Theodore Cleaver

Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver
Jerry Mathers as "Beaver" Cleaver
First appearance	"It's a Small World" (pilot) (April 23, 1957)
Last appearance	Leave It to Beaver (1997 film adaptation)
Created by	Joe Connelly Bob Mosher
Portrayed by	Jerry Mathers
Information
Aliases	"Beaver"
Gender	Male
Family	Ward Cleaver (father) June Cleaver (mother) Wally Cleaver (older brother)
Spouse(s)	Kimberly (divorced)
Children	Kip (son) Oliver (Son)
Relatives	Uncle Billy Aunt Martha Bronson Peggy (aunt) Infant cousin, Peggy's child

Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver is the fictional title character in the American television series Leave It to Beaver. Originally played by Jerry Mathers, seven-year-old ("almost eight") Beaver is the son of June and Ward Cleaver (Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont) and the brother of thirteen-year-old Wally Cleaver (Tony Dow).

The Beaver prefers "messin' around" with his pals and reading comic books to attending church or taking dance lessons. Most episodes in the series feature the Beaver getting into trouble at home, in school, or around the neighborhood and then receiving timely and appropriate moral instruction from his father regarding his misbehavior.

Leave It to Beaver was created by the writers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, who found inspiration for dialogue and plot lines among their own children. The Beaver was based on Connelly's son Ricky.

Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver was portrayed by Jerry Mathers in the pilot, "It's a Small World"); the original series; the spinoff telemovie, Still the Beaver; and the sequel series, The New Leave It to Beaver. In the reunion telemovie and the sequel series, the Beaver is a divorced father of two children living at home with his widowed mother, June. In the 1997 feature film adaptation of the original series Leave It to Beaver, the Beaver was played by Cameron Finley.

The Cleavers live in the fictional town of Mayfield. Ward is a white-collar, brief case-toting professional; he states he is an engineer, and one would infer a civil engineer based on his experience in the Seabees. June is a full-time homemaker. In the second season, Wally is a high-school student. Being five years older than the Beaver, he often acts as a bridge between his parents and his brother. He puts communications from the parents into kidspeak for the Beaver, and keeps his parents apprised of the Beaver's plans, feelings, and activities. The Cleavers dwell in a spacious house on Mapleton Drive during the first two seasons. They moved to a similar house on nearby Pine Street for the remaining four seasons. The family drives a 1957 Ford Custom 300 in the first two seasons. In the remaining seasons, when the Chrysler Corporation was a sponsor of the program, the family car is a Plymouth Belvedere or a Plymouth Fury.