Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver is Ward and June's second son and is Wally's younger brother. He is played by Jerry Mathers.
Biography[]
The Cleavers live in the fictional town of Mayfield. Ward is a white-collar, brief case-toting professional; he states he is an engineer who had experience in the Seabees. June is a full-time homemaker. In the second season, Wally is a high-school student. Being five years older than the Beaver, he often acts as a bridge between his parents and his brother. He puts communications from the parents into kidspeak for the Beaver, and keeps his parents apprised of the Beaver's plans, feelings, and activities. The Cleavers dwell in a spacious house on Mapleton Drive during the first two seasons. They moved to a similar house on nearby Pine Street for the remaining four seasons. The family drives a 1957 Ford Custom 300 in the first two seasons. In the remaining seasons, when the Chrysler Corporation was a sponsor of the program, the family car is a Plymouth Belvedere or a Plymouth Fury.
The Beaver's best friends are Larry Mondello, Gilbert Bates, Whitey Whitney, and the elderly Gus, a fireman. While the Beaver's peers cannot always be trusted or relied on in times of trouble, Gus can always be counted on to be sympathetic to the Beaver's woes and to steer the boy along the straight and narrow.
The Beaver is sometimes led astray by his school friends. In one episode, for example, Larry Mondello tells the Beaver the principal has a spanking machine in her office and the Beaver steals in to take a peek. He is accidentally locked in the office and calls the fire department to be freed. His parents are furious.
The Beaver's enemies are loud-mouthed, snitching classmate Judy Hensler in the early episodes, and, in the later seasons, snooty Penny Woods. Penny is more of his frenemy than just a mere enemy, as well as his constant love-hate-relationship. Wally's obnoxious pals, Eddie Haskell and Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford pick on the Beaver at every opportunity (though Lumpy seems to be more friendly towards the Beaver in the final season). Wally ably defends his brother against their nasty onslaughts.
The Beaver is often exploited by others or becomes the victim of malicious persons. In one episode, Wally's classmate Mary Ellen Rogers makes friends with the Beaver in order to snaggle a date with Wally. As soon as Mary Ellen has the date settled, she drops the Beaver. In another episode, the Beaver kindly lets a strange boy ride his bike — only to have the boy steal it.
Trivia
· His actor Jerry Mathers is one of the remaining actors from the series.