Hugh Beaumont of Leave it to Beaver, the Dad every divorced kid wanted.

Jerry Mathers said that he and Tony Dow were very lucky during their acting careers: when they got the chance to make "Leave It To Beaver", serendipity chose good people for the roles of Ward and June.  Hugh Beaumont was a Methodist Minister, but also a thoughtful, intelligent man. Barbara Billingsley had two kids of her own, basically the same age as Wally and The Beav. Both treated the kids as if they were there own and it showed.
Though Hugh hadn't been cast in the Pilot, he auditioned with Jerry, who prayed that Hugh would get the role. He had worked with Hugh in a religious tome and liked him a lot.

My parents had a really nasty divorce and I, like Jerry and Wally, leaned on Hugh/Ward as a substitute when my Dad wasn't available.

When Hugh Beaumont retired from acting, he went to his home in Minnesota where he raised Christmas Trees. He would tell his family nothing made him happier than seeing the look on kids faces when they picked out their Christmas Tree.

Hugh and his wife with Barbara and her husband.

Hugh married his wife Kathryn on Easter Sunday 1941

Hugh and his wife Kathryn

Hugh, his wife and kids on their family lake in Minnesota

Tony Dow and his wife visit Hugh shortly before his death. The cast and crew became lifelong friends thanks to the atmosphere on set, much of which credit goes to Hugh.

Don Knotts and his two kids, the families behind the families. Don's kids said he was a very devoted father, not quite as funny at home, but a loving, gentle man.

Another day in the neighborhood

Hugh Beaumont was a kind, gentle man who died in Germany visiting his son, who was a college professor May 14, 1982. Hugh had a stroke earlier which caused him to retired from his beloved Minnesota Christmas Tree Farm.

Jerry Mathers and his real life family

 Jerry Mathers/Beaver Clever buddy Gilbert/Stephen Talbot and Whitey/Stanley Fafara. Stephen would go on be an award winning journalist, while Stanley developed a drug problem and died penniless. Jerry and Stephen contributed to buying Stanley a gravestone.

Jerry and Stephen served their country during the Vietnam War

 

Tony with Mom and Dad

Eugene Hugh Beaumont (February 16, 1910 – May 14, 1982) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Ward Cleaver on the television series Leave It to Beaver, originally broadcast from 1957 to 1963, and as private detective Michael Shayne in a series of low-budget crime films in 1946 and 1947. 

Early life 

Beaumont was born in Lawrence, Kansas, to Ethel Adaline Whitney and Edward H. Beaumont, a traveling salesman whose profession kept the family on the move. After graduating from the Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the class of 1930, he attended the University of Chattanooga, where he played football.  He later studied at the University of Southern California and graduated with a master's degree in theology in 1946. 

Beaumont began his career in show business in 1931 by performing in theaters, nightclubs, and radio. He began acting in motion pictures in 1940, appearing in over three dozen films. Many of those roles were bit parts and minor roles and were not credited. He often worked with actor William Bendix; they had prominent roles in the 1946 film noir The Blue Dahlia, playing the friends of star Alan Ladd's character. In 1946–1947, Beaumont starred in five films as private detective Michael Shayne, assuming the role from Lloyd Nolan. In 1950, he narrated the short film A Date with Your Family. He also starred in The Mole People in 1956.

In the early 1950s, Beaumont secured television work, often with guest roles on series such as Adventures of Superman, City Detective, Crossroads, Fireside Theatre, Ford Theatre, The Lone Ranger, Medic, The Millionaire, and Schlitz Playhouse of Stars. From 1951 to 1953, he narrated the Reed Hadley series Racket Squad, based on the cases of fictional detective Captain John Braddock in San Francisco. In 1954 and 1955, Beaumont appeared in The Public Defender, Hadley's second series, appearing in three episodes as Ed McGrath. That year, he guest-starred in the Lassie episode "The Well", one of two episodes filmed as pilots for the series. He also portrayed a sympathetic characterization of the Western bandit Jesse James on the series Tales of Wells Fargo.

In September 1957, Beaumont was selected to replace Max Showalter, who had appeared as Ward Cleaver in "It's a Small World", the original pilot for the sitcom Leave It to Beaver, in the role of wise small-town father Ward Cleaver. After initially airing to tepid ratings on CBS, the series moved to ABC for its second season, where it achieved more solid ratings. Beginning with the third season, Beaumont began directing several episodes; including the series' final episode "Family Scrapbook", often considered the first series finale. 

In 2014, TV Guide ranked Beaumont's portrayal of Ward Cleaver at number 28 on its list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time".  Jerry Mathers, who read with Hugh Beaumont of his audition, said he prayed that Hugh would get the role as his and Tony Dow's father on the series because he was such a nice man. Jerry had appeared with Hugh in a religious show years before and liked him.

In 1959, before production on the third season of Leave It to Beaver began, Beaumont's wife, son, and mother-in-law were driving from Minnesota to Hollywood to visit when a car accident killed Beaumont's mother-in-law and severely injured his son. Jerry Mathers later stated that the tragedy seriously affected Beaumont's participation in the production, with Beaumont often just "walking through" his part. 

After Leave It to Beaver ended production in 1963, Beaumont appeared in many community theater productions and played a few guest roles on television series such as Marcus Welby, M.D., Mannix, Petticoat Junction, The Virginian, and Wagon Train. In February 1966, he made another appearance on Lassie, 11 years after his first. 

He also continued to have success as a writer, selling several television screenplays and radio scripts as well as short stories to various magazines. He gradually left the entertainment business, launching a second career as a Christmas-tree farmer in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. After suffering a debilitating stroke in 1970, Beaumont officially retired from acting in 1972. In 1980, he did appear in a Beaver reunion with the rest of the cast that was conducted by a local Los Angeles TV station.

Casey Adams, stage name for Max Showalter, was the original Ward Cleaver and Paul Sullivan was Wally, Its a Small World, the original pilot.

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Left to right, Bob Mosher and Joe Connelly creators of "Leave it to Beaver" with Director Norman Tokar, with Jerry Mathers, Tony Dow and Hugh Beaumont. An early appearance of Eddie Haskell/Ken Osmond, who later became an LAPD Police Officer.

Personal life and death

On April 13, 1941, Beaumont wed actress Kathryn Adams (née Hohn) at the Hollywood Congregational Church. They had sons Hunter and Mark, and daughter Kristy. Their union lasted 33 years, until their divorce in 1974. 

Beaumont was a lay minister in the Methodist Church. During World War II, he was a conscientious objector and served as a medic. 

On May 14, 1982, Beaumont died of a heart attack while visiting his son Hunter, a psychologist, in Munich, West Germany. He was 72 years old. 

WIKIPEDIA