I heard he was selling insurance in NJ. I know he left the show supposedly due to his family moving to NJ.I loved the Larry Mondello character.Does anyone know the full story of why Rusty doesn't do appearances or even acknowledge his Larry character in this day and age of social media ? I heard someone contacted his wife a few years ago and Rusty never even acknowledged his acting past. Strange.

That's his business and no one else's. Not everyone wants to spend their entire life answering questions about a few TV appearances they made when they were 8 years old. If he was looking to be interviewed and wouldn't acknowledge the show, that's one thing. But he's not. It's his choice.

Didn't he make a few appearances on the New LITB?

Didn't he make a few appearances on the New LITB?

Yes, he did. I've read that to get him to appear in the movie, Still the Beaver (which preceded the series), the production company had to get the FBI to locate him. But I certainly agree with the first responder here, that it's his business whether he wants any attention about a role he played as a kid. As far as I know, nothing has ever really been 'official' about his reasons for leaving the show, so I have no idea whether he really had to leave to move with his family. But he does a few acting credits within 2 years of his leaving. Some source I once read said that his mother was such a demanding and intemperate "stage mother" that they got tired of her and wrote him out so as not to spar with her any more. But I have wondered if maybe the major reason was his outgrowing the role and perhaps even hating the part of the fat boy always eating that everybody likes but still calls names and makes fun of behind his back.

The way they casted Larry Mondello in The New Leave it to Beaver was a big letdown to me.Wasn't he in some kind of Eastern religion with a turbin around his head ? I know you cannot have a 35 year old man pulling apples and baloney sandwiches out of his pocket but the religious thing was just ridiculous.They could have done better.

Rusty must have really been in that Eastern religion and that's how he wanted to appear. Maybe his mother kept telling him how horrid that show was and how they fired him. Who knows? I was quite surprised that they brought him back. Richard acted the same but I guess Rusty didn't want his character to be like it was in the original show. Where was Gilbert? It would have been funny if Beaver threatened to punch Larry in the stomach.

I was sure it wouldn't be hard to find that article about Stephen Talbot that has been online for a long time in which he tells what he had been doing and why he wouldn't appear in Still The Beaver:

http://twilightzonewor.fr.yuku.com/topic/1005/Living-Down-Beaver-By-Stephen-Talbot#.WM1LAWe1sdU

However, in this quick search I ran across a more recent and more 'upbeat' item from Jerry Mathers' site-- though it might be a bit on the phony side:

http://www.jerrymathers.com/steve-talbot-my-leave-it-to-beaver-pal/

Yeah I think Stephen's account is rather sugar coated. Isn't it amazing how a former child actor can hate the whole thing one minute and love it the next. I always knew Stephen Talbot never liked being on LITB but when you grow up and people remember you more for what you did as a child than as an adult you have to lighten up and share your "fond" memories. Stephen was in a lot of episodes and went right to season 6. I can see him now talking Beaver into going to the ballgame instead of letting Wally who is the oldest always get everything.

It is so funny when Jerry tries to tell everyone about an episode and gets it all wrong while we on the message boards know better. Love how he is always mentioning the episode with the toilet and how that was the first show to approve showing a toilet.

Yeah I think Stephen's account is rather sugar coated. Isn't it amazing how a former child actor can hate the whole thing one minute and love it the next. I always knew Stephen Talbot never liked being on LITB but when you grow up and people remember you more for what you did as a child than as an adult you have to lighten up and share your "fond" memories. Stephen was in a lot of episodes and went right to season 6. I can see him now talking Beaver into going to the ballgame instead of letting Wally who is the oldest always get everything.

It is so funny when Jerry tries to tell everyone about an episode and gets it all wrong while we on the message boards know better. Love how he is always mentioning the episode with the toilet and how that was the first show to approve showing a toilet.

Thanks for the link.Mr Talbot sounds like a bitter (typical in general) leftist.Never really liked the Gilbert character that much compared to Larry Mondello.

Talbot (son of character actor Lyle Talbot) did a lot of character roles when he was a kid. He pops up in a lot of shows from that era. Reading Mathers' book, we find out how Mathers and Correll were close friends, but Jerry doesn't mention having any relationship with Stevens, Talbot, or Fafara. For those who don't know (totally off topic), Correll went on to a lot of TV production work, in Happy Days, and later in directing Disney Channel sitcoms.

Thanks for the link.Mr Talbot sounds like a bitter (typical in general) leftist.Never really liked the Gilbert character that much compared to Larry Mondello.

Agreed. I think Rusty Stevens was quite a good actor. Fafara was pretty good, too.

I've recently started rewatching my Beaver DVD's and I noticed the very first episode in which Larry appeared he was billed as Robert Stevens. After that he was always billed as Rusty Stevens. So even back then he (or his family) was guarding his privacy.

As to Larry's sudden departure, I've heard it this way (whether it's right or wrong, I wasn't there so I don't know it to be fact) but the version I have heard is Larry's real life stage mother was so over-bearing she was eventually barred from the set, plus her desire for a bigger part for Larry and (probably more importantly) for more money for her son and her constant attention to Larry and his acting techniques all led to poor Larry in real life developing nervous facial tics. Then the network, finally having enough, decided to dismiss her and along with her went Larry.

I'm sure the set was much more peaceful after Larry's mother was gone, but the series did indeed suffer, Larry was the best of the friend's of Beaver, Larry to me was the best friend Beaver had. Never did like the sneaky Gilbert or Richard character. I did like the sort of sneaky but dumb Whitey and the trouble maker Judy character (who also mysteriously disappeared from the series) was also a favorite of mine. :talk:

As to Larry's sudden departure, I've heard it this way (whether it's right or wrong, I wasn't there so I don't know it to be fact) but the version I have heard is Larry's real life stage mother was so over-bearing she was eventually barred from the set, plus her desire for a bigger part for Larry and (probably more importantly) for more money for her son and her constant attention to Larry and his acting techniques all led to poor Larry in real life developing nervous facial tics. Then the network, finally having enough, decided to dismiss her and along with her went Larry.

I'm sure the set was much more peaceful after Larry's mother was gone, but the series did indeed suffer, Larry was the best of the friend's of Beaver, Larry to me was the best friend Beaver had. Never did like the sneaky Gilbert or Richard character. I did like the sort of sneaky but dumb Whitey and the trouble maker Judy character (who also mysteriously disappeared from the series) was also a favorite of mine. :talk:

Totally agree with this and yes,I noticed the facial tics of Rusty on one or more of the episodes as I was watching the last 2 or 3 weeks on METV.Larry was one of my favorite characters of all time.None of Beavers other friends came close to measuring up to Larry for me.Judy was great in her role.I just never really liked Gilbert.

I've recently started rewatching my Beaver DVD's and I noticed the very first episode in which Larry appeared he was billed as Robert Stevens. After that he was always billed as Rusty Stevens. So even back then he (or his family) was guarding his privacy.


To be fair, there was already an adult performer in the movies and TV billed as that. Hence, it's quite probable that the producers may have found this out after the first episode and decided to cover themselves by changing this child co-star's billing to 'Rusty' since there cannot be two performers using the exact same name at the same time.

I did like the sort of sneaky but dumb Whitey and the trouble maker Judy character (who also mysteriously disappeared from the series) was also a favorite of mine. :talk:

"Sneaky but dumb Whitey"? Whitey was sneaky but not dumb in the least! In fact, he was a very clever wiseguy, especially when he lured Beaver into that giant soup bowl.

I just saw an episode where Whitey was sneaky but dumb, Maybe you're watching some alternate universe version. But that's alright, I accept your heartfelt apology, no groveling please.

I did like the sort of sneaky but dumb Whitey and the trouble maker Judy character (who also mysteriously disappeared from the series) was also a favorite of mine. :talk:

Judy, I think I've read, left due to Jeri Weil having her growth spurt. She just got too big. I think the Judy character was better done than the Penny character.

A pretty smart thing Whitey did (other than the already-mentioned soup bowl thing): he won Beaver's baseball glove when he bet Beaver he (Beav) couldn't put the 20 miles on the pedometer. Can't come up with a specific dumb thing.