Broadway Beaver

[Brian Damage]

May 10, 2007 -- LEAVE it to "Hairspray" to give TV legend Jerry Mathers his very first Broadway role at age 58.

Mathers - who will forever be best known as the child star of the beloved sitcom "Leave It To Beaver" - is joining the cast of "Hairspray" June 5 in the role of Wilbur Turnblad.

" 'Hairspray' is actually about people's dreams and this has always been my dream and was something I just never thought I'd get a chance to do - work on Broadway!" the grown-up "Beav" enthused yesterday on the phone from Los Angeles.

He said he's already "working with a dance coach and singing coach" to prepare for the Wilbur Turnblad role. The part was played by Jerry Stiller in the original 1988 movie, by Christopher Walken in a new movie due to be released July 20, originated on Broadway in 2002 by Dick Latessa, and played most recently by Jere Burns, who Mathers is replacing.

Mathers auditioned for the role at the suggestion of his agent, who also represents another current star of "Hairspray," rock 'n' roll legend Darlene Love, who plays Motormouth Maybelle.

The multifaceted actor said he's honed his musical comedy skills for years in various traveling and dinner theater productions. He even recorded a number of singles back in the 1960s following the cancellation of "Leave It To Beaver" in 1963. (The ABC sitcom premiered on Oct. 4, 1957 - 50 years ago this fall.)

"I'm very confident," he said of his Broadway debut, "but if I were to tell you I wasn't a little nervous, I would be lying to you."