Barbara Billingsley, TV's June Cleaver, Dies at 94
Matthew Kruk
October 16, 2010
Barbara Billingsley, TV's June Cleaver, Dies at 94
By MICHAEL POLLAK
Barbara Billingsley, who as June Cleaver on the television series "Leave
It to Beaver" personified a Hollywood postwar family ideal of the
ever-sweet, ever-helpful suburban stay-at-home mom, died Saturday. She
was 94.
A family spokeswoman, Judy Twersky, said that Ms. Billingsley had died
of polymyalgia, a rheumatoid disease, at her home in Santa Monica,
Calif.
From 1957 to 1963 and in decades of reruns, the glamorous June, who wore
pearls and high heels at home, could be counted on to help her husband,
Ward (Hugh Beaumont), get their son Theodore, better known as Beaver
(Jerry Mathers), and his older brother, Wally (Tony Dow), out of
countless minor jams, whether an alligator in the basement or a horse in
the garage.
Baking a steady supply of cookies, she would use motherly intuition to
sound the alarm about incipient trouble ("Ward, I'm worried about the
Beaver") in their immaculate, airy house in the fictional town of
Mayfield. (The house appeared to have no master bedroom, just a big door
from which Ward and June occasionally emerged, tying their bathrobes.)
Along with the mothers played by Harriet Nelson ("The Adventures of
Ozzie and Harriet"), Donna Reed ("The Donna Reed Show") and others, Ms.
Billingsley's role became a cultural standard, one that may have been
too good to be true but produced fan mail and nostalgia for decades
afterward, from the same generation whose counterculture derided the
see-no-evil suburbia June's character represented.
Ms. Billingsley, who had nothing but respect for June Cleaver, was a
former model and career actress who was married three times and spent
part of her career as a working single mother (of two boys, at that).
Yes, she acknowledged 40 years later, her role was a picture-perfect
reflection of the times. "We were the ideal parents because that's the
way he saw it," she said, describing the show as the world seen through
the eyes of a child. (The pearls, incidentally, covered up a hollow in
her neck. In the beginning of the show, she wore flats; the heels were
an attempt to stay taller than the growing boys.)
June was no pushover; she could be quite a disciplinarian, Ms.
Billingsley said in 2000, during an interview for the Archive of
American Television. "She was a loving, happy stay-at-home mom, which I
think is great," she said. Ms. Billingsley also said that women who stay
at home to care for their children may find in it the best - and most
important - job they'll ever have.
Ms. Billingsley was born Barbara Lillian Combes on Dec. 22, 1915, in Los
Angeles, where she attended George Washington High School. She left Los
Angeles Junior College to appear in a short-lived Broadway play, "Straw
Hat." She took her stage name from her first husband, Glenn Billingsley,
a nephew of Sherman Billingsley, the proprietor of the Stork Club in
Manhattan. They had two sons.
After working as a fashion model, Ms. Billingsley returned to Los
Angeles, acted in local plays and was signed to a contract by MGM. In
the 1940s and early '50s, her film roles were mostly small. Her movies
included "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952) with Kirk Douglas, "Shadow
on the Wall" (1950) with Ann Sothern and "Three Guys Named Mike" (1951)
with Jane Wyman.
Of "Leave It to Beaver," she later recalled, "It was a happy experience
for me, and very timely," adding that there was never a fight on the set
in seven years. After the show ended its run in 1963, Ms. Billingsley,
by then typecast, saw few acting roles. Many of her later guest
appearances were either as June or in roles that made wry references to
her. But she said she turned down scripts if they made fun of June.
"She's been too good to me to play anything like that," she said.
She is survived by her two sons, Drew Billingsley of Granada Hills,
Calif., and Glenn Billingsley Jr. of Phillips Ranch, Calif.
Charles Richmond
>
> [snip...] [snip...] [snip...]
>
> Baking a steady supply of cookies, she would use motherly intuition to
> sound the alarm about incipient trouble ("Ward, I'm worried about the
> Beaver") in their immaculate, airy house in the fictional town of
> Mayfield. (The house appeared to have no master bedroom, just a big door
> from which Ward and June occasionally emerged, tying their bathrobes.)
>
There was *one* "Leave It to Beaver" episode where the audience
got a look inside Ward and June's bedroom. The episode was in the
6th season and was titled "Beaver Spoils the Party". Wally was
allowed to have some of his friends over for a party, and Ward and
June agreed to stay upstairs in their bedroom.
> Along with the mothers played by Harriet Nelson ("The Adventures of
> Ozzie and Harriet"), Donna Reed ("The Donna Reed Show") and others, Ms.
> Billingsley's role became a cultural standard, one that may have been
> too good to be true but produced fan mail and nostalgia for decades
> afterward, from the same generation whose counterculture derided the
> see-no-evil suburbia June's character represented.
>
There were some "sporty" moments in "Leave It to Beaver". Once
Ward entered from the kitchen door after work. June had her back
to the door, working at the stove. She said: "Is that you,
dear???" Ward said: "No, it's your husband." :-)
(Yes, this was really in an episode of "Leave It to Beaver"...)
In one episode, Ward had put up a basketball goal over the garage
for the kids. He said to June: "I put these things up all over
the Pacific." June said: "Yes, we all contributed to the war
effort in our own way." (Zing!!!) :-)
In another episode, June had been singing the song "I'll Never
Smile Again". Later she asked Ward if he remembered when that was
popular. He said something like: "Sure, don't you remember. We
heard that song when we were eating at that fancy restaurant
overlooking San Francisco bay." June said: "Ward, we've *never*
been to San Francisco..." Then Ward mad some excuse and
high-tailed it up to the boys room.
My point is that this show was *not* so "too good to be true" and
"see-no-evil suburbia" as many think these days. There were some
playfulness and contention between Ward and June.
> Ms. Billingsley, who had nothing but respect for June Cleaver, was a
> former model and career actress who was married three times and spent
> part of her career as a working single mother (of two boys, at that).
>
> Yes, she acknowledged 40 years later, her role was a picture-perfect
> reflection of the times. "We were the ideal parents because that's the
> way he saw it," she said, describing the show as the world seen through
> the eyes of a child. (The pearls, incidentally, covered up a hollow in
> her neck. In the beginning of the show, she wore flats; the heels were
> an attempt to stay taller than the growing boys.)
>
In at least one episode, June did appear with her hair tied up in
a scarf, vacuuming the curtains. She did *not* always have a
glamorous appearance.
IMHO, I thought that Barbara Billingsley looked pretty *hot* in
the first two seasons!!!
--
+----------------------------------------+
| Charles and Francis Richmond |
| |
| plano dot net at aquaporin4 dot com |
+----------------------------------------+
Brad Ferguson
<fri...@tx.rr.com> wrote:
> IMHO, I thought that Barbara Billingsley looked pretty *hot* in
> the first two seasons!!!
Not nearly as hot as Miss Landers.
B. R. Slim
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> What happened to her 'hotness'<snip>
Oh, fuck. It's back.
Charles Richmond
Miss Landers is okay if you like "baby face" women. I prefer June!!!
Charles Richmond
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> news:i9gfnc$d20$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>>
>> [snip...] [snip..] [snip...]
>>
>> IMHO, I thought that Barbara Billingsley looked pretty *hot* in
>> the first two seasons!!!
>
> She had exactly half her life over after season 5 ended in June
> 1963, when she was already 47.
>
June of 1963 was the end of the *sixth* season.
In seasons two through six, June was made up to look more
"motherly" and older.