Frank Bank, not just #funny, but a financial wizard too!
Although out of the spotlight for many decades Frank Bank, born April 12, 1942 in Los Angeles, California, played one of the most memorable characters on the television classic Leave It To Beaver. The clumsy, bafoon-life chum of Wally, and bully to Beaver, “Clarence ‘Lumpy’ Rutherford” was Frank’s biggest role.
Like many #childstars before and since, Frank Banks career, following the success of #LeaveItToBeaver, succumbed to #typecasting. Like co-star #KenOsmond, who played #EddieHaskill on the series, Frank Bank was unable to find work following the shows final in 1963 (which he joined a year in, in 1958). However, according to cast members he spent a lot of his free time on set reading about stocks and bonds. By 1972 he had quit the acting profession for good and became a very successful stock broker, making $300,000 a year at an L.A.-based company, within his first 3 years getting started.
In his 1997 autobiography Call Me Lumpy, he claimed that, during the Beaver years, he slept with over 1,000 women. One of the more interesting facts about him was that he was born in a hospital hallway during an air raid drill (imdb.com).
#FrankBank died, one day after his 71st birthday, quietly and out of the spotlight on April 13, 2013. Bank was married twice and left behind his second wife Rebecca, and 2 daughters (from his first wife and high school sweetheart).
Although he left the entrainment world early on, we are fortunate enough to still have his #comedicgenius, in the character #LumpyRutherford, captured on film! Many stars find it hard to shed their most popular image, especially those who found stardom at a young age. Their cute, lovable, or sometimes downright evil portrayals may stay with them and force them out of the business entirely. It’s a shame as one would wonder what Frank Bank and others like him could have done for #television #sitcoms in the years to come.
Outside Additional Sources
People Magazine – Leave It to Beaver‘s Lumpy, Frank Bank, Dies
