Beaver Is ALL Boy by MARGARET Mcmanus 'Jrnmmriygrm ¦•II Srndlctm NEW YORK, N
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Beaver Is ALL Boy By MARGARET McMANUS 'jrnmmriygrm ¦•II SrndlctM NEW YORK, N. Y.—The elegance of the suites of the Waldorf Towers, pinnacle of the .Waldorf- Astoria here, Is reserved for a special breed. When In Manhattan, Maurice Chevalier always stays at the Towers. So do Ginger Rogers, Ethel Merman and many other distinguished ladies and gentlemen of the theater. I called at the Waldorf Towers the other day • and visited with a blue-eyed, freckle-faced kid \y - of was sprawled out 10 who on a red brocade ssSSisk* m _ JF sofa, apparently as at home as if he were strad- \ Hr*- 7 Jt dling a fence back home in Van Nuys, Calif. c <* Jerry Mathers, “Beaver Cleaver,” the star of Leave It to Beaver, 7:30 p.m., Thursdays, ABC—- 7, has the wide-eyed, Innocent face of an angel However, anyone who has even a bowing ac- quaintance with little boys knows instantly this innocence is fraud , This Star Is All Boy the 10-year-old world Is •• All the mischief of n v in those eyes and in the grin. But glory be, and *2**l hallelujah, the boy seems to be a bright, pre- cocious imp, not a 10-year-old television star As he dug his dusty brown shoes into the red hSmuSimm brocade, he was also punching at Tony Dow, who plays the part of Willy Cleaver, Beaver’s LEAVE IT TO TOM — Jerry Mathers, alder brother, in the television series. star of ABC-TV's popular Leave It to Tony, 15, is a pleasant, well-mannered boy, Beaver, gets some tips from Mark sitting at the other end of the sofa, treating Twain's Tom Sawyer Jerry as an.older brother would, with forbear- ance and kindly tolerance. "Me and him both Just got cameras," said going to be a lawyer. That’s what I’m saving my Jerry. “They cost 39 cents, 41 cents with tax. We money for, to go to lawyer’s school. haven’t taken any pitchers yet, except I think “I don’t get a regular allowance. I Just get I took a pitcher of my pocket. I clicked it once a nickel or a dime when I need It. You see I In my pocket.” don’t need much money because I don’t go to regular school I tutor, Miss Having a Wonderful Time now. have a Mullins I study three hours every day on the set while This is Beaver’s second trip to New York, al- we’re filming the show. though he said he remembers very little about “I get home about 4 o’clock In the afternoon his first trip two years ago, except he remembers and then I Just mess around. I hoola-hoop a going into a drugstore and buying a pencil and lot and I play touch football with Michael Wat a comb. kins. Michael Watkins is a real great guy. He’s “We’re having a swell time this trip,” he said. 11. He’s my best friend. He plays baseball very The son of Norman and Muriel Mathers, Jerry good, too. I always root for the Black Hawks. lives with his parents and a younger brother and That’s Michael Watkins’ team. I sent him a card sister in a modest suburban house In Canoga from the U. N Park, in Van Nuys, Calif. His father is a coun- Jerry Is also an ardent Cub Scout, as Is Michael selor In the public school system there and his Watkins. mother is a former schoolteacher. In fact, Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, two He was born in Sioux City, lowa, but his par- former New York ad men, producers and writers ents moved to Hollywood when he was a year old. of Leave It to Beaver, said that when they inter He first appeared on an Ed Wynn television viewed Jerry for the part of Beaver he was on show when he was 2,Vt. his way to a Cub Scout meeting. "H» was so afraid be late for the meet- No Regular he’d Allowance ing,” said Mosher, “he barely had time to ex- •I’ve been an actor practically all my life,” change a few civil words with us. I think that’* said Jerry, “anyways, since I was 2. It’s a lot why we decided he wae the kid for the part He of fun to be an actor, but when I grow up I’m was so normal.".