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IMDbPro

Barbara Billingsley(1915-2010)

  • Actress
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
"Leave It To Beaver" Barbara Billingsley 1957 CBS
Monsters: Reaper
Play trailer2:00
Reaper (1989)
3 Videos
86 Photos
Born Barbara Lillian Combes, she attended Los Angeles Junior College in the mid-1930s and then moved to New York City, where she worked as a model. In 1945, she received a contract from MGM, and she appeared in several films during the late 1940s and 1950s, sometimes without screen credit. In the 1950s, she turned to television and appeared in shows including the sitcoms Professional Father (1955) and The Box Brothers (1956), as well as guest-starring on "The Abbott and Costello Show", the David Niven anthology series, Four Star Playhouse (1952), and the sitcom, Mr. Adams and Eve (1957). In 1957, Billingsley began starring in the sitcom, Leave It to Beaver (1957), as "June Cleaver", mother to "Wally" and "Theodore", nicknamed "Beaver". She appeared in her most famous role for 234 episodes, remaining with the show until it ended after six seasons. After 17 years of semi-retirement, Billingsley returned to movies in 1980's Airplane! (1980), creating another iconic role by spoofing her wholesome image with a brief appearance in this send-up of 1970s disaster movies, as a middle-aged white passenger who could translate between a white stewardess and two African-American passengers, because "I speak jive". She also appeared in The New Leave It to Beaver (1983), which ran from 1983 to 1989, and voiced the character of "Nanny" in the Muppet Babies (1984) cartoon series, from 1984 to 1991. Billingsley continued to act occasionally, including appearances on the sitcoms, Roseanne (1988) and Empty Nest (1988), and died at her home, after having dealt for several years with the effects of a rheumatoid disease.
BornDecember 22, 1915
DiedOctober 16, 2010(94)
BornDecember 22, 1915
DiedOctober 16, 2010(94)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Awards
    • 1 win & 2 nominations

Photos86

Barbara Billingsley, Caryl Kristensen, and Robin Thomas in The Mommies (1993)
Barbara Billingsley in Hi Honey, I'm Home (1991)
Barbara Billingsley and Charlotte Booker in Hi Honey, I'm Home (1991)
Hugh Beaumont, Barbara Billingsley, Tony Dow, and Jerry Mathers in Leave It to Beaver (1957)
Hugh Beaumont and Barbara Billingsley in Leave It to Beaver (1957)
Barbara Billingsley, Tony Dow, and Ken Osmond in Leave It to Beaver (1957)
Hugh Beaumont and Barbara Billingsley in Leave It to Beaver (1957)
Hugh Beaumont and Barbara Billingsley in Leave It to Beaver (1957)
Hugh Beaumont and Barbara Billingsley in Leave It to Beaver (1957)
Barbara Billingsley and Tony Dow in Leave It to Beaver (1957)
Hugh Beaumont, Barbara Billingsley, and Jerry Mathers in Leave It to Beaver (1957)
Barbara Billingsley and Jerry Mathers in Leave It to Beaver (1957)

Known for

Airplane! (1980)
Airplane!
7.7
  • Jive Lady
  • 1980
Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers in Leave It to Beaver (1957)
Leave It to Beaver
7.6
TV Series
  • June Cleaver
Robin Williams and Pam Dawber in Mork & Mindy (1978)
Mork & Mindy
7.1
TV Series
  • Mrs. Louise Bailey
Kevin Costner, Harvey Keitel, Charlie Sheen, Christopher Lloyd, and John Lithgow in Amazing Stories (1985)
Amazing Stories
7.4
TV Series
  • June Cleaver

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actress

  • Secret Santa (2003)
    Secret Santa
    • Miss Ruthie
    • TV Movie
    • 2003
  • Mysterious Ways (2000)
    Mysterious Ways
    • Abby Westmore
    • TV Series
    • 2000
  • Video Buddy: Muppet Babies - Scooter's Hidden Talent
    • Nanny
    • Video
    • 1999
  • Video Buddy: Muppet Babies - What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?
    • Nanny
    • Video
    • 1999
  • Video Buddy: Muppet Babies - What's new at the Zoo?
    • Nanny
    • Video
    • 1999
  • Christopher McDonald, Janine Turner, Cameron Finley, and Erik von Detten in Leave It to Beaver (1997)
    Leave It to Beaver
    • Aunt Martha
    • 1997
  • Marilyn Kentz and Caryl Kristensen in The Mommies (1993)
    The Mommies
    • Caryl's Mother
    • Jeanne
    • TV Series
    • 1993–1994
  • Candice Bergen in Murphy Brown (1988)
    Murphy Brown
    • Mrs. Stritch
    • TV Series
    • 1994
  • Bobby's World (1990)
    Bobby's World
    • (voice)
    • TV Series
    • 1993
  • Dinah Manoff, Kristy McNichol, David Leisure, Richard Mulligan, and Park Overall in Empty Nest (1988)
    Empty Nest
    • Winifred Mcconnell
    • TV Series
    • 1991
  • John Ritter, Tom Selleck, Jim Henson, Greg Berg, Barbara Billingsley, Dave Coulier, Peter Cullen, Stan Lee, Katie Leigh, Jeffrey Scott, Laurie O'Brien, Russi Taylor, Frank Welker, and Lon Zimmet in Muppet Babies (1984)
    Muppet Babies
    • Nanny (voice)
    • TV Series
    • 1984–1991
  • Julie Benz, Peter Hans Benson, Charlotte Booker, Stephen C. Bradbury, Susan Cella, Danny Gura, and Eric Kushnick in Hi Honey, I'm Home (1991)
    Hi Honey, I'm Home
    • June Cleaver
    • TV Series
    • 1991
  • Corin Nemec, Abraham Benrubi, Billy Jayne, and Troy W. Slaten in Parker Lewis Can't Lose (1990)
    Parker Lewis Can't Lose
    • Ms. Musso's Mother
    • TV Series
    • 1991
  • Monsters (1988)
    Monsters
    • Sheila
    • TV Series
    • 1989
  • Barbara Billingsley, Tony Dow, and Jerry Mathers in The New Leave It to Beaver (1983)
    The New Leave It to Beaver
    • June Cleaver
    • TV Series
    • 1983–1989

Soundtrack

  • Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers in Leave It to Beaver (1957)
    Leave It to Beaver
    • performer: "I'll Never Smile Again" (uncredited)
    • TV Series
    • 1960

Videos3

Leave It to Beaver: The Complete Series
Trailer 0:57
Leave It to Beaver: The Complete Series
Leave It To Beaver: Season 1
Trailer 0:57
Leave It To Beaver: Season 1
Monsters: Reaper
Trailer 2:00
Monsters: Reaper

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative name
    • Barbara Billinsley
  • Height
    • 5′ 5″ (1.65 m)
  • Born
    • December 22, 1915
    • Los Angeles, California, USA
  • Died
    • October 16, 2010
    • Santa Monica, California, USA(polymyalgia)
  • Spouses
      Dr. William Leigh MortensenJune 28, 1959 - July 5, 1981 (his death)
  • Children
      Glenn Billingsley Jr
  • Parents
      Lillian Agnes McLaughlin
  • Other works
    TV commercial for McDonalds.
  • Publicity listings
    • 2 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    The Cleaver clan became the iconic 1950s American nuclear family. As the mother in the show, she was often seen performing her household duties wearing complementary pearls and earrings. The pearls actually were her idea--she had a noticeable surgical scar on her neck and wore a strand of pearls to conceal it from the cameras.
  • Quotes
    Roy [her husband] died on a Saturday, while we were gardening. The Thursday before, I was up for the part of the mother in a series Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher were working on. Then Roy died, and nothing came of that series. But two months later, when they started on Leave It to Beaver (1957), they remembered me and asked me to read for the part of June. I've always thought that they felt sorry for me.
  • Trademarks
      Her pearls
  • Nicknames
    • Barbara Billinsley
    • Barbara Combes

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