"Eddie Haskell" RIP

Ken Osmond, dead at 76. Sad news. He sure did his part to make LITB the great show it was.

I can hear it now: “Good morning, Mr and Mrs Cleaver. It’s so nice to see you both again!” :o

RIP, Eddie!

Loved him—all smarmy with the parents but then all jive with Wally and Beav.

“You’re looking lovely today, Mrs. Cleaver.” :slight_smile: He was a great character.

Dang. He’s only five years older than I am.

The little touch of acid that cut through the sugary sweetness of the Cleaver family. I’ll bet any fan of the show can remember more memorable moments with Eddie than with Wally.

Ah, Eddie. Not you too. RIP. :frowning:

Like the time he tricked Beaver into telling his new friend he had a face like a pig in Spanish? :eek:

Excellent analysis of that dynamic.

The humor Eddie Haskell brought to LITB cannot be overstated.

And the skill with which Osmond portrayed him, though widely recognized, remains underappreciated IMO.

One of my all-time favorite characters.
mmm

“Oh, it’s that Eddie Haskell. I sure do hate him!” :mad:

Best character on the show.

My son has a friend who is an Eddie Haskell type, as least as far as being complementary and polite to me. He does have that mischievous smile that lets you know he’s sometimes up to no good. All in all, though he’s a good kid.

Eddie and Lumpy, together again. I used to watch that show every week. And I followed in Ward’s footsteps by joining the Seabees.

As an adult he became a police officer with the LAPD where he eventually became a motorcycle officer. He was shot during a foot chase and eventually medically retired.

Indeed. Sometime around 1980 I went to a “Jerry Mathers Speaks” event at USD. It wasn’t expensive, just a few bucks to hear him reminisce a little and take questions from the audience.
I proudly wore my “Eddie Haskell Lives!” tee shirt.
Jerry came out, gave a rather uninspired little talk. Mentioned the crazy rumors about his death in VietNam, Tony Dow’s supposed porn career; talked about how the cast members still kept in touch with each other.
Then he took questions from the audience. I remember the first question being about Barbara Billingsley (“How is she, what’s she doing”), and possibly a question about the kid who played Larry Mondello. Then, the question- “How’s Ken Osmond?”
Jerry hesitated for a moment, and then without a word of introduction Ken Osmond quietly strolled onstage from the wings. He hadn’t been mentioned in any of the advance notices.
The audience went berserk. An extended standing ovation, cheers, whistles.
When he finally started talking he was kind of quiet and understated. I know I was surprised to hear him say that he had never understood Eddie’s popularity- the character he liked most was Ward. Even as he was playing our favorite weasel, he was identifying with Ward’s “honest, decent, family man.” (Close enough to his exact words.) This was either during or shortly after his career with the LAPD.

At the meet & greet afterwards, after having my Eddie tee shirt autographed by both Eddie and The Beav, I happened to overhear a man and woman who were part Jerry and Ken’s entourage talking to some other people. The guy was telling someone “It’s been like that everywhere we’ve appeared. They go wild when Ken walks out.”

This is a celebrity death that actually hurts a little.

Great story TC.

Eddie was my favorite character. One of the great ‘villains’ on TV.

That would have been right in the middle. He was with the LAPD from 1970 to 1988.

So sorry to see you go, Eddie. RIP.

I’ve been trying to check my date, and now think it was 1975-78. (Which doesn’t affect your point.)

That would have been before he was shot in 1980. He apparently wasn’t injured too badly. Bullets were stopped by his vest. I never saw why he was medically retired 8 years later but it’s really none of our business.

Great story, TreacherousCretin. Thank you. Eddie Haskell was a memorable character.

RIP, Ken Osmond.