Top Ten Leave it to Beaver Characters to Share a Pizza With…

Written by Brian of the PizzaSpotz Staff

Who are your favorite Leave it to Beaver characters?

A favorite show for many, Leave it to Beaver ran on CBS and ABC from 1957-1963. We’ve already shared with you the “Top Ten Leave it to Beaver Episodes to Watch While Eating Pizza” list so now we thought we’d give you the top ten characters on the show you would have loved or would love to share a pizza with. If by chance you know any of the cast members, please encourage them to send an email our way naming their favorite type of pizza.

Thanks,
Brian of PizzaSpotz

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Now, onto our list….

10. Judy Hensler / Jeri Weil
There’s not much of a reason to have pizza with Judy. I think for all the times she treated Beaver badly or told on the class for talking, I’d ask her what her favorite toppings were, order everything she’d want and not let her have a bite. Okay, this actually doens’t fit our list title, now does it? But she was one of the meanest characters ever to grace a television screen, at least in my humble opinion. But I’ll have to admit, I’ve heard that Jeri Weil is a very nice person. That just goes to show she was a very gifted actress. You can learn a lot more about Jeri here. Now if this was a list of Leave it to Beaver actors, instead of characters to share a pizza with, Jeri Weil would probably be at the top of my list.

9. Whitey Whitney / Stanley Fafara
I loved little Whitey Whitney. He really seemed like a good kid. The biggest trouble he caused on Leave it to Beaver was in the episode titled, “In the Soup.” You remember that one don’t you? It was Whitey who encouraged Beaver to see if there really was Zesto Soup in the bowl on the billboard. Whitey says there is. Beaver says there isn’t. Beaver was right.

Life for Stanley Fafara was not very kind to him after Leave it to Beaver left the air. The choices Stanley made while attending North Hollywood High School led to a life of drug abuse and alcoholism. He eventually fought back against his addictions in 1995. He died in 2003 in Portland from complications of a hernia surgery.

8. Ward Cleaver / Hugh Beaumont
This man was the ultimate father. He got upset. He felt bad afterward. He was very patient at times and he always taught his kids good lessons that would help them in adulthood. I still look up to Ward Cleaver as what I want to be like as a father. Believe it or not, Hugh Beaumont was a theology major in college and was an ordained Methodist minister.

7. Larry Mondello / Rusty Stevens
Larry was always the hungriest character on Leave it to Beaver. If sharing a pizza with Larry, there’s no telling if I’d get a slice or not. Nevertheless, I’d enjoy just hanging out with him. He actually reminds me of an early childhood friend of mine. I wish Larry had not left the show after three seasons. He did reappear for the Leave it to Beaver movie in 1983 and for three episodes of the New Leave it to Beaver. Larry was a good guy, a little unscrupulous at times (taking money from his mom’s purse), but a good friend to the Beav.

6. Richard Rickover / Rich Correll
Richard and Beaver were very good friends, not only on the television series, but in real life too. I liked Richard a lot. He seemed like a very nice guy except for the time he broke the window in the abandoned house, was caught by the police and gave the officer Beaver’s name. Overall, he was a good guy. I’d love to eat pizza with Richard. He’s probably got tons of great stories to tell and his career after Beaver has been simply prolific. He has directed sitcoms like Laverne & Shirley, Family Matters, That’s So Raven and even co-created Hannah Montana. He also is the archivist in charge of saving silent film comedian Harold Lloyd’s films. Learn more about Richard here.

5. June Cleaver / Barbara Billingsly
June Cleaver was elegant. She was an amazingly understanding mom. She was a good person too. I was amazed to find out recently that she was over 40 years old at the beginning of the series. She was a real looker in the early years of the show. Also, she put up with a lot from the Beaver and Wally and that Eddie Haskell. Even though she was very nice throughout the show, there was that time when she made sure Eddie ate a sandwich which would give him allergic reactions. But Eddie deserved it, didn’t he?

4. Eddie Haskell / Ken Osmond
Ward and June couldn’t stand Eddie. He was the most polite creep ever seen in early sit-coms. But the real Eddie was a sensitive guy. Beaver noticed this on more than one occasion. I think Wally noticed this trait too. Many have said Eddie was one of the best actors on the show, an actor with real ability and talent. One of the things I enjoy most about Eddie Haskell is that he remained friends with Lumpy, Beaver and Wally in real life. After watching the shows for years, it’s nice to know friends can be made on the set and stay friends long after a series ends its run.

3. Lumpy Rutherford / Frank Banks
I have a fondness for Lumpy because years ago, I asked my father this question. “Which character on Leave it to Beaver were you most like?” I guess I wasn’t surprised when he gave me Lumpy Rutherford’s name. However, I may have wished my dad would have said, “Wally.” But at least he didn’t say Eddie. In the years since, I have looked at Lumpy a bit more closely, trying to find all the good I could. He was a great football player. He ended up getting a scholarship to State. He was funny too. But unfortunately, most of the time he was the butt of jokes, not the joker. One thing for certain, he definitely matured over the years. I saw growth in Lumpy unlike many of the other actors. Just look at the first episode he appeared in and look at season six. Lumpy is the MAN.

2. Wally Cleaver/ Tony Dow
After watching the pilot episode of Leave it to Beaver which came with one of the DVD sets I bought, I am so happy Tony Dow became Wally. Yeah, there was another kid playing the part in the pilot. Boy, he was no Tony Dow. Of all the actors on the show, not all went on from Leave it to Beaver to more stardom, some never acted again. But Tony Dow went on to act and direct. He was the first LITB actor I saw in a non-LITB role. I saw him in an episode of Quincy M.E. After Beaver, Dow acted in Love, American Style, The Mod Squad, Emergency, Adam-12, Knight Rider, Murder She Wrote, Diagnosis Murder and in many other shows. Today, Tony Dow is an acclaimed sculptor, having had one of his pieces displayed at the Louvre in Paris. Why did he begin to focus more on his sculpture and less on acting over the last twelve years. That’s what we could discuss over pizza, but there is one hint at the end of this article. If you want to see the top Leave it to Beaver episode to watch while eating pizza which promintenly features Wally, check it out here.

1. Beaver Cleaver / Jerry Mathers
…. And Jerry Mathers as the Beaver. Yes, this list would be a major disaster if we did not place Jerry Mathers at the top of it. I want to eat pizza with the Beaver. I saw him and Jay North (Dennis the Menace) being interviewed on a late night CBS television show back in the 80s. At that time, I noticed something right away about Jerry Mathers. This guy had a great attitude about his childhood acting career. His attitude was quite different from that of Jay North. From that day on, I was always a Leave it to Beaver fan. I love great attitudes. In fact, every time I’ve heard Jerry Mathers interviewed, he has good words to say about the series and his fellow actors from the show. I am still impressed that many of the cast stayed in touch after the series ended. In an article from September 2012, Tony Dow stated that he and Jerry had recently spoken. Others in the cast also stayed in touch after the show ended.

I don’t know if there’s ever been a sitcom in which the cast stayed friends or remained in touch for so long after their show went off the air. The Leave it to Beaver cast may have been different because of the time period in which their show aired. I’m not sure what the dynamics were that caused friendships to sprout and grow. Maybe it was June and Ward and the way they raised their kids. Who knows? I’m just glad to know that some of this bunch are still pals and have probably eaten pizza together themselves at least a few times.