When Beaumont got the role of Ward, he decided to move his family out to Hollywood. He had been commuting from Minnesota, but a weekly series would require him to be in California.
When his wife, son, and mother-in-law were driving out west, a terrible crash killed his mother-in-law and badly injured his son. He said the tragic accident made work difficult and as if he was just going through the motions.
June Cleaver Had Something to Hide
Actress Barbara Billingsley wouldn’t be the same June Cleaver without the string of pearls she always wore.
But it was less about looking like June than a practical solution. She had a hollow indentation on her neck, and the necklace was the perfect solution to conceal it.
This Is How Hugh Beaumont Came to Be an Ordained Minister
Long before he landed the Ward Cleaver gig, Beaumont unwittingly studied for it. As a philosophy student, he obtained his master’s in theology at USC and became an ordained minister.
Afterward, he found Hollywood pay to be exceedingly better than what he could collect at his Sunday service. So, he decided to try his luck in Hollywood.
Actor Frank Bank Took It to the Bank
Lumpy Rutherford was great as a dense bully, so it's surprising to learn that he became a successful banker later in life. He was a smart financial planner. He took his earnings and invested it, earning $300,000 per year.
Making a name for himself as a successful stockbroker, he managed the accounts of costars Dow, Mathers, and Billingsley.
Rusty Stevens Had a Mother Who Smothered Him Out of His Job
Rusty Stevens was the child actor who played the Beave’s best buddy, Larry Mondello. Larry was a bit of a dimwit, but fans missed him when he was let go in the fourth season.
According to Barbara Billingsley, the actress who played Beaver’s mom, Rusty Stevens’ mother complained and harassed the producers about her kid so much that they finally just wrote him off the show.