Fred Rutherford - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

celliott51 · 11-15-2001, 08:20 PM

Does anyone know Fred Rutherford's occupation on Leave It to Beaver? I think he worked in the same office as Ward. What was their business? Thanks for any information.

tdr · 11-15-2001, 11:27 PM

The show seemed to deliberately keep it rather vague about the nature of the business. It is somewhat like the location of Mayfield-- we can glean a few hints from words or backgrounds, but there is no way to 'confirm' anything.

In one of the early eps, Ward tells Beaver he was an engineer, so he was put in construction during the war and did not see combat. However, the few times we see his 'office' [looks like the same set as Beaver's school classroom], there is no indication of engineering work. Rather it looks more like an accountant's office. And Ward occasionally does refer to his "clients" and the higher executives ["big boys"] from his company, at least once flying in from New York. I think the best guess may be "account executive" as Ward's position, and presumably Fred's also. Perhaps a technical sales type position. Of course, it was only fiction, and not centered around the adult characters anyway, so we will never 'know.'

11-15-2001, 08:20 PM	#1
celliott51 Member First Time Poster Join Date: Nov 15, 2001 Posts: 1	Fred Rutherford Does anyone know Fred Rutherford's occupation on Leave It to Beaver? I think he worked in the same office as Ward. What was their business? Thanks for any information.

11-15-2001, 11:27 PM	#2
tdr Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 23, 2001 Posts: 1,454	The show seemed to deliberately keep it rather vague about the nature of the business. It is somewhat like the location of Mayfield-- we can glean a few hints from words or backgrounds, but there is no way to 'confirm' anything. In one of the early eps, Ward tells Beaver he was an engineer, so he was put in construction during the war and did not see combat. However, the few times we see his 'office' [looks like the same set as Beaver's school classroom], there is no indication of engineering work. Rather it looks more like an accountant's office. And Ward occasionally does refer to his "clients" and the higher executives ["big boys"] from his company, at least once flying in from New York. I think the best guess may be "account executive" as Ward's position, and presumably Fred's also. Perhaps a technical sales type position. Of course, it was only fiction, and not centered around the adult characters anyway, so we will never 'know.'