‘Beaver’ actor Jerry Mathers named grand marshal of Reyes Adobe Days festival

Jerry Mathers Actor Jerry Mathers, who is remembered as the iconic, rascally lad “Beaver” on the long-running 1950s-era television series “Leave It To Beaver,” has been named grand marshal for the fifth annual Reyes Adobe Days festival in Agoura Hills from Oct. 2 to 4.

Mathers has local ties to the community—he is the brother of Sue McSweeney, a Westlake Village council member.

Agoura Hills Mayor Denis Weber said Mathers’ portrayal of Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver on the show has been an endearing and enduring image of simpler times for families. Mathers’ representation of old-fashioned family values meshes well with the family image promoted in Agoura Hills generally and Reyes Adobe Days specifically, he said.

In a telephone interview, Mathers said that when his sister asked him to be the grand marshal he gladly said yes.

“My father had a saying (that) it’s nice to be nice to the nice,” Mathers said.

Sputnik and fish

“Leave It To Beaver” premiered in the space age, Mathers said.

“On the night it premiered (Oct. 4, 1957) Sputnik went up,” Mathers said. Sputnik, launched by the Soviet Union, was the first artificial satellite.

Mathers’ favorite episode was the one where his fictional brother Wally, portrayed by Tony Dow, was a lifeguard. The episode was filmed at Universal Studios in an area that has been transformed from “Friend’s Lake” to “Jaws Lake,” part of a studio theme park attraction where a giant animatronic shark, in tribute to the movie “Jaws,” jumps out of the water to scare people on the ride.

The episode was his favorite because during lunch on the set, Mathers and Dow were the only people allowed to fish in the lake. Mathers caught more blue gill than Dow during that particular episode, he said.

“There were very few things I could beat (Dow) at—he was very athletic,” Mathers said. Not only did he catch more fish than Dow, he was told that no one—athletic or otherwise—ever caught a larger blue gill than he did that day.

Although some might assume that Theodore Cleaver’s nickname “Beaver” described a rambunctious, eager beaver kind of a kid, Mathers said the final episode explained, in fictional terms, the origin of his name. Wally supposedly couldn’t pronounce his little brother’s name, Theodore, so instead called him “Tweeter,” which eventually morphed into the name “Beaver.”

But the real story behind the nickname stemmed from one of the show’s writers, Bob Moser. As a World War II merchant marine, one of Moser’s shipmates was named the Beaver, and that inspired Beaver Cleaver, Mathers said.

In addition to acting in television and film, Mathers made his Broadway debut as Wilbur Turnblad in the 2007 Tony-winning musical “Hairspray.” His performance helped boost attendance at the play to 90 percent during the first week, and for the rest of the play’s run there was standing room only.

Besides acting, Mathers is a leading lecturer on living with and dealing with diabetes. He also works with the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America on its “Help is Here Express.” The national bus tour helps uninsured and financially struggling patients to obtain prescription medicines for free or nearly free, Mathers said.

A father of three grown children, Mathers is a 25-year resident of Valencia.

As for his next performance as Reyes Adobe Days’ grand marshal, he said, “Any time you can get your whole family together and have a family event out in the sunshine, it’s a wonderful way for a family to get together.”