Gerald Patrick "Jerry" Mathers (born June 2, 1948) is an American television, film, and stage actor. Mathers is best known for his role in the television sitcom Leave It to Beaver, originally broadcast from 1957 to 1963, in which he played Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver, the younger son of the suburban couple June and Ward Cleaver (played by Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont) and the brother of Wally Cleaver (played by Tony Dow).