The Unusual Circumstances That Made ‘Leave It To Beaver’ A TV Classic

Taking Time to Travel

After playing the loving character of June Cleaver on the show, Billingsley fell victim to a common problem actors usually run into when she was typecast as the “sweet” character and had a tough time finding work. Being typecast has limited numerous actors throughout acting history either because they played the role so well and now every viewer can’t erase that character he or she played and there is no role for them in a film or TV show.

After having that trouble, she decided to travel around the world until the late 1970s and then made a return to showbiz. She appeared in a comedy called Airplane! in 1980 in which she played a passenger. Not just any regular passenger, but one who could “speak jive.” She said that role got her back in the public eye and was able to revive her career, thankfully. If you know you still got it, don’t let them keep you away!

Mathers Took More Than A Decade Off After This Show

After brilliantly playing the role of the Beaver during the show, Mathers (who was still barely a teen) deciding to take some time off from show business. He finished high school and even went to college before returning to show business. His college alma mater is University of California, Berkeley. That is a tough school to get into, so The Beav must have had some smarts.

Mathers also had a band during high school called “Beaver and The Trappers.” He graduated college with a degree in philosophy and went on to be a commercial loan officer. He still would do acting gigs every now and then including the one part he did after a five-year hiatus from television, he returned for an episode of Batman as Pop, the Stage Doorman. It was not until 1978 when he came back to the entertainment industry. The Beav was doing his thing.

Which character started a band in real life? Click “Next” to find out.