Discuss Leave It to Beaver
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Spelling of Beaver's first name
posted by PT 100STAFFMOD on March 25, 2017 at 12:09 AM
I've always assumed it was Theodore; but in the episode titled "Beaver Becomes a Hero" Ward Cleaver reads a newspaper story in which it clearly says Theodour in the headline, and Ward doesn't say anything about it's not being spelled correctly. June and Wally also read the newspaper article and say nothing about it's being misspelled. I wonder if all these years databases have been getting it wrong by assuming the more common spelling. I've also seen it spelled Theodor (a famous bearer was American children's book creator Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss), but never Theodour. Weird.
Reply by PT 100
on March 25, 2017 at 11:14 AM
I'm thinking maybe they did that purposely in case there is at least one real person named Theodore Cleaver. It's certainly possible. And since it is apparently never spelled Theodour in any language, they may have been avoiding a legal hassle by doing that. I think that's the only time we see his first name actually spelled out in print.
Reply by PT 100
on March 26, 2017 at 5:13 AM
Yes, I'm sure they didn't bother to change the first name to Theodour because they didn't expect it to be legible in the letter. The newspaper headline in the other episode is huge and can't be missed. That's why they gave it a unique spelling.