Leaving in the Middle
There are many actors and actresses who have left successful television shows in the middle of their runs. One of the biggest we can look at is Shelly Long leaving the series Cheers after the fifth season. Another big example was actor Dick York who played Darrin Stephens on Bewitched being replaced by Dick York. As for 1950s and 1960s situation comedies, the biggest example was when the actor Rusty Stevens left the Leave it to Beaver. Rusty Stevens played a character named Larry Mondello. So, the question arises, why did Larry Mondello leave the Leave it to Beaver show? And before you read any further, we hope you will join our GleeStreet.com facebook group right now. You will be notified about new posts like this one, quizzes and giveaways too.
The character of Larry Mondello left the show during season four. After the actors who portrayed the Cleaver family and Eddie Haskell, Rusty Stevens’ character of Larry Mondello appeared in the most episodes (67). His last episode was “Beaver’s Big Contest.” You might remember his last appearance. He and Beaver were sitting in a box in the driveway pretending to drive the sports car Beaver had recently won in a raffle for which he was selling tickets. The question as to why Rusty Stevens left the show is up to debate. No one has ever heard Rusty Stevens speak for himself about why he left. Now, there is a Leave it to Beaver Facebook group which had a member in it that said he and Rusty were friends. This person would pass along conversations he had with Rusty.
Why did Rusty Stevens Leave?
Various cast members have said different things about Rusty Stevens. Not one of them has said anything ill of the actor who played Larry Mondello. Beginning with Barbara Billingsley, in her Archive of American Television interview she mentions the following about Rusty Stevens leaving Leave it to Beaver: “We all loved Rusty so much. He was so good in that role. Unfortunately….
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