1954	This Is My Love	David Myer
1955	The Seven Little Foys	Bryan Lincoln Foy - Age 5	Uncredited
1955	The Trouble with Harry	Arnie Rogers
1956	That Certain Feeling	Norman Taylor
1956	Bigger Than Life	Freddie	Uncredited
1957	The Shadow on the Window	Petey Atlas
1958	The Deep Six	Steve Innes	Uncredited
1987	Back to the Beach	Judge #2
1990	Down the Drain	Policeman (desk)
1994	The Other Man	Sergeant Dun	Alternative title: Sexual Malice
1998	Playing Patti
2002	Better Luck Tomorrow	Biology Teacher
2005	Angels with Angles	Mr. Cohiba
2008	Will to Power	Mr. Simpson

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1952	The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet	Trick Or Treating Child	Episode: "Halloween Party"
1953	I Love Lucy	Dream Little Ricky	Episode: "Ricky's Old Girlfriend" Uncredited
1955	Lux Video Theatre	Little Boy	Episode: "The Great McGinty"
1955	General Electric Theater	Tommy	Episode: "Into the Night"
1955	Matinee Theater		Episode: "Santa is no Saint"
1956	Screen Directors Playhouse	Peter at 5	Episode: "It's a Most Unusual Day"
1957–1963	Leave It to Beaver	Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver	234 episodes
1963	Insight		Episode: "The Boy and the Bomb"
1968	Batman	Pop, the Stage Doorman	Episode: "The Great Escape" Uncredited
1968	Lassie	Ken Hines	Episode: "Lassie and the 4-H Boys"
1970	My Three Sons	Joe Lawrie	Episode: "Love Thy Neighbor"
1978	Flying High	Chuck Wallace	Episode: "Fear of Cheesecake"
1981	The Girl, the Gold Watch and Dynamite	Deputy Henry Thomas Watts	Television film
1983	Still the Beaver	Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver	Television film
1983–1989	The New Leave It to Beaver	Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver	101 episodes
1984	Hardcastle and McCormick	Beaver	Episode: " The Homecoming: Part 2" Uncredited
1984	High School U.S.A.	Mr. Sirota	Television film
1987	The Love Boat	"Beaver" Cleaver	Episode: "Who Killed Maxwell Thorn?"
1991	Married... with Children	Himself	Episode: "You Better Shop Around (Part 2)"
1991	Parker Lewis Can't Lose	Theodore Musso	Episode: "Jerry: Portrait of a Video Junkie"
1999	Vengeance Unlimited	Lucas Zimmerman	Episode: "Friends"
1999	Diagnosis: Murder	Mr. Lustig	Episode: "Trash TV - Part One"
2006	The War at Home	Principal	Episode: "Back to School"
2008	Mother Goose Parade		Television film

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Title of work
1984	Young Artist Award	Former Child Star "Lifetime Achievement" Award[20]	Leave It to Beaver

Bibliography

• And Jerry Mathers as The Beaver; Mathers, Jerry and Fagen, Herb; Berkley Trade (1998)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jerry Mathers.

• Official website
• Jerry Mathers at the Internet Broadway Database
• Jerry Mathers at the Internet Movie Database
• Jerry Mathers interview video at the Archive of American Television
• {Interview with Jerry Mathers – Montgomery Advertiser, February 10, 2015.}