John Eimen Dies: Child Actor In ‘Leave It To Beaver’, ‘The Twilight Zone’ & More Was 76

John Eimen, who appeared in more than a dozen TV series including Leave It to Beaver, The Twilight Zone and McKeever and the Colonel as a child actor in the late 1950s and ’60s, has died. He was 76. His family said he died of prostate cancer at his home in Mukilteo, WA. He had been diagnosed in September.

Born on October 2, 1949, in Chicago, Eimen moved with his family to Los Angeles in the 1950s. A freckled-faced redhead, he was discovered by an agent friend of his first-grade teacher. Often billed as Johnny Eimen, he appeared in episodes of such popular TV shows as Wagon Train, The Untouchables, Have Gun – Will Travel and General Electric Theater from 1958-62.

He also appeared in a classic Charles Beaumont-penned 1962 episode of The Twilight Zone — which wasn’t? — titled “The Fugitive.” It starred J. Pat O’Malley as Old Ben, a kindly old man who is popular with the children but actually is the king of a far-off planet who fled the regal responsibilities and came to Earth. His subjects come looking for him.

Perhaps most famously, Eimen played a classmate of Theodore Cleaver (Jerry Mathers) in the first episode of Leave It to Beaver. He would go on to make several appearances of the popular series during its 1957-63 run, including speaking parts.

He also starred alongside Oscar winner Jane Wyman in the 1961 drama pilot Dr. Kate, playing Cadet Monk Roberts, a student in a military school. The show wasn’t picked up to series, but the pilot was re-formatted for the Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse.

“With a sponsor in place, this show had the possibility to run for many years, considering Ms. Wyman’s status as an Academy Award-winning actress,” Eimen recalled, per his family. “However, she backed out of the deal, claiming dissatisfaction with the proposed ‘after-primetime’ schedule slot in the channel lineup.”

He added of the repurposed version of Dr. Kate, “I still get small residual checks from that show, from time to time.”

But that exposure led to perhaps his biggest role as 14-year-old Eimen was available to be cast as a series regular in another show set in a military school, McKeever and the Colonel, whose cast included Jackie Cooper. Eimen played Monk, a pal of Cadet Gary McKeever (Scott Lane). The sitcom aired one season on NBC in 1962-63.

Among Eimen’s other TV credits are guest shots on Going My Way, The Lloyd Bridges Show, Angel, Bachelor Father, The Rebel, Wendy and Me starring George Burns and Petticoat Junction. He also was a model who appeared in a full-page Carnation Instant Breakfast ad that ran in Life and other national magazine.

When his Hollywood career ebbed, Eimen transitioned to a music career as a singer-songwriter and guitarist. Later he moved to Japan, where he met his future wife and spent more than 10 years teaching English and performing his music in clubs and on Japanese television. After moving his family back to the United States in the mid-1990s, he would spend 25 years as a flight attendant on international routes for a major U.S. airline, aided by his speaking fluent Japanese. He retired from the airline in 2020.

John Eimen is survived by Midori, his wife of 51 years; their sons Daniel Eimen and Chris Eimen; and grandsons Lucas and Oliver. There will not be a funeral, per the family, but a memorial service is being planned.