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‘Leave It To Beaver’: Jerry Mathers Cleared the Air About His Supposed ‘I Love Lucy’ Appearance

In the world of TV crossovers, the possibilities are endless, but not always real. Jerry Mathers of Leave It to Beaver fame knows this first hand.

Back in 2019, there was some buzz from classic TV fans. In a classic episode of I Love Lucy titled “Ricky’s Old Girlfriend,” there is a dream sequence that shows Lucy and Little Ricky begging for money outside her husband’s theatre.

The catalyst of the dream is that Lucy is jealous of a woman Ricky used to date. When she comes to town, that jealousy rises over. In the dream, the actor playing Little Ricky in the sequence is older, and wasn’t portrayed by Richard Keith.

Over 60 years later, fans still adore the show and talk about the scene. This is where Mathers comes in. Many fans theorized that Jerry Mathers, who is most famously known as Beaver from Leave It to Beaver, was playing the role.

As cool as that would have been, it was unfortunately not true. This was confirmed by Mathers in a Facebook post:

“I know that many of you have wondered whether or not I appeared in the I Love Lucy episode, “Ricky’s Old Girlfriend,” Mathers said. “Although the young boy with Lucy in the dream sequence may resemble me, I never appeared in an I Love Lucy episode. I enjoy your discussions about the topics that you find interesting about LITB, as well as other facets of my life!

While there are countless “easter eggs” in classic TV, this is unfortunately not one of them.

‘Leave It to Beaver’ Star Jerry Mathers Started Rock Band

While on Leave It to Beaver Mathers became a television sensation. Between 1957 and 1963, the show was one of the nation’s favorites. Similarly, the relatively early days of rock and roll were also getting going as America shifted into the second half of the century.

While the country was in love with the show and Mathers as Beaver, the young actor was in love with rock and roll. Speaking to the Archive of American Television, Mathers opened up on his journey with the genre.

While it may not be surprising to hear that Mathers loved the music, his additional fact about his nickname may be.

“We started a band called Beaver and the Trappers,” he said. “But the funny part is in high school, I was known as the Beaver and I didn’t mind that people called me that… “[They didn’t call me Beaver] because of Leave It to Beaver. It’s because we used to play all the proms and sock hops. It was Beaver and the Trappers and I was the lead singer. So they knew me from this rock and roll group.”

What’s even crazier is that Mathers and his band actually had some commercial success. The band was able to record a single, “Happiness Is Havin’”/”In Misery”. Further, Mathers had solo songs that did fairly well, according to the actor.

“We were No. 1 in Alaska and Hawaii,” he said. “But those were the only two states. I guess we debuted on Billboard with a bullet, but only in Alaska and Hawaii.”