Leave it to the busy Beav
Golly, Wally, look at the Beaver now

By TJ Sullivan
Published: 1996
The Albuquerque Tribune

Beaver Cleaver did not spend all his money on booze and broads.

And he hasn't posed for any adult magazines or starred in any X-rated adult films — but there have been plenty of big-money offers to do both.

The kid from Mayfield, Somewhere, is as innocent as he ever was, primarily because he's protected by an astute adult businessman: Jerry Mathers.

Mathers, 47, who portrayed Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver on the "Leave It to Beaver" TV show from 1957 to 1963, was in Albuquerque on Friday to promote a documentary about beavers (the animals) showing at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History.

A few years ago he signed a deal with the production company to promote the Dynamax film.

While he was in the Duke City, Mathers did the media sprint. he appeared on four morning radio shows, towed The Tribune around all morning and met with a local TV reporter. He even got into a few minor disagreements — all in the interest of protecting his inner child.

There's one simple rule: Don't bash the Beav.

At KZRQ-FM, known as Z Rock, Mathers was asked to do some happy-birthday spots for the station. But he clammed up when he saw that one of the spots had an obscure sexual reference.

"I just said no," Mathers said. "Why do I want to come here and degrade myself for them?"

Then there was that TV reporter, Bill Wood, of KRQE-Channel 13, who wanted Mathers to have some fun in Old Town. Mathers refused because he was afraid of what might happen in an uncontrolled environment.

Reporters have set up people to harass him on camera before, he said. In one city, he was surrounded by "people in bikinis."

The Beaver doesn't play that way.

"You want me to improvise," he told Wood in the lobby of the museum. "I get paid for that."

Business Beaver was in control.

"He's not happy with me," Mathers said of Wood. "And you know what? I don't really care."

Who needs Ward for help?

Mathers guards the Beav, a symbol of innocence for many generations, like a protective father. Part of it appears to be his love of the character, and part is because a bad-Beaver image could rob Mathers of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The royalties for the show ran out after each episode showed six times, but the dollars continue to come to Mathers from endorsements and personal appearances.

A few thousand dollars here, a few there. Gee Beav, after a while, that's a lot of dough.

About one weekend a month he's on the road talking about a show that was canceled in 1963.

He's famous the world over.

The show's 234 episodes are shown in about 30 countries and have been translated into about 40 languages.

When Mathers visits Asia, people tell him that Beaver taught them English (Their English must include lots of "golly" and "jeepers.")

Mathers said world heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman is his biggest fan. In his book, Foreman wrote about growing up watching the show.

Every little mention gets that Beaver name out there.

Mathers has been marketing his image as the Beaver almost since the day the show folded.

In high school, he milked it with his rock 'n' roll band, Beaver and the Trappers.

He's acted in stage shows and TV programs. He's a regular on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" — most recently playing the part of O.J. Simpson in a comedy skit.

And he logged an appearance on "Married With Children," where kids ran up to him and said they knew the Beaver spent all his money on booze and broads. He may be protective of his character, but he's still got a sense of humor.

He's the vice president of marketing for a company that sells ink-jet printing products. Mathers stars in ads for the company.

Then there's his California catering company, Cleaver Catering. It fed Hillary Clinton when she visited California for Richard Nixon's funeral.

Mathers' life hasn't all been about the Beaver. He has a degree in philosophy and has worked as a banker and real estate broker.

But the show keeps working itself back into his life.

His investment banker? Frank Bank, who portrayed Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford. Lumpy also represents Tony Dow (Wally), Ken Osmond (Eddie Haskell) and Barbara Billingsly (June).

Mathers and the cast stay in touch. They did a reunion show, "Still the Beaver," without Beaver's dad, Ward, played by Hugh Beaumont. He died in 1982.

The reunion show produced a weekly spinoff of the same name.

And there's more.

A theatrical movie, with a new child cast as Beaver, is set to begin production. It's release date: 1997, in time for the show's 40th anniversary.

Mathers is preparing to clean up in appearance fees.

Cynics may say he's pathetically clinging to the legend of Beaver, but Mathers looks at it from a supply-demand perspective.

"Obviously people are interested, if I'm still so busy," he said. "If people don't ask me to come anymore, I won't."

"To me this is fun. (But) if I had to do this every day, yeah, this would get old."

He thrives on the attention, but says he wouldn't be hurt if it went away.

Still, you know he'd miss people like the man at KOOL-FM on Friday who told him "I swore my brother was going to go blind watching your show. He was just inches from the screen. But now he's got 20/20 vision."

He'd miss the woman who shouted "BEAVER!" from the second-floor balcony at the Natural History Museum.

He'd even miss the disc jockeys, who seem to ask the same questions.

"How's Eddie Haskell?" they ask.

Osmond is a retired Los Angeles cop who is acting again, Mathers said.

"Where's Wally?" Now a director on the TV comedy "Coach."

He answers. He puts up with it. It's good to be the Beav.

During a promotion in San Jose, Calif., 20 Harley-Davidson motorcycles roared up to Mathers. The bikers, mean looks and all, dismounted and began doing push-ups while whistling the "Leave It to Beaver" theme in unison.

They asked Beaver to sign their bikes.

He did.

Why not? He's a fun guy.

Jeepers. It's not like they asked him to take off his clothes or anything.

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