Frank Bank (aka Lumpy Rutherford) Cashes in his Chips

Beaver, June & Wally seated, Lumpy and Eddie standing

 

Just a week after iconic Mouseketeer Annette Funicello succumbed to Multiple Sclerosis, another actor from a popular TV series of my youth has died.  Frank Bank, who portrayed Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford on the Leave it to Beaver show passed away on April 13.

 

 

Frank portrayed a dim-witted, chubby bully on the show which featured Ward & June Cleaver and their sons, Wally and Theodore (The Beaver) as an all-American family.  There aren't too many shows about which I can say I've seen every episode, but Leave it to Beaver falls in that category.  Leave it to Beaver aired in an era when parents disciplined their kids, including spanking, and each show had a moral.

 

The show aired from 1957-1963.  The  first episode was shown on October 4, 1957, the same day the Soviet Union launched Sputnit 4.   Occasionally, dialogue about the Cold War made it into the show.  In one episode, Eddie Haskell commented that he didn't think Ward, Wally and Beaver's dad, liked him very much.  "Why would you say that?" asked Wally.  "On account of the way he looks at me when he opens the door. Sometimes I think he'd be happier to see Khrushchev standing there."  For those too young and/or historically-challenged to recall, Nikita Khrushchev was the Soviet Premier who, while addressing the UN, took off a shoe, pounded the podium, and declared to the US, "WE WILL BURY YOU!"  In another episode, Beaver comments "I wouldn't wanna do anything to hurt God. He's got enough trouble with the Russians and all."

 

These days, most of the parents in Leave it to Beaver would have a Social Services investigator knocking on their door.  Here is bit of child-rearing advice offered by Fred Rutherford, Lumpy's dad:  "Have to keep a firm hand on boys nowadays, Ward. My Clarence answered me back the other day. I smacked him right in the mouth. None of this psychology for me".

 

In one episode, Wally and the Beaver attempt to deal with Lumpy's bullying by luring him out of his house.  Here's a bit of dialogue from that episode:

 

Wally Cleaver: [shouting] Lumpy! Hey, Lumpy! C'mon out, Lumpy!

Fred Rutherford: Gwendoline, what's that?
Gwen Rutherford: Sounds like somebody calling.
Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver: [shouting] Lumpy, dumpy, you big ape!
Fred Rutherford: Must be for Clarence.
Wally Cleaver: [shouting] Hey, Meathead! Meathead!
Gwen Rutherford: Might be for you, dear.

 

 

In honor of Lumpy's passing, here is some more of my favorite dialogue from the show:

 

Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver: [Ward wants to see Beaver in the den] Is Dad mad?

Wally Cleaver: Yeah, but Mom's in there.

Wally Cleaver: Did Dad hit ya?
Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver: No.
Wally Cleaver: Did he yell at ya?
Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver: No.
Wally Cleaver: Then why ya cryin'?
Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver: Sometimes things get so messed up, crying is the only thing you can do.

Wally Cleaver: Hi Dad. I didn't do anything.
Ward Cleaver: Why do you say that?
Wally Cleaver: Well, I don't know, but, uh, you have that look on your face like somebody did something.

 

Larry Mondello: That was a great jungle movie, huh Beav?

Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver: Yeah, but there was too much kissin' and not enough apes.

 

Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver: Hey Wally, how come Dad's taking us out to dinner and a show?

Wally Cleaver: I don't know; I think it's on account of togetherness; like you read about in the magazines. You know, it's supposed to make us a happy family and all that kind of junk.
Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver: Couldn't we be a happy family just eatin' in the kitchen?
Wally Cleaver: Na, that's no good. Ya' gotta' go out and show people you're a happy family.

 

THEODORE 'BEAVER' CLEAVER  [referring to Wally] Boy! You know, Dad? He really gets a goofy look on his face when he talks to girls. His face gets all red and sweaty. It's like he was catching a fever or something.

WARD CLEAVER  Well, you know, Beaver, it is a kind of a fever - and, uh, one that you'll be catching one of these days, probably.

THEODORE 'BEAVER' CLEAVER  Well, I just hope when I get to be Wally's age they'll have shots for it or something.

 

JUNE CLEAVER  Wally, don't they teach you any manners at school?

WALLACE 'WALLY' CLEAVER  You know, that's funny, Mom. At school they're always saying, "don't they ever teach you any manners at home?".

 

THEODORE 'BEAVER' CLEAVER  [getting babysitting pointers from Wally] Am I allowed to hit him?

WALLACE 'WALLY' CLEAVER  No, you can't do that. It's against the law. Only parents have the legal right to shove their kids around.

 

JUNE CLEAVER  [entering Ward's den] Did you balance out the checkbook yet?

WARD CLEAVER  No - almost. Um - oh uh, dear, what's this entry here? The stub says eight sixty-nine, but no check came back from the bank.

JUNE CLEAVER  Well, I couldn't get the checkbook to balance, so I wrote a check for eight sixty-nine and then tore it up.

WARD CLEAVER  [dryly] You know, dear, they could use you in Washington.

 

EDDIE HASKELL  Gee, your kitchen always looks so clean.

JUNE CLEAVER  Why, thank you, Eddie.

EDDIE HASKELL  My mother says it looks as though you never do any work in here.

(Note - Eddie Haskell came second in a TV GUIDE article listing the "10 Biggest TV Brats of all-time")

 

Each episode typically had a moral or shared some wisdom.  Here is an introduction to an episode where the plot involved Beaver losing his haircut money and having his brother Wally give him a haircut so he doesn't have to tell his parents:

 

WARD CLEAVER  When you're young, there are some thing you have to learn. How to catch a baseball. And good table manners don't come too easily. But when you're a boy, losing things is one of the few lessons you don't have to learn. And that's our story tonight on "Leave it to Beaver."

(Dialogue during the haircut)
Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver: Are ya' finished yet, Wally?
Wally Cleaver: Well, I don't know if I'm finished, but I think I better stop. Wow, you like the Wilson's Airedale when he had the mange.

 

Back to Ward's introduction - "But when you're a boy, losing things is one of the few lessons you don't have to learn."  - now THAT is a statement I could identify with when I was a kid.  Now that I think about it, if you substitute "Baby Boomer" for "boy" in that line, fifty years later I can STILL identify with it!

 

R.I.P. Frank Bank, aka Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford April 12, 1942 - April 13, 2013