Jerry Mathers | 6/2/1948 | 73

Jerry Mathers was eternally associated with the ideal of the 1950s American family as the freckle-faced, ball cap-wearing title character on Leave it to Beaver. The series ran for six seasons, cementing Mathers’ alter ego in popular culture long before they coined the phrase.

After the show ended, he tried to build his own identity in various ways. He then ventured into a few different investments, including owning and operating a catering company in California and briefly working in real estate. With Still the Beaver and The New Leave it to Beaver, Mathers returned to the Cleaver household with a mix of American nostalgia and his need to make a living. He settled into an irregular career that included guest appearances on retrospectives like Child Stars: Their Story and Better Luck Tomorrow. However, cameo appearances as himself in Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector would continue to be a feature of Mathers’ body of work – indicating the kid actor embodied a revered period in American history.