Co-creator of ``Leave It to Beaver,'' Joe Connelly dies at 86

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) Television writer-producer Joe Connelly, who co-created the wholesome family comedy ``Leave It to Beaver,'' has died. He was 86.

Connelly died Thursday at a nursing facility in Newport Beach of complications from a stroke he suffered late last month.

Born in New York, Connelly worked for the merchant marines before being hired by the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency, where he met his soon-to-be partner Bob Mosher.

Both men left the agency in 1942 for the Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy radio show. In the mid-1940s, after writing for the Frank Morgan and Phil Harris radio shows, they began a 12-year run writing for ``Amos 'n' Andy,'' including the early 1950s TV version of the popular radio show.

The pair developed a short-lived anthology series for actor Ray Milland that helped them hone their writing skills for subjects they knew best. The result was ``The Private War of Major Benson,'' a 1955 movie comedy starring Charlton Heston that earned Connelly and Mosher an Oscar nomination for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story.

But their most notable work was creating ``Leave It to Beaver,'' which starred Barbara Billingsley, Hugh Beaumont, Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers, who played the title role. The Cleavers became a household name, even though the series ended in 1963 after six seasons. The show continues in syndication around the world.

``It was the first show done from a kid's point of view, and in that respect it was unique in giving them a voice,'' said Brian Levant, who co-wrote the 1983 TV movie ``Still the Beaver,'' which starred members of the original cast and who was the executive producer of the spinoff cable series, ``The New Leave It to Beaver.''

Connelly's 14-year-old son, Jay, served as the model for Beaver's older brother, Wally; and Connelly's 8-year-old son, Ricky, was the inspiration for Beaver the nickname of one of Connelly's merchant marine shipmates.

Among other TV credits for Connelly and Mosher include ``The Munsters,'' ``Tammy,'' ``Ichabod and Me,'' ``Calvin and the Colonel,'' ``Blondie,'' ``Bringing Up Buddy,'' ``Pistols 'n' Petticoats'' and ``90 Bristol Court.''

Connelly continued to work in the entertainment industry, producing Elvis Presley's final movie, ``Change of Habit.'' In the early 1970s, he suffered a near-fatal aneurysm that halted his career.

A twice-married widower, Connelly is survived by his children, Karen Donovan, Maria Connelly-Gordon, Franny Rooney, Patrick Connelly and Mandy Dalzell in addition to Jay and Rick; 12 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)