John Eimen, a child actor in the 1950s and ’60s who appeared on such TV shows as Leave Itto Beaver, McKeever and theColonel and The Twilight Zone, has died. He was 76.
Eimen died Friday of prostate cancer at his home inMukilteo, Washington, his family announced. He only learned of his cancer diagnosis in September.
After showing up on episodes of Leave Itto Beaver, Bachelor Father,The Rebel, Have Gun — Will Travel, Wagon Train, The Untouchables and Lawman, the red-haired, freckle-faced Eimen was hired for a proposed 1961 TV drama from Desilu Productions calledDr. Kate, starring Jane Wyman.
“It seemed that a big break had come my waywhen I was chosen to play her son Tommy in theseries’ pilot,” herecalled. “With a sponsor in place, this show had the possibility to run formanyyears, considering Ms. Wyman’s status as an Academy Award-winning actress.However, she backed out ofthe deal, claiming dissatisfaction with the proposed ‘after-primetime’ schedule slot in the channel lineup.”
While the series with Wyman never materialized,the pilot did air as a 1960 episode of CBS’ Westinghouse DesiluPlayhouse. “I still get small residual checks from that show, from time totime,” henoted a few years ago.
WithDr. Katethrough, Eimen was available to portray Cadet Monk Roberts, a student at amilitary school, on the 1962-63 NBC sitcomMcKeever and theColonel, starring Scott Lane and Allyn Joslyn as the title characters. (The series, however, lasted just 26 episodes.)
Born in Chicago on Oct. 2, 1949, Eimen was discovered in his LosAngeles-area classroom by an agent who was a friend of his first-grade teacher.
He started acting at age 6, and his TV debut came in October 1957 as a classmate of Theodore Cleaver (Jerry Mathers) on thefirst episode ofCBS’ Leave Itto Beaver.He returned for other installments of that series, which ran six seasons through 1963.
In 1962, he played one of the neighborhood kids on the Twilight Zone episode “The Fugitive,” starting J. Pat O’Malley and Susan Gordon. Meanwhile, he also was known for his appearances, complete with a milkmustache, in national print ads for Carnation.
Eimen’s résumé included the 1965 Connie Stevens film Never Too Late and episodes of The Lloyd BridgesShow, Wendy & Me and, for his final onscreen credit, a 1967 installment of Petticoat Junction.
Eimen said he suffered no emotional scars when acting parts became scarce as he grew older. He became a singer, guitarist and songwriter and moved to Japan, where he got married. He spent more than 10years teaching English andperforming in clubs and on JapaneseTV before he and his family returned to the U.S. in the mid-1990s, settling in West Seattleand thenin Mukilteo.
Aided by his fluentJapanese, he served for25 years as a flight attendant on international routesfor a U.S. airline before retiring at age 71 in 2020.
Survivors include his wife of51 years, Midori; his sons, Daniel and Chris;and his grandsons,Lucas and Oliver. A memorial service is being planned.