Larry Mondello
| Larry Mondello | |
|---|---|
Margaret Mondello (mother)Unknown (sister) Unknown (brother) Unknown (little brother) |
Larry Mondello is a
Description
Larry is
Larry's mother, Margaret (portrayed by Madge Blake), is a nervous, exasperated parent, whose husband is so perennially out-of-town on business, the phrase "If your father were home . . ." comes out of her mouth, at some point, in almost every episode in which she appears. Mrs. Mondello sometimes takes Larry to Beaver's father for discipline. Larry's father makes one brief appearance, however; he is seen talking to Larry backstage in the second-season episode, "School Play". Larry has older siblings: an unseen married brother, and an unmarried, unseen, and unattractive (according to Larry) 18-year-old sister (age mentioned in the 3rd season) who lives at home. A little brother was mentioned only once, in the 1958 episode "Beaver and Henry," but never seen. In one episode, Mrs. Mondello catches Larry and Beaver reading Larry's sister's diary. Reports from various characters on the show indicate Larry's home life is one of "hollering" and physical punishments.
Larry and Beaver have an on-again/off-again relationship. The boys sometimes quarrel but make up when the clouds pass. They are in the same class together at Grant Avenue Grammar School and are forced to attend ballroom dance lessons at Miss Spencer's School of the Dance on Saturdays. In the first-season episode "Beaver's Short Pants", Larry taunts Beaver at school for having "girl's stockings" and calls him a "sissy" for wearing a formal short pants suit with kneesocks, provoking Beaver to punch Larry in the stomach. Larry runs away from home in one episode — but only as far as Beaver's bathroom where he sleeps in the bath tub. In another episode, Larry throws his mother's pin money out the window, picks it up later, and claims the money fell from an airplane.
Actor Stevens left the show when his family moved from Burbank, California, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a move which brought Stevens's acting career to an end. According to
References
- Applebaum, Irwyn. The World According to Beaver. TV Books, 1984, 1998. (ISBN 1575000520).
- Bank, Frank. Call Me Lumpy: my Leave It To Beaver days and other wild Hollywood life . Addax, 2002. (ISBN 978-1886110298).
- Colella, Jennifer. The Leave It to Beaver Guide to Life: wholesome wisdom from the Cleavers! Running Press, 2006. (ISBN 9780762427734).
- Leave It to Beaver: the complete first season. Universal Studios, 2005.
- Leave It to Beaver: the complete second season. Universal Studios, 2006. (ISBN 1417074876)
- Mathers, Jerry. ...And Jerry Mathers as "The Beaver". Berkley Boulevard Books, 1998. (ISBN 0425163709)