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

Barbara Billingsley Was Understanding of Misbehavior

The acting sons probably felt the realness in her angry reactions whenever she would unleash upon them. Which makes her asking the writers to make the sons more mischievous a good thing for the series because viewers would probably feel the intensity of her parenting through the role as well. The producer said, “In scenes where she’s mad at the boys, she’s always coming over to us with the script and objecting. ‘I don’t see why June is so mad over what Beaver’s done.’”

The Great Cover-Up

Barbara Billingsley’s character didn’t just wear pearls to appear well-dressed and classy in each episode. In fact, wardrobe provided her with pearl necklaces to cover-up and divert attention away from the hollow spot on Billingsley’s neck. Even in her work outside of the famed television series, Billingsley wore pearls for this reason. And it was not always pearls that she wore, she would wear scarves or just shirts that would do a good job at covering. The hollow spot was the aftermath of a surgical scar.

Her wardrobe was highly criticized, but she had a good reason for everything about her wardrobe, as you’ll see in the next slide. If viewers would have known it all back then, possibly she would not have been under such heavy scrutiny. That is the business of Hollywood unfortunately, and you take the hits as they come or fall under the pressure. She took the hits like a champ.

There was one thing that the actress behind June Cleaver felt was unnecessary. What was it?