The Surprising Reason Why Larry Mondello Disappeared From ‘Leave It to Beaver’
Whatever happened to Beaver’s buddy Larry Mondello, played by Rusty Stevens? I’m going to do my best to answer that question, but first, let’s talk about Leave It to Beaver. The show, which debuted on CBS in 1957, switched over to ABC during its sophomore season and ran for six years in total.
As you might expect, a lot changed over the course of the show’s six seasons. Not only did the boys, Theodore “the Beaver” (Jerry Mathers) and his brother Wally (Tony Dow), mature, but the Beaver’s best friend and primary mischief-maker, Larry Mondello, just up and disappeared during the middle of the show’s run.
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Larry was portrayed by child actor Robert “Rusty” Stevens. Rusty was a natural in front of the camera; he genuinely seemed like a real kid, making it easy to see why Larry might not always make the best of decisions. On the show, Larry’s father was perpetually out of town and his mother seemed a little older and significantly more tired than your typical TV mom.
During Leave It to Beaver’s fourth season, it was announced that Rusty would not be returning. Some people said that Rusty’s family had moved to the East Coast due to his father getting a new job, and for many years, that was the story that everyone believed, because it just made sense.
However, after a while, stories started circulating that suggested there might have been another reason behind Larry’s sudden departure — and it was rumored that it had something to do with Rusty’s mom. In an Archive of American Television interview on YouTube, actress Barbara Billingsley, who played June Cleaver, seemed to validate those rumors by acknowledging that Rusty’s mother would “make demands” of the show’s producers, and that he had been let go from the show because of her antics.
Well, folks, let me just state for the record that this story isn’t quite correct. How do I know? Because the real story is available straight from the horse’s mouth — or more accurately, straight from Rusty.
You see, recently Rusty has begun sharing a few anecdotes over on the Leave It to Beaver fan club Facebook page. The truth, according to Rusty himself, is that as Larry Mondello became more popular on the show, he was ultimately signed to a contract by the show’s producers. At that time, aside from the main cast members, he was the only other actor to be under contract.
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At first, Rusty loved spending more time at the studio; it was very different from what he did at the start of the show, when he would show up for a day’s worth of work and then go home, go to a regular school, and hang out with friends. However, once under contract, he was spending all of his time at the studio lot, and truth be told, he really missed the social aspects of living a normal life.
For a while, Rusty just kept those feelings inside, but it became too much for a young boy to keep to himself. Eventually, he told his parents just how he was feeling. Rusty has admitted that he’s not exactly sure to what lengths his parents might have gone to help their son – who knows what his mom or his dad said, and maybe, just maybe, that’s where Barbara Billingsley got her story.
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But at the end of the day, the show’s producers released him from his contract as the fourth season of Leave It to Beaver continued shooting. Contrary to the myth mentioned earlier, Rusty and his family were still in California at that time. It would be a couple of years later when the family finally packed their bags and headed back East.
After leaving the show, Rusty went back to living a normal life. He went to college. He served our country, and he was invited back to make multiple appearances when Leave It to Beaver was revived in the mid-eighties. Like all of the actors, Rusty had grown up. However, unlike most of his costars, he had done so outside of the scrutiny of the public eye … and he was all the better for it.
These days, Rusty lives a pretty peaceful life in a quiet little township back East with his wife, far away from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. He still catches an episode or two of the show occasionally, but more than anything else, he just loves spending time with friends and family. Which, if you think about it, makes a ton of sense, because that was exactly the reason why Rusty left Larry Mondello behind in the first place.
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