NEED TO KNOW
Leave It to Beaver star Jeri Weil is opening up about her time on the show and why she ultimately left Hollywood
Weil said that the producers ‘had a problem’ when she started to go through puberty
She said having to bind her breasts made her stop wanting to be an actor
For years, Leave It to Beaver fans wondered about the abrupt exit of Beaver’s nemesis Judy Hensler. Now, former child star Jeri Weil is opening up about what made her decide to leave the show and eventually Hollywood.
During an Aug. 3 episode of That’s Classic!, Weil, 77, told host John Cato that she did “not” have a fun time making the classic series. Weil’s Judy was an antagonist for Jerry Mathers’ titular Beaver, and she was usually picking on him during the classroom scenes. The part marked her biggest role as a child actor.
Weil remembered that director Norman Tokar, who helmed many of the show’s episodes, “used to come in and just rag on me until he got me really pissed off.” And then he’d start rolling the cameras.
“He got me all riled up so I'd react the way he wanted,” she said.
Peacock
Jeri Weil in the first episode of 'Leave It to Beaver'But then there were the more physical issues. Weil joined the show in 1957, and when it premiered, and she was “bigger than all the boys.” But then, as she moved into her preteen years, she started to go through puberty.
“They really had a problem with me starting to develop.” she said. “They used Ace bandages around my breasts, because I was getting breasts.”
Cato asked how that affected her. “It made me not want to do it anymore is how it affected me. I didn't want to do it,” she said.
Weil also remembered that she got her period for the first time right before filming an episode. In the scene, she said, “We were playing baseball, and they wanted me to hit the ball and twirl. I didn't want to twirl cuz I thought everyone's going to see my Kotex pad.”
She was “freaked out” about it, but did it. After, she thought, “I can't do this anymore. I don't want to do this anymore. I want to grow up.” The producers of the show “never said” where Judy went.
Cato said that experience had to be “pretty traumatic” for Weil. “It was absolutely,” she said. “So, that's why I didn't want to do it anymore.”
She was “finished” with acting, but joked that maybe she should have stuck it out longer, since “many” of the other child actors on the show became producers, including Rich Correll, who’s worked widely as a writer, producer and director.
Still, Weil did forge a bond on set with one castmate: Tony Dow, who played Beaver’s brother Wally Cleaver. “Even 'til I was an adult, I stayed in touch with Tony,” she said of the actor, who died in 2022 at age 77. She noted that he and his wife would call her up over the years to get lunch.
Read the original article on People
Comments