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

He Actually Sort Of Resented The Show

As fatherly and loving as he seemed on the show, Hugh Beaumont may have had his qualms about being the father on Leave It To Beaver. The only reason he took on the role in the first place was to supplement the income he made from being an ordained minister. He commuted all the way from Minnesota to film, but after becoming a permanent fixture on the show, his family had to drive out to Los Angeles. On the way, his family got into a car accident that took the life of his mother-in-law, which is part of why he deeply regrets doing the show.

In addition to that, reports say that like many other Leave It To Beaver actors, Beaumont was typecast as well. He was also not too happy about having to play second fiddle to a couple of kids – Jerry Mathers and Tony Dow. While he didn’t love acting on the show too much, we’re sure that he harbored no resentment towards his castmates. They were a family, after all.

Hugh Beaumont Also Wrote And Directed Many Episodes

A list of actors who also are triple threats includes Spike Lee, Charlie Chaplin, Woody Allen, Ben Affleck, Clint Eastwood, and Johnny Depp. That is a pretty impressive list to be a part of! One of the episodes Beaumont wrote was the retrospective episode “Family Scrapbook.” In this episode, once the mother June finds a scrapbook of the family while she is cleaning, she gathers the family in the living room and clips of past episodes are shown while everyone reminisces.

What was different about the sitcom that made it so effective? Click “Next” to find out.