(Fortunately for Harry Shearer and all his fans, he was to find TV immortality himself, albeit many years later, as one of the main voices on The Simpsons).
It is almost certain that had Harry Shearer continued playing the Eddie Haskell-type character on the later series, neither Eddie Haskell, nor the Leave It To Beaver series itself, would never have gained its present day iconic status. But Harry's character, unlike Ken's relatively harmless cowardly braggart, was dark and menacing. In the original pilot for the show, then-called It's a Small World, Harry Shearer played the pre-Eddie Eddie, a character named Frankie Bennett. This strange but fascinating teenager was to be probably the greatest "scene stealer" in the history of American television.Ī friend of Beaver's older brother, Wally, in the show, Eddie Haskell was a snide, smarmy, loud-mouthed braggart in front of his fellow kids and teenagers, who put up a "sweet and courteous" front whenever an adult or parent was present.
The first few episodes of Leave It To Beaver were pretty standard 1950s "family show" stuff, although as an interesting twist, Leave It To Beaver, unlike other family shows of the '50's, focused on life from the kids' point of view, as opposed to the parents.Īfter a few good, but bland and tame, episodes of Leave It To Beaver, in the episode "The New Neighbors," a new and very different teenage character made his debut on the show. In October of 1957, a new TV show made it's debut- the show was called Leave It To Beaver. TV roles came for Ken too, including guest shots on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Circus Boy (featuring a young pre-Monkees Micky Dolenz), Annie Oakley, and Lassie. Other film roles shortly followed, including So Big (1953), Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955) and Everything But the Truth (1956).
Besides drama, the two boys were also took classes in dance, diction, dialects, martial arts, and equestrian riding.Īt the age of nine, young Ken landed his first movie role, an uncredited bit in the Mayflower/Pilgrim film Plymouth Adventure starring Spencer Tracy in 1952. His father, Thurman, was a carpenter, and Ken described his mother, Pearl, as "a typical movie mother." Every day, after school, Pearl would drive her two sons, Ken and his older brother Dayton, to acting classes. Ken Osmond was born in Glendale, California on June 7, 1943. "A kid like Eddie Haskell only comes along about once every hundred years" Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook. Our thoughts and prayers are with Osmond’s family.Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Cleaver (Barbara Billingsley) was unforgettable, even iconic. His hysterical, obsequious repartee with Mrs.
Some terribly sad news: actor Ken Osmond, who played Eddie Haskell on Leave It to Beaver, has passed away at the age of 76. IMO, the show wouldn't have been half as good without him. Sad to learn that Ken Osmond (Eddie Haskell) died, one of TV's most interesting characters. Ken Osmond, who played Eddie Haskell on the 1950s sitcom Leave it to Beaver, has died at the age of 76. Many fans took to Twitter to express their sadness over Osmond’s passing. In 1988, he officially retired from the LAPD.Īccording to Variety, he is survived by his wife, Sandra, and their sons, Christian and Eric. In 1970, he joined the Los Angeles Police Department and grew a mustache to be less recognizable on the job. He was in the feature films C’mon Let’s Live a Little and With Six You Get Eggroll, but found himself being typecast as Eddie Haskell-type characters.Ĭheck out his guest appearance on Happy Days below. Ken was great at it.?????? /30vGrVeDrEĮddie Haskell was only supposed to be a guest appearance, but the creators enjoyed Osmond so much, he was written as an integral part of the series and appeared in most of the 200+ episodes.Īfter Leave it To Beaver, Osmond had guest roles on Petticoat Junction, The Munsters, Happy Days and a return appearance on Lassie.
Some of the things Eddie Haskell said just cracked me up. He was polished in front of adults, mostly Ward and June Cleaver and even referred to their children as Theodore and Wallace, even though the parents called them Beaver and Wally. He often ragged on young Beaver and was always conniving his next plan. His character was always dressed very nice and was extremely polite to adults, but once they were gone, his real personality was shown. Eddie Haskell was Wally’s best friend who was always up to something and can be described by viewers of the show as smart-mouthed.