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Jerry Mathers never felt bitter about missing out on a ''normal'' childhood to play The Beaver
Mathers was proud to be the Beav, as a child and as an adult.
Jerry Mathers reached a level of fame and recognizability by his teens that many adults can't even hope to achieve. Mathers was well known as Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver on the hit series Leave It to Beaver. Mathers' youthful and cherubic face was on television sets nationwide, and audiences delighted in watching Theodore and his brother Wally grow up.
But the picture-perfect life that Wally and the Beav grew up with came at a cost. It meant that a child actor like Jerry Mathers spent his childhood on a film set, performing as a young boy instead of actually being able to live as one.
However, according to an interview with the Hickory Daily Record, Mathers didn't feel any negativity toward his time spent on Leave It to Beaver and was grateful for the good memories the experience lent to him.
"Those years are only filled with good thoughts," he said. "Sure, I may not have had exactly a normal childhood; I did not step into a school until Beaver went off the air for good in 1963. But I met an incredible number of special people during that time, and these are things I could never buy. If Beaver made it all possible, then I'm grateful forever."
As a child, Mathers adored being the Beaver, a trait that carried well into his adulthood. According to an interview with The Buffalo News, Mathers considered it a compliment to still be considered the Beaver in the present day and expressed appreciation for the fans who still adored him.
"When you give someone an autograph and you see the look on their faces, that it had brightened their day, that's a good feeling."
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