This ‘Spinal Tap’ Star Was Almost Cast as Eddie Haskell on ‘Leave It to Beaver’

Leave It to Beaver is so iconic, it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing any of the parts. For example, Ken Osmond fit the part of Eddie Haskell so naturally that the role seemed written just for him. However, when the series first shot its pilot, as part of an anthology series called Studio 57, a few roles were different:  Ward Cleaver was played by Casey Adams, rather than Hugh Beaumont; Wally was played by Paul Sullivan, not Tony Dow; and perhaps most shockingly, the original version of Eddie Haskell was played by Harry Shearer, who later came to fame as the star of This Is Spinal Tap and as one of the voice acting powerhouses of The Simpsons.