By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, TODAY
Frank Bank, the actor who played bullying Lumpy Rutherford on the hit 1950s sitcom "Leave It to Beaver," died Saturday, one day after he turned 71, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Abc Photo Archives / ABC via Getty Images
Frank Bank, third from left, with Tony Dow (Wally), Ken Osmond (Eddie Haskell) and Jerry Mathers (Beaver) in an undated photo from "Leave It to Beaver."
"I was so sad to hear today of the passing of my dear friend and business associate Frank Bank, who played Lumpy on Leave it to Beaver," Bank's co-star, Jerry Mathers, wrote on Facebook. "He was a character and always kept us laughing. My deepest condolences to Frank's family."
"Lumpy was the ultimate bully, but Frank was a very, very kind and gentle person and a very good actor to play it so well," Mathers told the Times.
Paul Archuleta / FilmMagic
Lumpy, whose real name was Clarence, was a pal of Wally Cleaver, Beaver's older brother, along with fawning parent-pleaser Eddie Haskell. Bank played Lumpy for the show's entire run, from 1957 to 1963. He also played the character in the 1983 TV movie "Still the Beaver," which turned into a short-lived sitcom, "The New Leave It to Beaver."
In 2002, Bank published his autobiography, "Call Me Lumpy: My Leave It To Beaver Days and Other Wild Hollywood Life." The book drew attention for focusing less on fond memories of "Leave It to Beaver" and more on Bank's sexual escapades.
Bank, a UCLA graduate, left acting in the 1970s to work as a bond broker in Los Angeles. Mathers and fellow "Leave It to Beaver" star Barbara Billingsley, who died in 2010, were among his clients.
He is survived by his wife Rebecca, four daughters, and five grandchildren.
Do you remember Frank Bank on "Leave It to Beaver"? Share your memories on Facebook.
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