Ken's Eddie Haskell character in "The New Neighbors" episode was originally planned as a one-off appearance. Finally, the aspirants were winnowed down to thirty or so, then, on his third audition, Ken got the role. Ken recalls his audition for the role of Eddie Haskell as "a huge cattle call" with several hundred young actors. (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. It was just another family show that had enough fans to keep it on the air.Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. The ironic thing about Beaver is that it was never a top 10 show during the original network run. ”He’s the guy who you can blame things on when they go wrong. ”Everyone knows an Eddie Haskell,” Osmond told the publication. Osmond said he was proud of his now iconic role. Osmond’s also become a motorcycle officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, something he told the Chicago Tribune in 1992 had been a dream of his since he was a child. His other credits included roles on “The Munsters” and “Happy Days.” Osmond also reprised the role a few times over the years, including as part of the sitcom sequel “The New Leave It to Beaver” from 1985 to 1986, ‘Still the Beaver” on TBS from 1986 to 1987 and the 1997 film “Leave It to Beaver.” Osmond, 76, played the iconic character, who was a frequent tormentor of Theodore “the Beaver” Cleaver, for the duration of the TV series, which ran from 1957-1963. No cause of death was given, though Lane said the actor had been in ill health for some time. ![]() Osmond’s former partner with the Los Angeles Police Department, Henry Lane, told CNN that Osmond died Monday morning at his home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Shadow Hills, California. “He had his family gathered around him when he passed. “He was an incredibly kind and wonderful father,” his son Eric said in a statement Vent provided to CNN. Ken Osmond, an actor best known for his role as troublemaker Eddie Haskell on “Leave It to Beaver,” has died, his rep Bonnie Vent confirmed to CNN.
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