...And Jerry Mathers as "The Beaver": An Autobiography
Written: Mar 07 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: great pictures, quotes from cast members, details about the show
Cons: don't felt like he was honest enough
The Bottom Line: This is the autobiography of Jerry Mathers who played "Beaver" in the hit show, Leave it to Beaver.
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| wifeofvolsfan's Full Review: . . .And Jerry Mathers as "The Beaver" |
After I read Frank Bank’s book,Call Me Lumpy, I decided that I also wanted to read the book that Jerry Mathers (with Herb Fagen) wrote. So I checked out …And Jerry Mathers as “The Beaver” from my local library. Jerry Mathers was the star of the show that came out in the 1950’s Leave it to Beaver. Since then it has came on for forty years so that people like me who weren’t born then can enjoy it today.
The Book:
Jerry Mathers was born on June 2, 1948. He shares his family history of how his parents met and their backgrounds. He began his television career at the young age of two and a half. He then did various ads and was on some television shows as well as in some movies. Jerry shares with us how the Leave it to Beaver show came about and how he got the part of Beaver.
Jerry talks about what his family life was like and what working on the show was like. The Leave it to Beaver series showed it’s last episode on September 12, 1963. Jerry got together a band called Beaver and the Trappers. He was also in the Air Force where it was rumored that he had been killed in Vietnam. That of course was not true. He then became a loan officer in a bank.
He got back into acting again by doing dinner theater with Tony Dow, who had played Wally with him in Leave it to Beaver. He also participated in the CBS movie of the week, Still the Beaver. Jerry has also spent time being a radio disc jockey. Then in 1984 Jerry began playing on a new series The New Leave it to Beaver. Many of the original people that were in the first series joined Jerry for this one.
Jerry tells what it is like to have dyslexia and gives parents some tips on how to deal with it. He also shares with us his weight loss struggle and how he has able to lose weight. Jerry also shares with us the joy of two marriages and the pain of divorces from both. He has three children, Noah, Mercedes and Gretchen.
My Thoughts:
I am glad that I read the book because I have been interested in the people who played on Leave it to Beaver. I was surprised at all of the many things Jerry has done in his life. I had no idea what he had done beyond Leave it to Beaver. I think he has really explored a lot of different areas and it was interesting to see the paths that he took.
I don’t think that Jerry was as honest in his book as Frank Bank (Call me Lumpy) was in his book. Frank seemed to say exactly what he thought. I felt like Jerry didn’t want to say anything bad about anybody and sugar coated some things. I felt like he held back a bit from what he could have told us. I guess that is probably the best thing he could have done, but for those of us who want the juicy gossip he didn’t give much.
I also think that he tried to seem nicer in the book than he is in real life. The reason I say that is in the book he talks about signing autographs. He appears like he is really good hearted about it and doesn’t mind at all. I collect autographed pictures and would love to have one. If you check out his official site you will see that he charges a whooping $50 for an autograph. That is greedy to me. I think it’s his right, but he shouldn’t try to seem like he is so nice about autographs in the book because to me that isn’t very nice. I won’t be spending $50 for it.
What I really enjoyed about this book is there are various times that there are quotes from characters from the show. Throughout the book there are thoughts from: Barbara Billingsley, Tony Dow, Ken Osmond, and Richard Correll. I thought it was pretty funny what Hustler magazine had offered $10,000 to Jerry for. I will let you read more about that in the book for yourself.
I think the book was easy to read. It is a book that can be quickly read and it flows nicely. There were parts of it that I was a bit bored with, but overall it was a very good book. I also enjoyed looking at the pictures that were included. There are 32 assorted pictures from Jerry’s early years, family pictures, pictures from the show and more current pictures.
I was also interested to learn that the Leave it to Beaver show has the second longest run, after I Love Lucy. I also thought this was interesting and I will quote directly from the book. ”As a rule of thumb, 300 pilots are made a year, twelve get shot, six get on the air, one survives. So there’s a total of 334 Beaver episodes with both shows combined, which puts us very close to the top of the charts. Quite an accomplishment, I’d say." Well I’d have to agree with Jerry, quite an accomplishment.
If you are interested in the life of Jerry Mathers or you like to read autobiographies and biographies then this book is for you!
Recommended:
Yes
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