In Memory of 'Leave It To Beaver' Actor and Former Minister Hugh Beaumont: 4 Decades After His Death

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Overview

It's been over 40 years since Leave It To Beaver actor Hugh Beaumont died of a heart attack in Munich, Germany in 1982.

A Closer Look

A former minister in real life, Hugh Beaumont was born in Lawrence, Kansas. He is best remembered as Ward Cleaver in Leave It To Beaver, the classic TV sitcom that originally aired for seven years in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

The benchmark family show, which is still a hit in syndicated reruns and on home video and streaming platforms, inspired a TV-movie sequel, and a subsequent new series. It also inspired a motion picture adaptation.

In the original series, Beaumont portrayed the loving-kind patriarch of his family including his wife, June, played by Barbara Billingsley, and two sons, Beaver and Wally, played by Jerry Mathers and Tony Dow.

According to what Mathers states on his official website, "What most people don’t know is that Hugh was an ordained minister before Leave it to Beaver."

As Mathers continued to explain, Beaumont graduated with a Master of Theology degree in 1946 from the University of Southern California (USC). Hugh had a long and illustrious career and did many films and television series in addition to Leave it to Beaver. One of his most famous characters was Michael Shayne who he played in 5 films. He was a hard-drinking, heavy cigarette-smoking detective in this part, in the style of Mickey Spillane. I think he was much more comfortable as Ward Cleaver because it fit his ‘real life” personality so much better!"

Conclusion

Assuredly, it's comforting for Hugh Beaumont's countless fans around the world, to know that the actor was just as kind and understanding in real life as his character Ward Clever is presented on Leave It To Beaver.