Robert "Rusty" Stevens (born 1948) is an American former

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated t ...

best remembered for his role as

Larry Mondello Larry Mondello is a fictional character from the iconic American television series '' Leave It to Beaver'' (1957–1963). He is portrayed by child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stag ...

, Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver's young friend, in the original '' Leave It to Beaver''

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed ...

. Stevens appeared in 67 of the show's 234 episodes, between 1957 and 1960.

Career

Stevens had parts in some TV shows before and after he portrayed

in the sitcom Leave It to Beaver. It was reported that he left the show in 1960 because his family moved from

Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, however, Barbara Billingsley, who played " June Cleaver" on the series, said in a TV Archive interview that Stevens was fired because his overbearing stage mother caused grief for the producers of the series. Stevens briefly returned to acting when he reprised his role as Larry Mondello in the 1983 made-for-television reunion movie '' Still the Beaver.'' He was able to join the cast for Still the Beaver, after Jerry Mathers, who portrayed Beaver Cleaver, tracked him down after searching for many years. At the time, he was working as a car insurance salesman in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

Partial filmography

References

External links

* 1948 births American male television actors American male child actors Living people Male actors from Boston Male actors from Los Angeles {{US-tv-actor-1940s-stub