‘Leave It To Beaver' Star Jerry Mathers Life Completely Changed Over Health Scare

Gerald Patrick Mathers is an American actor best known for his role in the iconic sitcom "Leave It To Beaver."

At nine years old, this Hollywood veteran played Theodore "Beaver," the younger son of suburban couple June and Ward Cleaver, who Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont played.

Mathers was living high and comfortably until he went for his annual checkup in 1997 and received what could be termed the shock of his life.

He was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and given 3-5 years to live if he didn't change his lifestyle. No further convincing was needed because Mathers got right to it.

After his role as Theodore Beaver in "Leave It To Beaver," Mathers decided to trade the made-up town of Mayfield for the real-life high school Package.

He schooled in California, and while in high school, he formed a band called "Beaver And The Trappers." He then went on to join The United States Air Forces Reserve in 1996. He continued to serve after his graduation but never saw action.

Mather's life outside acting didn't stop there. He got a degree in philosophy from the University of California. He worked in a bank as a commercial loan officer before using his savings from his acting career to start real estate development.

By 1978, Mathers returned to the entertainment business and appeared in numerous films and television roles, including a reunion film called "Still the Beaver."

During his routine checkup, Mathers was not only told he had diabetes, but he was also diagnosed with high blood pressure and poor cholesterol.

Fast forward to 2017, during his interview with Fox News, Mathers opened up on how his catering business had a major influence on his eating habits. There was food in excess due to the business, and this allowed him to overindulge.

In his interview, the then 69-year-old actor said, "I was living the good life, I had side businesses, and one of them was a catering business. , and I was doing a lot of motion picture and television catering for crews, which is for about 100 to 200 people. It's like setting up a whole restaurant."

"I was around food all the time, and I was a very good cook. Of course, that entailed sitting down with people, so I was sometimes eating five to six full meals a day… I was making a lot of money, everything was going great, and everyone around me was at least as fat as I was."

Mathers listened to the doctors and started making some major changes in his life. He sold his catering company and finally got a lid on what he ate. He also took up healthy practices like exercising, and he hasn't been the same ever since.

"I sold the catering company and went on a very strict diet," Mathers explained. "I've been controlling my weight with diet and exercise ever since. I walk every day about 6 to 8 miles. And I am now pre-diabetic because of that… dying from diabetes is a terrible way to go. It is really a horrible death. It basically burns different parts of your body."

"It's really tough especially when I go out to eat. But I think, 'I can have this, but do I want to run further to get the weight off? Could I even get it off?' It's a daily struggle. I'm not cured. This is something I have to deal with all the time. And I'm hoping that by going out to educate people on diabetes, I can save my fans."

Despite evading the doctor's diagnosis, Mathers has maintained that it has been very hard on his self-control and keeping his eating habits in check is a constant struggle.

He shared his story to educate people on diabetes and how their eating habits could very likely kill them.

Today, Mathers is pulling his weight by leading lectures on diabetes worldwide to warn anyone who would listen about the disease and how it can be prevented.

This is a massively different role than Theodore Beaver in the wholesome "Leave It To Beaver" sitcom. Mathers is one of the few remaining cast in the sitcom, along with Tony Dow and others.