You've probably already heard by now that Barbara Billingsley, the actress who played June Cleaver on the iconic 1950's sitcom, "Leave it to Beaver", has died at 94.
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"Leave it to Beaver" ran from 1957 to 1963 and helped to create the template for American family sitcoms and has been around so long that it's run the gamut of pop culture status, from current popular show, to being the butt of ironic jokes about American society, to coming full circle and once again being looked at as something people admire. We grew up in the time that the show was an object of mockery, but for all the jokes about the show's, and the era's, naivete, it was actually a little subversive and acutely aware. Ward and June were very much on to the passive-aggressive neurotic that was Eddie Haskell, and there were constant hints that although they were always immaculately dressed in coat and tie and pearls, Ward and June had been around the block, and just because they didn't talk about their walks on the wilder side of life, you nevertheless knew they had taken them.
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(jerry mathers, barbara billingsley and tony dow in 2007)
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Barbara Billingsley was most famous for playing June Cleaver, but she had a long and varied career. She made her film debut in 1945, although many of her early roles were "uncredited". Her first official credit came in the movie, "The Argyle Secrets" in 1948. Billingsley found recurring roles on other t.v. series of the 1950's, including "City Detective", 1953-54; "Professional Father", 1955; and "The Brothers", 1956-57, before landing the role of June Cleaver. After "Beaver", she worked only twice on a t.v. series in 1971, but then came the famous scene in which the famous, buttoned-up, white lady talked "jive" to some Black men in the 1980 movie "Airplane", and once again, Billingsley was noticed by the entertainment industry. From that point on, Billingsley worked fairly regularly in movies and t.v. until her final role in 2003 in the t.v. movie, "Secret Santa". Our favorite Billingsley post-Beaver moment came in 1995 when she appeared in a scene with other famous t.v. moms and Rosanne Barr on "Rosanne" in which they discussed the particulars of being a t.v. mom. It's a very funny scene. Farewell, June Cleaver, we'll miss you, but luckily, we'll have you and those pearls forever in reruns.
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