Posted on 02/22/2024 11:26:01 AM PST by DallasBiff
Television actor Ken Osmond died May 18, and if the name is not familiar, the memorable character he created probably is. On television’s “Leave It to Beaver,” he portrayed Eddie Haskell, the sarcastic nemesis to the title character, Beaver Cleaver, and the best friend of Beaver’s older brother, Wally.
Eddie Haskell is one of the best archetype television characters ever created — the mischievous “kiss-up, kick-down” smart aleck. He would flatter Beaver’s mom in the kitchen (“Your hair looks lovely today, Mrs. Cleaver”), then go upstairs and verbally abuse Beaver. He was always oversolicitous to adults, who invariably saw through him, but once the adults were out of sight calculated which of his peers could help him (and so it paid to be nice to) and which weren’t worth the effort. Everyone has encountered someone like that.
The name is all you need. Even today, more than 60 years after the character first appeared in 1957, if you call someone an Eddie Haskell, people understand what you’re talking about — the weaselly character in the office or the suck-up in school. In the history of television, how many archetypal characters like that can you think of where the name is shorthand for such a specific persona? And even those characters were usually stars or co-stars — Eddie Haskell was a supporting character, the fifth lead on the show.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Did “beaver” carry that meaning in the 1950s?
I never met him, but I knew Mrs Cleaver (Barbara Mortenson) was her married name, since the early 70’s. She was a sweetheart...
OH man another blast from the blast. I wanted to be Gallant but Goofus rang more true that's for sure.
Barbara Billingsley
“Who would name a kid “Beaver Cleaver” on a nationwide TV show?”
A double entendre wise-ass of a writer? That’s what I’ve always thought.
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Mortensen was the name of her third husband. Billingsley was her first husband’s surname.
I guess she kept that name professionally because it was recognized.
Who remembers the rumor that went around the Eddie Haskell became Alice Cooper? LOL
The show claimed the name came from early on as toddler Wally’s failed attempts to say baby Theodore’s name, that came out as Beaver, somehow.
Definitely, sniveling Eddie was the best character in the show. Beaver and Wally were just a backdrop to Eddie
Beaver was a nickname based on the last name Cleaver.
I dunno. "Lumpy" Rutherford always had a special place in my heart.
Regards,
Barbara Billinsgley as she was billed, could talk a real mean conversation in “Jive”. Loved her cameo in “Airplane”.
Did “beaver” carry that meaning in the 1950s?
....
Not in polite company
When she died it was Mortenson, I knew her most of my life and was at her house not long before she died.
How about impolite company?
Show co-inventor Joe Connely said the name was from a friend he had in the Army. On the show, it was a mispronunciation of the name Theodore by 5yo Wally, revealed in one of the last episodes.
She must have been a lovely person.
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