Jerry Mathers didn't have much of a career in acting after Leave It to Beaver, but it wasn't for lack of wanting. If anything, nobody wanted to see Mathers in movies more than he did. The problem was how the rest of the world saw him. While Mathers believed he could've gone on to a dynamic and diverse filmography, there was a small issue where the viewing public was concerned. For the duration of Leave It to Beaver, Mathers grew up onscreen as the titular Beav. After the show ended, though, it reran perpetually, so Mathers was trapped in static-y amber in arrested adolescence. 

It seems nobody wanted to see Mathers as anyone but the Beaver. The former child star's efforts were met with apathy by an industry ready to shrug him off. He'd continue to exist as an image on TV, but what happened to him as an actor was of little concern for Hollywood.

See More

Leave It To BeaverJerry MathersTony Dow

Jerry Mathers once said that Tony Dow was more like the Beaver than he was

"There were interviews which turned into personal appearances," Mathers wrote in his 1998 autobiography. Even worse than the cold shoulder, it seems, were the folks ready to leech off of his fame. 

"Producers would ask that I join them at their home or office to read for a part. When I got there they would say something like, 'We know you're not right for this part, but we loved your show and wanted to meet you. Would you mind signing a few things and meeting my office staff or family?'"

But Mathers' story is full of near-misses and could've-beens. A passage from his book, And Jerry Mathers as "the Beaver" reads as a look at a parallel universe version of the '60s wherein he continued to infiltrate the culture.

"I was asked to read for a part in The Last Picture Show. I heard that Cybil Shepherd, a top teen model, was already cast in it. I had a terrible crush on her. If she wanted to call me Beaver Cleaver and ask for a thousand autographs, I wouldn't care!"

The audition didn't go anywhere. According to Mathers, he lost out on the part mostly because of how keen on Shepherd he was. But that wasn't the only Hollywood titan Mathers nearly worked with.

"I interviewed once with Stanley Kubrick. What was interesting was that when I walked in he was sitting on his desk, this huge executive desk. I sat in a chair in front of him. He was towering over me and asked me to read a part. We talked a bit, and that was it."

While he was admittedly deflated after each rejection, Mathers had his hands full with a vibrant life of his own, with school and the National Guard taking up much of his time. 

Watch Leave It to Beaver on MeTV!

Weekdays at 8 & 8:30 AM, Sundays at 1 & 1:30 PM

*available in most MeTV markets

 Add to Favorites  Remind Me