Ken Osmond

Kenneth Charles Osmond (June 7, 1943 – May 18, 2020) was an American actor and police officer. Beginning a career as a child actor at the age of four, Osmond played the role of Eddie Haskell on the late 1950s to early 1960s television situation comedy Leave It to Beaver and reprised it on the 1980s revival series The New Leave It to Beaver. Typecast by the role, he found it hard to get other acting work and became a Los Angeles police officer. After retiring from police work, he resumed his acting career.

Early life Osmond was born in Glendale, California, the son of Pearl (née Hand) and Thurman Osmond. His father was a carpenter and propmaker and his mother, whom he described as "a typical movie mother," had ambitions to get him and his brother, Dayton, into acting. Osmond began going on professional auditions at the age of four, and began working in commercials. His mother took her sons to acting classes every day after school; he eventually studied dance, drama, diction, dialects, martial arts, and equestrian riding.

Leave It to Beaver In the fall of 1957, 14-year-old Osmond was called into a typical "cattle call" audition to read for the role for which he became most identified, that of Wally Cleaver's best (and worst) friend, Eddie Haskell, on the family sitcom Leave It to Beaver.

During the final years of the show, Osmond was in the U.S. Army Reserve as an armorer and was granted leave to film episodes in return for personal appearances for the Army's Special Services.

Typecast After Leave It to Beaver ended in 1963, Osmond continued to make occasional appearances on such television series as CBS's Petticoat Junction, The Munsters, and a final return appearance on Lassie in the episode "A Matter of Seconds" (1967) as a motorcycle delivery man who offers the hitchhiking collie a lift in his sidecar. He was cast in the feature films C'mon Let's Live a Little (1967) and With Six You Get Eggroll (1968). However, he found himself typecast as Eddie Haskell and had difficulty finding steady work. He worked as a motorcycle officer.

On September 20, 1980, Osmond was struck by three bullets while in a foot chase with a suspected car thief. He was protected from two of the bullets by his bullet-resistant vest, with the third bullet ricocheting off his belt buckle. The shooting was later dramatized in a November 1992 episode of the CBS series Top Cops. Osmond applied for a disability pension in 1984, but after an evidentiary hearing in 1986, the Los Angeles Board of Pension Commissioners denied his request by a 4–2 vote. Osmond appealed the determination to the Superior Court and in 1988 a judge overturned the Board's denial and awarded Osmond a lifetime pension, and he retired from the force.

Return to acting

In 1983, Osmond appeared as a game show participant and celebrity guest star on the Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour, along with Beaver co-stars Jerry Mathers, Richard Deacon and Jeri Weil. Osmond returned to acting in 1983 reprising his role as Eddie Haskell in the CBS made-for-television movie Still the Beaver, which followed the adult Cleaver boys, their friends, and their families. The television movie was a success and led to the revival comedy series The New Leave It to Beaver, which premiered the following year. The show ran for four seasons from 1984 to 1989, starting on The Disney Channel, and later moving to WTBS. On the show, Osmond played Eddie Haskell as a husband and father, while his character's two sons, Freddie Haskell and Edward "Bomber" Haskell Jr., were played by Osmond's two real-life sons, Eric Osmond and Christian Osmond. He continued to make television appearances throughout the 1980s and 1990s on the shows Happy Days and Rags to Riches, and the television movie High School U.S.A., as well as cameo appearances as Eddie Haskell on such television shows as Parker Lewis Can't Lose and Hi Honey, I'm Home!. In the 1997 feature film Leave It to Beaver, Osmond played Eddie Haskell Sr., and Adam Zolotin played his son Eddie Haskell Jr.

Personal life In 1969, Osmond married Sandra Purdy. They had two sons, Eric E. Osmond and Christian S. Osmond. SAG settled the lawsuit in 2010, providing $7.9 million in royalties to actors.

Osmond was the co-author, along with Christopher J. Lynch, of the book Eddie: The Life and Times of America's Preeminent Bad Boy, which was published in September 2014. The foreword was written by Jerry Mathers.

Death Osmond died at his home in Los Angeles on May 18, 2020, at age 76, from complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and peripheral artery disease. News of his death was first announced by his son Eric in a statement through Osmond's representative. The story apparently began when fan magazines falsely reported that Osmond had embarked on such a career. The rumor was dispelled when a Los Angeles movie theater lit up its marquee advertising "Eddie Haskell of TV in Behind the Green Door X-rated", prompting Osmond himself, then an LAPD officer, to go to the theater to request that the manager remove his character's name from the marquee. Osmond testified at his disability hearing in 1986 that in 1971 he was called into LAPD Internal Affairs and asked to disrobe to prove he was not John Holmes.

Filmography Films Plymouth Adventure (1952) – Child on Mayflower (uncredited) So Big (1953) – Young Eugene (uncredited) Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955) – Tommy Baker – Age 9 (uncredited) Everything But the Truth (1956) – Oren Cunningham (uncredited) C'mon, Let's Live a Little (1967) – The Beard With Six You Get Eggroll (1968) – Duke (uncredited) High School U.S.A. (1983) - Baxter Franklin Dead Women in Lingerie (1991) – David Leave It to Beaver (1997) – Eddie Sr. Desperation Boulevard (1998) – Himself Characterz (2016) – Daniel (final film role)

TV Screen Directors Playhouse (1 episode, 1955) – Henry Raglund Lassie (2 episodes, 1955–1967) – Motorcyclist / Ralph / Delivery Boy Annie Oakley (1 episode, 1956) – Scotty Circus Boy (1 episode, 1956) – Skinny Fury (1956–1957) – Kenny / Johnny Letter to Loretta (1 episode, 1957) – Peter The Walter Winchell File (1 episode, 1957) – Joel Marisch Official Detective (1 episode, 1957) – Henry (uncredited) Telephone Time (1 episode, 1957) – Charlie Sharp Colt .45 (1 episode, 1957) – Tommy The Jack Benny Program (1 episode, 1957) – Newspaper Boy Leave It to Beaver (1957–1963) – Eddie Haskell Wagon Train (1 episode, 1958) – Tommy Jenkins Petticoat Junction (Season 1/Episode 38; 1964) – Harold Boggs The Munsters (1 episode; 1966) – John Still the Beaver (1983, TV Movie) – Eddie Haskell Happy Days (1 episode; 1983) – Freddie Bascomb High School U.S.A. (1984, TV Movie) – Baxter Franklin Rags to Riches (1 episode; 1983) Parker Lewis Can't Lose (1 episode; 1991) – Eddie Haskell Hi Honey, I'm Home (1 episode; 1992) – Eddie Haskell