Robert "Rusty" Stevens (born 1948) is an American former child actor best remembered for his role as Larry Mondello, Beaver Cleaver's friend and classmate, in the original Leave It to Beaver television series.[1] Stevens appeared in 68 of the show's 234 episodes, between 1957 and 1960.[2]
Career
Stevens had parts in some TV shows before and after he portrayed Larry Mondello in the sitcom Leave It to Beaver.[1] It was reported that he left the show in 1960 because his family moved from Burbank, California, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;[1] 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.[3] This would tie in more closely with the fact that, post Leave It to Beaver, Stevens continued to get occasional roles in California-shot TV shows through 1963 (including My Three Sons, Perry Mason and The Rifleman), before his career as a child actor came to a close. Stevens himself mentioned a 3rd reason his career ended: he wanted to get out of the show to live a normal life as a normal kid.
He briefly returned to acting when he reprised his role as Larry Mondello in the 1983 made-for-television reunion movie Still the Beaver.[4] He also appeared in three episodes of the follow-up series The New Leave It to Beaver through 1989.
Stevens 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.[5] At the time, he was working as a car insurance salesman in New Jersey.[5]
