Barbara Billingsley Net Worth

Barbara Billingsley's 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.
• June Cleaver didn't keep her house in perfect order, the prop man did it.
• [asked in 2000 if there was a difference between her and the June Cleaver character] My sons say, no. Gradually what happened is the writers started writing about you, as well as the character they created originally. So you all become mixed up.
• [of Jerry Mathers who played "The Beaver"] Jerry told me it had been a dream of his always to be able to go to New York and be in a Broadway show. So all we have to do is decide what we want to do. You have to have a dream.
• [about auditioning for June Cleaver] Well, I was doing the script, and I don't think I could have changed it. But I loved it.

Interesting Facts about Barbara Billingsley

1. After the death of her second husband, Roy Kellino (who died prematurely of a heart attack in 1956), she married Dr. William Mortensen, a Santa Monica physician and widower, who was an old friend of Barbara and Roy's during their marriage.
2. After having grown up in Los Angeles, she attended Los Angeles Junior College for one year before moving to New York City, seeking a career on Broadway. After several auditions, she won a part as "Lureen Lee" in a new play, "Straw Hat", which was to open just after Christmas 1937, on Broadway. It closed after only four shows.
3. Daughter-in-law of W.P. Kellino.
4. Before Barbara, director/husband Roy Kellino was married to actress/syndicated columnist Pamela Ostrer (later to become Pamela Mason). During Pamela's marriage to Roy, she went by the stage name Pamela Kellino. Pamela later married (and divorced) actor James Mason, thereby becoming Pam.
5. She was briefly related, by marriage (1940-47), to actor/producer Peter Billingsley's father. Peter Billingsley is best known for his starring role as "Ralphie" in the seasonal TV-movie classic, A Christmas Story (1983). Barbara's first husband Glenn Billingsley's cousin is Peter's father.
6. She and first husband Glenn Billingsley, a successful restaurateur, had two sons, Drew and Glenn, Jr. Since 1974, Drew and Glenn have owned and operated Billingsley's Restaurant in West Los Angeles, in the tradition of their father, and their great uncle, Sherman Billingsley, founder of New York City's very fashionable 1940s-era nightclub, The Stork Club.
7. Had two failed TV series in the early-to-mid 1950s before becoming a household commodity as June Cleaver in 1957.
8. 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.
9. Best known by the public for her starring role as June Cleaver on Leave It to Beaver (1957), which has been in continuous re-run/syndication since it ended it's original network television run in 1963.
10. Graduated from George Washington High School in Los Angeles, CA, in 1934, but instead of seeking her first acting break in Hollywood, she moved to New York City to seek her break on Broadway.
11. She had a bronze statue, created by Leave It to Beaver (1957) co-star Tony Dow, on display in her backyard garden.
12. In 2007 she was singing at her former Leave It to Beaver (1957), co-star's, Jerry Mathers's, mother's 80th birthday party, when he returned from appearing on Broadway, in his debut role, as Wilbur Turnblad in "Hairspray".
13. The youngest of three children.
14. Her hobbies included gardening, dining, watching movies, listening to radio, tennis, drinking wine, spending time with her family, sewing and traveling.
15. Her mother, Lillian Combes, worked in a factory, while her father, Robert Collyer Combes, was the Chief of Police.
16. She changed her name from Combes to Billingsley when she married Glenn Billingsley in 1940.
17. Her son Glenn Jr. married Karen Zappas in 1976, and they are still together. They're parents of 3, Barbara's grandchildren, Logan Billingsley, Morgan Billingsley and Taylor Billingsley.
18. She followed Ronald Reagan's career after they co-starred in a stage play, long before he ran for governor or president.
19. When she was little, her mother would often take her to the movies. Her mother loved dramas rather than comedies.
20. Auditioned for the role of Danny Thomas's second wife on Make Room for Daddy (1953).