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

Wally Came Up With The Nickname “Beaver”

In the last episode of the show, it’s finally revealed how The Beaver got his nickname. When he was a baby and Wally was very young, Wally had trouble pronouncing Theodore. When he tried, it sounded like, “Tweedor.” The parents felt that “Beaver” would be better so they stuck with that. If you think about it, that is an odd nickname.

Connelly also kept a list of names from the time he was young: acquaintances, friends, young men he met in the military and more in that notebook. When he set out to name the characters in the show, he flipped through the list and “Beaver” caught his eye. It was the nickname of fellow Marine he worked with while he was deployed on a military ship during World War II. You can guess why beaver stuck out to Connelly—beaver clearly rhymes with Cleaver. Rhyme schemes build for a better chance at remembering something and he probably was fully aware of that once he glossed over beaver in that book.

Dow Became An Artist Later In Life

Tony Dow is on the cusp of being a renaissance man. After doing a lot of different things as a youth and teen, he arrived at acting, Dow took another turn later in life. After being done with show business, Dow became a talented artist and sculptor who made some truly amazing pieces of art that were well received in the artistic community. That means that you can add a talented artist to his prestigious list of occupations. From Olympics to TV actor, Dow’s achievements are impressive, to say the least.

Which character’s life was very different in real life than it was on the show? Click “Next” to find out.