Why Did Jerry Mathers Quit Acting? Blame Football, Not Fame

But when the show ended in 1963, Mathers didn't chase a bigger spotlight. He walked away from Hollywood, and he did it happily.

Now 77, Mathers told Fox News Digital that life after the final episode was exactly what he needed: a normal teenage experience.

"It ended at the right time for me," he said. "I wanted to play sports, and of course, working at the studio, that wasn't something I was able to do. I was able to be on the track team and football team. That was something I really wanted."

For six years, Mathers had been working full-time — five days a week at the studio, weekends often spent doing publicity. He wasn't resentful, just ready for something else.

"I'm not saying I didn't like it, but it was just time," he said. "I was getting ready to go to high school and [Tony Dow] was getting ready to go to college. That was something we really couldn't do if we were still on the show."

Leave It to Beaver, which aired from 1957 to 1963, ran for over 230 episodes and became one of the most iconic family sitcoms of the era. It starred Mathers alongside Tony Dow as Wally, Barbara Billingsley as June Cleaver, and Hugh Beaumont as Ward. The show's success even led to a sequel series in the 1980s that ran for over 100 more episodes.

Mathers had been acting since the age of two — first in commercials, then in live TV, and eventually on film and series television. He said his entry into show business happened by accident: a woman at a department store saw him modeling clothes with his mother and asked if he'd appear in a fashion show for $15 and a free outfit. His mother agreed. "I got a lifetime deal," Mathers joked.

Unlike some other child stars of his generation, Mathers credits his stability to his family — especially his mother, Marilyn, now 96, who still serves as president of Motion Picture Mothers, a nonprofit for parents of children in showbiz.

"She took really good care of me," he said. "I know some other child stars had very tough lives, but I had a very good time. I never had any problems with it."

After Beaver, Mathers continued to step away from the spotlight. He served six years in the National Guard — not in combat, but in a heavy-duty transport unit. "We were doing very, very hard work," he said. "But it was something I felt I should do for my country."

He later tried out real estate, stayed active in fan conventions, and started a family.

"Life for me today is very, very good," he said. "I'm a grandfather now — I have five grandchildren… I still do autograph shows because those are fun. I get to go all over the country… I'm just so grateful."

Though Mathers and the Beaver cast stayed close for decades, most of them have since passed on:

• Hugh Beaumont (Ward Cleaver) died in 1982 at age 73
• Barbara Billingsley (June Cleaver) died in 2010 at 94
• Ken Osmond (Eddie Haskell) died in 2020 at 76
• Tony Dow (Wally Cleaver) died in 2022 at 77

Only Mathers and Rusty Stevens — who played Beaver's best friend, Larry Mondello — are still living from the core cast.

"Tony and I have always been very good friends," Mathers said of his longtime co-star. "He was a wonderful person to work with… It was funny because I'm the oldest in my family and Tony was the baby of his — it was the exact opposite of what was on the show."

Today, Mathers doesn't regret leaving acting behind when he did. If anything, he thinks it's the reason he was able to live a balanced life. "It was something that I liked doing," he said. "But I also liked being able to have my own life."