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Beaver's Essay
- On the episode
"My Most Interesting Character" on the family sitcom LEAVE IT TO
BEAVER/CBS/ABC/1957-63, youngster Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver (Jerry Mathers) was given a school assignment to write a 100 word composition.
The theme was "The Most Interesting Character I Have Known.." After some
thinking, Beaver decided to write about his father, Ward Cleaver (Hugh
Beaumont). The composition's first draft read as follows:
The Most Interesting Character I Have Ever Known. by Theodore
Cleaver
The most interesting character I have ever known is my father, Mr.
Ward Cleaver. My father was born right here in this town and still
lives in it. He has a very interesting job. He goes to the office
everyday except Saturday, Sunday and Christmas and Thanksgiving and
all the other holidays. He is also married to my mother. He has two
son me and Wally. The interesting things he did today was put on a
screen, he also took the care to new fan belt which was loose, He can
fix things and take a pill without water.
Upon
hearing Beaver's composition, his brother Wally Cleaver (Tony Dow) told
him it sounded dumb. Beaver replied "I didn't write it dumb it just came
out dumb." Beaver then asked Wally to help him with his assignment.
This is Wally's contribution:
"The
most interesting character I have ever known is my father, Mr. Ward
Cleaver. He was born at the mouth of the Amazon. Which is a river. And
when he was a baby he was stolen out of his crib by a crocodile but in
the knick of time, he was saved by a friendly head hunter with a blow
gun. During the war he was a secret general where he had many
interesting experiences. Now he has a job in an office but he really
works for the FBI. On Sunday he goes to the beach and saves a lot of
people from drowning."
Beaver
eventually realized that he couldn't use Wally's made-up story and
finally with some advice from his mother, June Cleaver (Barbara
Billingsley), Beaver came up with this final revision.
The
most interesting character I have ever known is my father, Mr. Ward
Beaver. He does not have an interesting job, he just works hard and
takes care of all of us. He never shot things in Africa or not saved
anybody that was drowning, but that's all right with me, because when
I'm sick he brings me ice cream and when I tell him things or asks
things he always listens to me. And he would use up a whole Saturday
to make junk with me in the garage. He may not be interesting to you
or someone else, because he's not your father, just mine.
After
his father read the composition Beaver said "I don't know if it sounds
so good, Dad but it sure made me feel good when I was writing it."
Smiling, his father told him "I'm glad it did, Beaver. Made me feel
pretty good to read it, too."
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