Acting ability vs Performance & Attitude about acting vs writing

[Stepperry40]

Did Jerry Mathers lose acting ability or was more an attitude sift due being teen and been acting since tiny child also how much if it was writing stories not always matching the characters age or his own age? I think at least by age he would entering 10 grade not 9th grade.

[stevea]

Only opinion, of course--but I think after four seasons he'd had enough. The kid actor life must be really difficult--no normal schools and social interaction limited to off time.

So for the last two seasons he was probably getting restless. And the writing of kid situation episodes like Beaver the Bunny probably didn't help matters.

As far as grade goes, in the sixth season the producers corrected Beaver's grade to eighth (in no season was he referred to as being in the seventh grade). Jerry's real year of graduation from high school was 1967, and the show would have had Beaver starting high school in the fall of 1963. And that would also place Beaver's graduation in 1967.

[Stepperry40]

In context of the was going to be a freshmen fall of ‘63 where as in real life if had been a normal kid and not child actor since the age of 2 he would likely have been starting 10 grade and not 9th grade. However I would assume since had limited high school units if any he just started grade in 1963 as would character so finished in 1967 being 19. He joined the USAFR in 1966 while still in high school. I would also that he was tried calling of acting.

[vitoscotti]

I think Jerry Mathers still had some limited acting ability through the series. How much it diminished it's hard to tell with weak writing asking him to basically play a younger mentally challenged character at the end. Once he did this Lassie appearance it was time to find a new career.

[Babalu]

His voice also changed significantly. As a small child he could do that high pitched winy voice. His adult voice was a much lower monotone. There wasn't much inflection he could do with it.

[Tankeryanker]

Originally Posted by vitoscotti

I think Jerry Mathers still had some limited acting ability through the series. How much it diminished it's hard to tell with weak writing asking him to basically play a younger mentally challenged character at the end. Once he did this Lassie appearance it was time to find a new career.

Everyone in that, including Butch should get a new career. Is Butch short for butchered?

[BobbyStBlues]

I noticed this happens a lot with child actors. They're good as kids but the older they get become worse actors. I wonder if part of it is the older they get they become more self conscious? Like they become more camera aware or doubtful? Or maybe they were good at playing one type of kid role and don't have much range.

[1960'sTVfan]

Originally Posted by stevea

Only opinion, of course--but I think after four seasons he'd had enough. The kid actor life must be really difficult--no normal schools and social interaction limited to off time.

So for the last two seasons he was probably getting restless. And the writing of kid situation episodes like Beaver the Bunny probably didn't help matters.

As far as grade goes, in the sixth season the producers corrected Beaver's grade to eighth (in no season was he referred to as being in the seventh grade). Jerry's real year of graduation from high school was 1967, and the show would have had Beaver starting high school in the fall of 1963. And that would also place Beaver's graduation in 1967.

That's the main problem I have with this series, the school grades the boys are said to be attending. In the 1st season, Wally is said to be in 8th grade and Beaver in 2nd grade, when it really should have been Wally in 7th grade and Beaver in 3rd grade.

[Stepperry40]

Would the Beaver or Jerry Mathers anyway have been 8 or 9 both when filming started and the first aired? I believe he would 3rd or 4th grade. More likely 4th grade while Wally would likely have been in 7th grade.

[stevea]

Using the stat from Wikipedia that he graduated from high school in 1967 (which I think I've read in his book, also), I charted it out backwards from there.

He would be the same age during virtually the whole school year, with a birthday of June 2, 1948. Being born later in the year, he is on the younger side of kids in his same grade, which would account for how young he looks for being a third grader in 1957. This may be why the show put him in grade 2 at the start of the show. When he shot up in 1961 they had to true him up in the final season.

Age School year Grade - Real Grade - Show

7 1955-1956 1 -

8 1956-1957 2 -

9 1957-1958 3 2

10 1958-1959 4 3

11 1959-1960 5 4

12 1960-1961 6 5

13 1961-1962 7 6

14 1962-1963 8 8

15 1963-1964 Fr -

16 1964-1965 So -

17 1965-1966 Jr -

18 1966-1967 Sr -

Well,, the chart didn't work--the program close spaces.

[stevea]

Age / School year / Grade - Real / Grade - Show

7 / 1955-1956 / 1 / -

8 1956-1957 2 -

9 1957-1958 3 2

10 1958-1959 4 3

11 1959-1960 5 4

12 1960-1961 6 5

13 1961-1962 7 6

14 1962-1963 8 8

15 1963-1964 Fr -

16 1964-1965 So -

17 1965-1966 Jr -

18 1966-1967 Sr -

(I tried a copy/paste, which didn't fool the program!)

[Stepperry40]

That looks good. My dad was born in LA about 11 months after Jerry Mathers on July 12, 1949 he graduated from Pacific High in San Bernardino CA in June 1967 at a few weeks short of 17 where Jerry Mathers would have among the youngest of the oldest in the year of grads. However, I believe that he actually graduated in 1968 but I imagine that he might have been behind due either being slow or more likely due to the all the child acting had put him behind.

[stevea]

You may be right, about 1968. From his book, chapter 12:

"When I entered Notre Dame High School in the fall of 1963" and "Beaver Cleaver was no more. I was fifteen-year-old Jerry Mathers, a high school freshman..."

Later: "The Brothers at Notre Dame didn't look favorably at my taking so much time off to travel throughout the year. They promptly suspended me, and consequently my grade point average suffered; not enough to keep me from graduating..."

"Soon after my graduation, and my trip to England and Ireland, things began to change fast around the country. By 1967, we were knee-deep in a quagmire called Vietnam."

"There would be no Summer of Love for me. Rather, my summer of 1967 was spent in the blazing Texas heat at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas."

He doesn't come out and say he had graduated in 1967. Earlier he had said his GPA suffered but it didn't keep him from graduating, but it doesn't say when.

Chapter 13 is about the air force--but at least by skimming it, I found the references to dates kind of went by the wayside.

He could have gotten a GED later, at some point.

[Stepperry40]

He probably finished 1967. I also had entered the Air Force Reserve in 1966 but still continued High school. So during the summer of 1967 after high school he was hot in Texas. He got the rank of Sergeant.

[Howard]

Yes, the show ended with Wally about to enter college and Beaver starting high school come that fall of 1963.