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Hugh Beaumont said that acting in Leave It to Beaver was just like raising his own children
Between playing Ward Cleaver and raising his own children, Hugh Beaumont was the father of all fathers.
The saying is that "Art imitates life," but that's only if you're lucky. While melodrama has its time and place, the best television shows find the reality in their program and are able to ground their characters in something that goes beyond fiction. Leave It to Beaver was a perfect example of this.
Although the Cleaver family was fictional, and at times just a bit too perfect (We're looking at you, June) Leave It to Beaver portrayed childhood in a realistic manner, for the most part. Granted, not many of us adopted an alligator as children, but the misadventures that Wally and the Beav got up to were expected of children.
Series creators Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher obviously deserve some of this credit, and for good reason. Connelly had previously recounted that he often looked to his own children for inspiration when writing Leave It to Beaver plotlines. Because of that, Wally and Theodore were often living the escapades that real children did.
In an interview with the Record-Journal, Connelly spoke about his own personal experience, and how it influenced the show. "I've got seven kids, and Bob [Mosher] has two," he said. "There alone is a wealth of material."
Also assisting Leave It to Beaver's believability was the casting of both children and parents alike when creating the Cleaver Family. Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers were both children during the original filming of the show, while Hugh Beaumont and Barbara Billingsley had children of their own. When the two adults acted as June and Ward, it was almost muscle memory.
Hugh Beaumont, who played Ward Cleaver, emphasized this. "It's just like I was bringing up my own three youngsters," Beaumont said of playing the patriarch. "Beaver and Wally have the same problems they have or had. Sometimes I don't even think I need a script. It all sounds so familiar."
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