What is Barbara Billingsley’s current estimated net worth?
When Barbara Billingsley passed away in 2010, she was a successful stage and movie actress who had a net worth of $12 million at the time of her passing.
Barbara Billingsley is most remembered for her role as Mother June Cleaver on the television sitcoms “Leave it to Beaver” and “The New Leave it to Beaver,” both of which she starred in.
In addition to that, she had roles in several films, such as “Three Guys Named Mike,” “Woman in the Dark,” “The Careless Years,” and “Airplane!” In addition to her many other noteworthy roles, Billingsley provided the voice for the character Nanny in the animated television series “Muppet Babies.”
A Brief History
On December 22, 1915, in Los Angeles, California, Barbara Billingsley was born under the name Barbara Lillian Combes. Her parents at the time were Robert and Lillian. Elizabeth was her older sister and they were close. Billingsley went through a difficult childhood as a result of her parents split.
Career Beginnings
Billingsley first off her career by appearing on stage in the revue titled “Straw Hat.” After the event was over, she moved to New York City and began a career as a fashion model there.
Billingsley secured a contract with MGM in 1945, and the year after that, she relocated back to Los Angeles, where she quickly found work in a variety of uncredited roles in film pictures.
She made her film debut in “Up Goes Maisie,” “Two Sisters from Boston,” “Three Wise Fools,” “Undercurrent,” “The Sea of Grass,” and “The Unfinished Dance,” among other early films.
Initial Steps towards a Career in Television
Billingsley first started making appearances on television in the early 1950s. Her acting credits include appearances in episodes of “City Detective,” “Rebound,” “The Abbott and Costello Show,” and “Crown Theatre with Gloria Swanson.”
After that, she made appearances in episodes of the anthology show “Four Star Playhouse,” “Schlitz Playhouse of Stars,” and “Cavalcade of America.” In 1955, Billingsley was cast in the lead role of her first main role on the sitcom “Professional Father,” which ran for only one season.
She later had guest appearances on episodes of “You Are There,” “Matinee Theater,” “The Loretta Young Show,” “General Electric Summer Originals,” and “The Ford Television Theatre.” She appeared in the sitcom “The Brothers” multiple times over the years 1956 and 1957.
It was her portrayal as June Cleaver, the mother of the Cleaver family, in the comedy “Leave it to Beaver” that brought Barbara Billingsley the most famous among television audiences. In the sitcom, her character would frequently do tasks around the house while wearing earrings and her signature pearls.
Hugh Beaumont appeared on “Leave it to Beaver” as Ward Cleaver, and child actors Jerry Mathers and Tony Dow played Theodore and Wally Cleaver, respectively.
The show had a lacklustre start on CBS in 1957, but after moving to ABC, it skyrocketed to the top of the ratings. “Leave it to Beaver” aired for a total of 234 episodes throughout its six seasons, which ran from 1954 until 1963.
The remaining cast members of the television sitcom “Leave it to Beaver” got together for a reunion in the television movie “Still the Beaver” in 1983, twenty years after the show had ended.
After this, the spinoff series “The New Leave it to Beaver” began airing in 1985 and continued until 1989. In addition to her work on the “Beaver” franchise, Billingsley has played June Cleaver in episodes of several television programs, including “Amazing Stories,” “Baby Boom,” and “Hi Honey, I’m Home!”
Additional Time Spent on Television
Billingsley had a difficult time finding acting opportunities in the years following the cancellation of “Leave it to Beaver” and before the premiere of “The New Leave it to Beaver.”
Her lone television credit during the 1970s was for the drama series “The F.B.I.” She made her way back to the small screen in the early 1980s with roles in television shows such as “Mork & Mindy” and “The Love Boat,” as well as a part in the television movie “High School, U.S.A.”
Billingsley gave the voice to the character Nanny in the animated series “Muppet Babies” in 1984, and she maintained this role all the way to the conclusion of the show in 1991.
Billingsley was a guest star on several different sitcoms throughout the decade of the 1990s, including “Roseanne,” “Murphy Brown,” “The Mommies,” “Empty Nest,” and “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose.”
She made her acting debut in the new millennium with a guest-starring role in the science fiction series “Mysterious Ways.” The television film “Secret Santa,” for which Billingsley appeared and was credited, was broadcast in the year 2003.
Film Profession
Following a period in which she appeared on screen in uncredited roles, Billingsley was given her first screen credit in the 1948 film noir “The Argyle Secrets.”
During the same year, she was included in the lead role in the Western film “The Valiant Hombre.” After then, a few more uncredited cameos appeared in the films “Act of Violence,” “The Sun Comes Up,” and “Caught,” respectively.
Billingsley’s final roles of the 1940s were as supporting cast members in the films “I Cheated the Law,” “Air Hostess,” and “Prejudice.”
She had roles in movies like “Shadow on the Wall,” “Trial Without Jury,” “Pretty Baby,” and “Inside Straight,” as well as the MGM romantic comedy “Three Guys Named Mike” early in the following decade.
Billingsley also continued to make cameo appearances in several films without receiving credit for his work, including “The Tall Target,” “Invitation,” “The Bad and the Beautiful,” and “Invaders from Mars.”
One of Billingsley’s most notable film performances was in Arthur Hiller’s “The Careless Years,” which was released in 1957.
She has screen time with the likes of Dean Stockwell, Natalie Trundy, John Larch, and John Stevenson in the movie.
Billingsley did not make her comeback to the big screen until 23 years later when she played a jive-talking lady in the satire film “Airplane!”
After this, she only made a handful of appearances in films, with her only other credit coming from a tiny part in “Back to the Beach” in the 1980s.
It seems only fitting that Billingsley made her farewell appearance on the big screen in the 1997 version of “Leave it to Beaver.”
The Cycle of Personal Life and Death
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In 1941, Billingsley wed her first husband, Glenn Billingsley, who was in the restaurant business. Before splitting up in 1947, the marriage was successful in producing two boys.
After that, in 1953, Billingsley tied the knot with the English filmmaker Roy Kellino, whom she remained with until he died in 1956.
From 1959 until the time of his passing in 1981, she was married to William Mortensen, who was her third and final husband.
Billingsley suffered from polymyalgia and passed away at her home in Santa Monica, California, in October 2010. She was 94 years old at the time.
Real Estate
In the 1960s, Barbara spent $30,000 to purchase an oceanfront home in Malibu. This transaction took place at some point. She would rent out the property at times when she wasn’t utilizing it herself.
During the latter decade of her life and for another decade after she passed away, the house was mostly rented out on a short-term basis for a price ranging from $20,000 to $40,000 PER MONTH.
In September 2021, Barbara’s heirs sold this house to the legendary football player Joe Montana for a price of $7.4 million.
