Barbara Billingsley of 'Leave it to Beaver' fame dies

[rsmith6621]

Source: CNN

(CNN) -- Barbara Billingsley, who wore a classy pearl necklace and dispensed pearls of wisdom as America's quintessential mom on "Leave it to Beaver," has died at age 94, a family spokeswoman said Saturday.

The actress passed away at 2 a.m. (5 a.m. ET) Saturday at her home in Santa Monica, California, after a long illness, spokeswoman Judy Twersky said. A private memorial is being planned.

"America's favorite mother is now gone. I feel very fortunate to have been her 'son,' " actor Tony Dow, who played Wally Cleaver, said in a statement. "We were wonderful friends and I will miss her very much. My deepest sympathies to her sons, Glenn and Drew, and her entire family."



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/10/16/obit.barbara.billingsley/index.html?section=cnn_latest

[calimary]

1. Awww... damn. She was a darling woman.

In my generation many of us felt we kinda grew up with her as a surrogate mom.

I had the chance to interview her when I was still working, and she was utterly charming! I asked her if there were any dicey moments on the show or bloopers or whatevers, and she recounted the story about this one line written for her in the script - "Ward, don't you think you're being a little hard on the Beaver?"

How can you not love someone like that?

With the Angels, Mrs. Cleaver!

:hug: :grouphug: :hug:

[tularetom]

2. She was a MILF back in the day

Those matronly sweaters she wore couldn't conceal that.

I always got the feeling she was a little more hip than Ward who always reminded me of a typical small town republican bidnessman.

RIP June Cleaver

[jaysunb]

21. LOL !

You too, huh ? :rofl: I spent many "private" moments w/ Wally & the Beav's Mom. :)

RIP

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Top Billing. She deserved it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od4DPR3lySE

[virgogal]

4. Aw God,another good one gone.

[Bombero1956]

5. rest in peace Mom

She was the first mother I ever saw on TV. Without her we never would've had Carol Brady, Elyse Keaton or Marion Cunningham.

[mysuzuki2]

17. Not to mention the "anti June Cleaver" Peg Bundy.

[rfranklin]

6. "Ward, don't you think you were a little hard on the Beaver last night?"

She always had a way with words.

[mysuzuki2]

16. Ward, don't you think

you were a little hard on my beaver last night?

[madmax]

36. A newbie

and already fits right in. :rofl: :hug:

:bounce:

[Bigmack]

7. My favorite...

"Oh, stewardess... I speak jive."

http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=1392

[CurtEastPoint]

8. That's a lovely dress you're wearing, Mrs. Cleaver. 'Thank you, Eddie.'

[johnnyplankton]

30. Eddie was ahead of his time...

He probably had the word MILF coined in his head every time he spoke with her...

[patrick t. cakes]

26. that was funny

thanks

[gristy]

9. "Jive ass dude ain't got no brains, anyhow."

She will be missed.

[47of74]

39. Indeed

Here's the Stewardess, I speak Jive scene from Airplane!

RIP Barbara...

[pleah]

10. RIP

:(

[Mean Gene]

11. RIP

Good Bye Mrs Cleaver.

RIP

[nolabear]

12. RIP to a classy and funny lady. I know it's irreverent, but I'd love to see this on her tombstone:

I SPEAK JIVE.

Yes Ma'am, you spoke a lot of things.

[Spyderama]

13. I Had No Idea

That she would be gone so soon after I mentioned her character in a post on my blog. She will be missed. I loved the Beav'.

<http://palinbabygate.blogspot.com/2010/10/steinem-stupid.html>

[asjr]

14. She cooked each family meal while wearing

high heeled shoes.

[underpants]

32. As the Bible Jesus said it should be

O8)

[ChazII]

15. Condolences to her family

and may she rest in peace.

[rasputin1952]

18. RIP Sweet Lady...

I, like so many others, grew up with you, Walt, Wally and the Beaver.

[Jefferson23]

19. RIP. She was a working Mom. I imagine she could tell a lot about those days

when the industry did not make that easy for her or others like her.

[Grassy Knoll]

20. RIP Mrs. C

[asdjrocky]

22. What a pro.

She spoke jive, and wore pearls while vacuuming.

[BlueJazz]

23. My Favorite picture of her >>>

[unkachuck]

24. that's a shame....

....wonderful actress, wonderful person....

[HughBeaumont]

25. A sad day, indeed.

When we were a family.

Rest in eternal peace, June.

[MissDeeds]

27. RIP dear lady

Slowly but surely an era is passing, and this baby boomer feels the loss.

[blueknight]

28. wonderful memories

from simpler times. she was everyones mom at one time or another. R.I.P. kind lady

[pipoman]

31. Actually, for me, she was the neighbor's

sexy mom..never my mom..that would've been creepy..

[AngryAmish]

29. too soon, too soon

[underpants]

33. Good for her in all that she achieved. It was an odd early experience in marketing

and, perhaps, social behaviour.


"Let it to Beaver" was a midrange show. It was middle of the pack in ratings. I think that it preceeded "Father Knows Best" which dominated the ratings at the time (must see) but other than that it was a "Caroline in the City" time filler.

Then syndication happened. The owners of this show got it right to the locals and they took. It was probably cheap and soon they could sell ads on it like crazy.

It was also a third step down on the network image machine of the time. It was the 50's like we were supposed to remember them it a nice simplistic form.

I watched it all the time. :shrug:

Funny show. Probably could have used more time outside showing MORE jumpshots.....but good for her. She seemed nice.

[davidwparker]

34. RIP

She was a dear.

[Historic NY]

35. She was a good mom.

[madmax]

37. Yes, and it's a shame

that us mere mortal wench Mom's can't be like her. Maybe in the future science will find a way to clone all mothers into June Cleaver and Harriet Nelson and all the rest of the 'prefect' Mom's that don't exist in real life at the moment.

Sorry.. not to be snarky. Just been through a week of all the error of my ways as a Mom.

RIP June/Barbara I'd love to see 94.

[4lbs]

38. Not only was her character great, but Barbara Billingsley was a great person in real life too.

Her sons said that she was in real life almost exactly like what her June Cleaver character was on the show.

[Subdivisions]

40. So long Mrs. Cleaver. I will never forget you. n/t

[TheDebbieDee]

41. Hang loose, blood. We'll catch you on the flipside!

That was one of her character's jive translations in the movie Airplane.

RIP, Mrs. Billingsley............

[Coventina]

42. So sad to hear this. "Leave it to Beaver" was a groundbreaking show

although it wasn't a blockbuster hit at the time.

It was the first television show to show a toilet on screen.

It tackled a lot of progressive issues for its time:

Animal rights
Child abuse
Divorce

It also showed a fairly progressive relationship between June and Ward. She never hesitated to call him on his crap, and he always respected her point of view. It was clear the two characters had a lot of respect for each other and nearly always worked as a team.

Great show.

Love to you and your family, Mrs. Billingsly. Thanks for the good times.

[chelsea0011]

43. Also a show about race, one about alcoholism, and every show

was about bullying. Wally was one of the great mediators to stop bullying in his day. They dealt with ageism, class, and problems at home. For a show started in the late 50's, you are right, this show was way ahead of the curve.

[slackmaster]

44. I've met a lot of Eddie Haskalls over the years

Some of them are incarcerated.

[S_B_Jackson]

46. Interestingly enough...

Ken Osmond, the actor who played Eddie Haskell went on to be an 18 year veteran officer with the LAPD before being retired after getting shot 3 times in 1988. I imagine he met and arrested several who reminded him of the slimy weasel he portrayed as a teen.

Rest in Peace, Mrs. C, you'll be missed.

[Vidar]

45. RIP Ms. Billingsley

[SemperEadem]

47. Rest in Peace, dear lady

[mysuzuki2]

48. An interesting thing about Leave it to Beaver

almost all of the child actors on the show went on to become reasonably successful, well-adjusted adults. This is in marked contrast to the child stars on other tv shows. I wonder if that had anything to do with the kind of people Hugh Beaumont and Barbara Billingsley were in real life?