Eddie Haskell

This article is about the fictional character. For the philosopher, see Edward Haskell.
Eddie Haskell

Ken Osmond as Eddie Haskell
First appearance "New Neighbors" (November 1, 1957)
Last appearance "Family Scrapbook" (June 20, 1963)
Portrayed by Ken Osmond
Information
Gender Male
Family George Haskell (father)
Agnes Haskell (mother)
Spouse(s) Gert
Children Freddie (son)
Eddie Jr.(son)

Edward Clark "Eddie" Haskell (also referred to as Edward W. Haskell) is a fictional character on the Leave It to Beaver television situation comedy, which ran on CBS from October 4, 1957, to 1958 and then on ABC from 1958 to 1963. The character was also featured in the later series Still the Beaver, and in the film remake of the original series.

Character overview

The son of George (however, in Season 1, episode 20, Eddie gives his name as "Edward Clark Haskell, Jr.") and Agnes, Eddie Haskell was the smart-mouthed best-friend of Wally Cleaver. The character, played in the original series by Ken Osmond, has become a cultural reference, recognized as an archetype for insincere sycophants. Ward Cleaver once remarked that "[Eddie] is so polite, it's almost un-American".[1]

Eddie was known for his neat grooming[2]—hiding his shallow and sneaky character. Typically, Eddie would greet his friends' parents with overdone good manners and often a compliment such as, "That's a lovely dress you're wearing, Mrs. Cleaver." However, when no parents were around, Eddie was always up to no good—either conniving with his friends or picking on Wally's younger brother, Beaver. Eddie's two-faced style was also typified by his efforts to curry favor by trying to talk to adults at the level he thought they would respect, such as referring to their children as Theodore (Beaver's much-disliked given name) and Wallace, even though the parents called them Beaver and Wally.

A weaselly wise guy, Eddie could be relied upon to connive and instigate schemes with his friends—schemes for which they would be in the position of blame, if (and usually when) caught. One of his most infamous pranks with the Cleaver boys involved fastening a chain around the rear axle of their friend Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford's car, causing unplanned damage as the entire third member and wheels became detached when he tried to move the car. The prank has been repeated on police and gangster cars in scenes in the films American Graffiti (1973) and Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), and Porky's (1981), respectively.

The New Leave It to Beaver

In the 1980s revival series, titled The New Leave It to Beaver, Eddie is now married to Gert, and they have two sons, Freddie and Edward Jr. (played by Osmond's real-life sons, Eric and Christian, respectively). Edward Jr. (nicknamed "Bomber") is enrolled at Vicksburg Military School, the result of Bomber having spilled grape juice on the Haskells' white carpeting. Both Freddie and Bomber have taken after their father.

Eddie operates an eponymously named contracting company. He remains an avid Woody Woodpecker cartoon fan.

In popular culture

Reception

In 1999, TV Guide ranked Eddie Haskell number 20 on its "50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time" list.[6]

Notes

  1. ↑ Quote taken from the episode "Eddie's Girl".
  2. ↑ The origin of Eddie's perfectly coiffed curls is humorously revealed in the episode "Beaver's Doll Buggy".
  3. ↑ "HBO: The Wire: Seasons: Episodes". HBO.
  4. ↑ "HBO: The Sopranos: Homepage". HBO.
  5. ↑ "Saved by the Bell – Rockumentary Aired on TBSP – Ark TV Transcript – Search what is being mentioned across national TV".
  6. ↑ TV Guide Book of Lists. Running Press. 2007. p. 190. ISBN 0-7624-3007-9.

References

External links

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