What Was Ward Cleaver's First Name?

Howard

Ward, you were pretty hard on the beaver last night.

Ward doesn't have to be short for anything. They never say that Ward is short or a diminutive for any other name on the show.

As far as it goes, his name is Ward Cleaver, jr.

ALWAYS THOUGHT HIS FIRST NAME WAS "WARD."

Wardliness

Warden

Dick

Toward - as in dick pointed towards Wally’s hot ass

They wanted him to have the squarest possible name, and I think they hit it on the head.

It was short for Spudward. Spudward Jehosophat Cleaver.

Wardace

Warddington

I knew a Ward. We had a contest to name Operas about him. My favorites were Un Wardo in Maschera and Wardello.

Il Wardiato

Warderdammerung.

Theodore is fond of Le Boeve.

His name is Wayward.

Forward

Backward

Ward is actually his middle name. His first name is Emergency.

akWARD

Untoward Cleaver.

Ward's cleaver could not get enough. It was constantly 'meat in muffin' day.

Wardrobe

Ward of the State

Awkward

Ward you asshole!

PsychWard

He was actually born Wardeena, but changed it after he transitioned.

Wayward. He did, after all, name our youngest son after my lady parts.

Speaking of him, anyone else have a crush on Ward, the Ward in those early seasons when he was way cooler and dressed even in jeans one time I think and he was adorable with little 7 year old Beaver. Wally was always a hunk, even in the first season. You just knew he was going to grow up handsome and Beaver dorky. What can you say about June? She was always likeable.

Mr. Cleaver's given name is "Edward Wallace Cleaver."

Wally is a junior -- "Edward Wallace Clever, Jr."

They call him "Wally."

I was a Bronson.

You can all call him Ward, but I call him Stud.

Who's buried in Grant's tomb, OP?

SquidWARD

It's more interesting to talk about Ward and June's family. We never saw them - except for Ward's "Uncle Billie" and June's "Aunt Martha". It was hinted that June's mother was a bitch because there were incidents where the mother would embarrass June and Ward once said something about Aunt Martha helping June when she was young. Maybe June's mother was an alcoholic.

In one of the early episodes, June went to help her sister but we never saw the sister. And Ward apparently had brothers who tortured him when he was a kid, but we never saw them either.

Also strange, Ward and June didn't seem to have any friends except for the Rutherfords.

And....what did Ward do for a living? Some episodes made it sound like he worked for a marketing company--but there was a whole episode about how he was an engineer or architect so why did he settle for some middle range marketing job?

Ward was retired military. That's why you never saw him at work. There wasn't any. The whole family lived on the federal dole.

Linked below is the proof. Ward in his military duds, with a magnificent patch of chest hair showing. Why did June shut him out after only two kids? I bet he had a fine time teaching his sons the ways of the world.

R30, I agree. Ward was a hard ass that first season and was often in jeans and a sweatshirt. He yelled at the kids too but they softened the character later.

R32

I was also 'the Belle of East St Louis.'

So was I, bitch June.

How did the title "Leave It To Beaver" ever get approved in the prudish 1950s?

Hasn't the word beaver been a euphemism for vagina for decades?

Hahaha R2. I always thought it was just Ward.

"Beaver" is hardly a euphemism for "vagina."

"Lady Parts" is a euphemism for "vagina." "Beaver" is just coarse slang.

I imagine Fred Rutherford and Ward were blow buds. It seems only natural.

The original title was "Wall and the Beaver," but the network execs thought people would think it was about a boy and an animal.

Oh Mrs Landers, Larry and the Beaver were talking after the bell rang. I told them that just because you weren't here doesn't mean they could talk after the bell

Yes, R41, to the point where the venerable Beaver College decided to change its' name to something less provocative.

I always wanted to see Ward and Wally and Eddie Haskell get it on.

r48 I think Eddie was more into young Beav!

R48... Hey don't forget Lumpy!

The Beaver, a venerable magazine on Canadian history , decided it was time for a name change.

[quote]Oh Mrs Landers, Larry and the Beaver were talking after the bell rang. I told them that just because you weren't here doesn't mean they could talk after the bell

Now Judy, you know darn well my name is MISS Landers. So as punishment, you need to stay after school today and clap erasers. And I hope you get lung cancer, you cunty little tattletale!

Penny: Miss Landers Beaver was not paying attention during the Pledge of Allegiance, he was looking out the window

Beaver: I was not, I was looking at the flag outside on the flagpole

Miss Landers: From now on let's all look at the same flag.

Meat

Beaver definitely pinged.

Cynthia

The writers had fun with "Beaver" whenever they could. In one episode, Beaver gets put into the football game in the last moments and somehow manages to score, thereby winning the game. He becomes a football hero and the Malt Shoppe introduces a new treat called "The Beaver Special."

The kids all order the Beaver Special and one asks Beaver, 'What's it like eating a sundae named after you?' Beaver replies, 'The Beaver Special...it's like eating your own best friend.' I just don't think the networks were really paying really close attention to these things.

I don't know what Ward's first name was, but I do know what he did in WWII -- do you?

R58- Well, Beaver thought he was a hero but he helped build camps because he was an engineer. There was a hilarious scene where Beaver thought he could fool his friends into thinking Ward was a hero by having Wally write a letter from Ward to June, presumably written during the war.

The letter started, "Dear June, I'm sitting here with my sub-machine gun waiting for the enemy to approach. Last night I captured 65 prisoners single-handedly and the General said, 'good going, Ward'. He said he wished he had more men like me......"

Did any of you watch "Still the Beaver" (or whatever it was called), the follow-up series they did in the '80s? It was on Disney Channel or in first-run syndication or something. I think Beaver was divorced with two kids still living with June and Wally was a widower with a little girl (Ward had passed on).

[quote] Wally was always a hunk, even in the first season.

He was thirteen when the show started.

You know, i really don't think they should allow you to have posting privileges in prison, Mr. Sandusky.

R59, Ward was in the Seabees (Construction Brigade = CBs).

Judy:. Miss Landers, Beaver is not helping on our project.

Miss Landers:. Is that true, Beaver?

Beaver: I am too helping, I added the screen door.

Judy: But we are designing a submarine!

Judy = NanMichwomyn

I saw Violet Rutherford was played by Veronica Cartwright (later of "Alien" fame). Her sister was Angela Cartwright , of "Make Room For Daddy" and "Lost In Space". Their parents made a pretty penny off of their daughters.

Veronica's greatest stint as a child actress was in 'The Birds," where she showed her genius for crying hysterically for the first time on camera.

I think Angela must've been pissed when "Lost In Space" was hijacked by Will, the Robot, and that Queen.

I love Veronica Cartwright young or old. Angela too! Fine people or at least have given a lifelong effortless impression of being well contented. Never any airing of any dirty laundry or woeful troubles.

[quote]I don't know what Ward's first name was, but I do know what he did in WWII -- do you?

Big deal -- I know what Larry Mondello's mother did before she was married.

[quote]How did the title "Leave It To Beaver" ever get approved in the prudish 1950s? Hasn't the word beaver been a euphemism for vagina for decades?

Not really, the etymology for it only goes back to 1927 and that was in Britain. It is possible that soldiers stationed in the UK during WWII might have brought it back with them, but it was far from common in the wider culture in the 1950s. I, for one, have never figured out why the word beaver became associated with a woman's genitals.

Thanks to you all I just rewatched Still the Beaver on utube. LOL Admittedly I fast forwarded through some of it.

Beaver: Mom I can't find the boys anywhere. I've looked everywhere. I have to call the police.

June: Don't worry they're upstairs.

Beaver: The Police?!

Fun fact: When he was in the Marines during WW II his buddies called him PsychoWard Cleaver.

Who cares about names when this is fucking you two or three times a week?

I would have loved to have been Beaver just to see Wally develop into a man.

He was no Alex Stone.

Wally to Ward one day, while they are changing the oil in the car: "Dad, the Beaver kept me awake all last night again!"

Ward: "Me too, Wally!"

His full name was Burt Ward Cleaver

He played football in college. His teammates called him "Meat"

R60- No, I never watched that series and it sounds a little depressing because it's so anti-Beaver. Beaver divorced and Wally a widower? That would be like finding out June has cancer.

Plus I wouldn't want to see the show in color. For some reason I always like old series in black and white - they seem more real somehow.

R69- Wasn't Larry's mother a dental nurse? That was the episode where Beaver wants to make June sound glamorous so he writes a composition for school and says that June was a chorus girl who danced in beer joints. I think he said that Ward was a tap dancer.

[quote]Wasn't Larry's mother a dental nurse?

Really, I didn't know that

[quote]Well, Beaver thought he was a hero but he helped build camps because he was an engineer

We don't know what Ward did in the CBs or SeaBees

The only thing we know for sure about Ward's career is he wasn't a lawyer.

When Wally brings a girl home for dinner, she asks Ward if he is a lawyer and he says no. She says it looks like the kind of a house a lawyer would live in.

Barbara Billingsley once explained in an interview that the show was about the kids and was created around the idea that everything would be presented from their point of view.

For example, June always looked her very best, even when vacuuming the tops of the drapes, because every little boy thinks his mother is beautiful. That's how Beaver sees her and that's how she was presented. Always perfect.

That organizing idea is what makes Leave it to Beaver different from shows where the children are accessories to the adult leads. In Beaver, Ward and June are the supporting players. We don't know what Ward does because from Beaver's perspective, it's not important. What happens at the Malt Shoppe is important, but not now the mortgage gets paid or dinner is put on the table each night. Leave it to Beaver just never gets to any of that these are not matters of concern for a 10 year old boy.

I always thought that Ward did something in advertising because in one episode he told June that they were doing a survey at work about women's purchasing habits.

Barbara "Valley of the Dolls" Parkins played Beaver's babysitter on an episode.

And Ryan O'Neal was in an episode too.

Was Mayfield really just a little Peyton Place?

Ryan O'Neal played a haggard teen husband.

[quote]Wasn't Larry's mother a dental nurse?

Bingo! Let's be best friends!

Thank you, R84. That is an excellent and perceptive take on the show. That never occurred to me but I really like that explanation.

Nowadays adults make everything about themselves - even their children's lives and play. This explanation actually makes me appreciate the show even more.

What are some of your favorite standout episodes? I liked the rookie season one because of the fresh appeal feel to it but can't recollect any one particular episode. I like the ep where Beav and Wally take a Greyhound bus to visit an aunt but didn't make it and a couple of others that involved troubled situations with Ward's car.

I liked the episode where Beaver lends Larry some money, then gets mad at him when he doesn't give it back. I liked it because it showed us that even though Beaver was a nice kid, he didn't take shit from anyone.

My favorite characters were those little cunts Judy and Penny. So any episode with either of them is a good one.

Oh Miss Landers, Larry refused to swallowed Beaver's semen. I told them with HIV prevalent yet, it was perfectly safe, but they told me to fuck myself