Why June Cleaver Always Wore Pearls on ‘Leave It To Beaver’

Leave It to Beaver ran for six seasons on television, with one on CBS and the remaining five on ABC. Since that time, it seems like reruns of that show have always been on the air somewhere. One thing that avid viewers of the show have noticed over the years is that June Cleaver really did seem to have a thing for pearls.

It is a rare scene on the show that does not have Barbara Billingsley wearing those pearls. So, what was the deal? Was it a fashion choice for her character or something more? In reality, the reason for the pearls was that Billingsley was hiding something. While some fans of the show have speculated that she might have been trying to conceal a scar or maybe even a birthmark, the truth of the matter is that Billingsley had a deep hollow spot in her neck area that the lighting on the show set just really seemed to accentuate.