C6 BARBARABILLINGSLEY,94 Actress was a model mom on ‘Leave It to Beaver’ BY ADAM BERNSTEIN Barbara Billingsley, whose


portrayal of June Cleaver on the sitcom “Leave It to Beaver” helped define the suburban TV mother of the 1950s and who lampooned her wholesome im- age in the movie “Airplane!” as a prim older lady who is fluent in “jive,” died Oct. 16 at her home in SantaMonica, Calif. She was 94. Mrs. Billingsley was a fashion


model and supporting player on film and television before she won her best-known role, gowned in her signature skirts, high heels and pearls as the Cleaver family matriarch on “Leave It to Beaver.” June Cleaver was presented as


the flawless housewife, lovingly going through the motions of running a home: stuffing celery withpeanut butter, vacuuming in high heels, greeting her husband when he came home at night and tucking in her two adorable sons. Later sitcoms, including “Mar-


ried With Children,” often went to extremes to tear down the concept of suburban family bliss, butMrs. Billingsley helpedmake her show and her specific role work. “Even though it’s the easiest


part to burlesque,” said television historian Robert J. Thompson of Syracuse University, “there was somethingmuchmorewarmand human about her than any of the other perfect mothers shown on television in those years.” “Leave It to Beaver,” which


aired from 1957 to 1963, was never a ratings champion and appeared for most of its run on the third-place ABC network. The showonly earned its “cultur- al currency” in late afternoon reruns that aired for decades,


GARYE. LEE, 67 Career diplomat endured mock executions in ’79 Iran hostage crisis BY T. REES SHAPIRO Gary E. Lee, 67, a State Depart-


ment officer in Tehran who in 1979 was taken hostage by Irani- an militants and braved mock executions, beatings and near starvation during 444 days in captivity, died Oct. 10 at his home in Fulton, Tex.He had cancer. Mr. Lee was one of 52 Ameri-


cans held inside theU.S. Embassy until they were released Jan. 20, 1981. Another hostage, Richard Morefield, who was U.S. consul general at the time, died Oct. 11. Mr.Lee, the son of a missionary


in India, joined the State Depart- ment in 1971.He gained a reputa- tion as a troubleshooter and was often dispatched overseas to dan- ger spots, including Syria and Yemen. He often handled logistics for presidential visits to the Middle East and was a key coordinator for Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s “shuttle diplomacy” during the early 1970s. In May 1979, Mr. Lee volun-


teered for service in Iran, where anti-American fervor echoed in the streets during protests of a U.S. decision to grant temporary shelter toMohammad Reza Pahl- avi, the ailing Iranian shah. The political turmoil peaked


Nov. 4, 1979, when a mob of Iranians stormed theU.S. Embas- sy. Mr. Lee escaped out of a back


door and was sprinting through an alley when Kalashnikov rifle bullets whizzed by his ears. He was apprehended by mili-


tants several blocks from the compound. He was confined to a dark room with no windows that the prisoners dubbed the “mush- room.” Mr. Lee was kept in isolation


for weeks at a time. He later told how he “made friends” with a salamander that crawled around his room and how he teased ants with a pistachio, nudging the nut along the floor to keep it out of their reach. When the guards fed him raw


chicken, he dreamed of steaming pork chops.He lost 30 pounds. To keep himself alert, Mr. Lee


designed a patio in his head to add on to his home in Falls Church. Mr. Lee was blindfolded and


beaten and subjected to three separate mock executions. He re- called imagining that he “could feel the bullets inmy back.” “I bought it,”Mr. Lee later told


Timemagazine. “I thought Iwasa dead man.” Upon his return home,Mr. Lee received more than 300 letters— and several cases of beer. He responded to every piece of mail. Mr. Lee continued to work for


the State Department and did not rule out working abroad again. There was one exception. “I won’t go to Iran,” he said.


“But I’ll go anywhere else.” Gary Earl Lee was born Feb. 4,


1943, in Kingston, N.Y. He gradu- ated from Youngstown State Uni- versity in Ohio and was enrolled in a master’s programin business at Kent State University when he decided, on a lark, to take the Foreign Service exam. He passed on the first try and,


shortly after, was sent to India for his inaugural State Department posting. Mr.Lee saidcominghomeafter


being a hostage was difficult. The duration of Mr. Lee’s captivity strained his relationship with his wife, Pat, who told reporters that she received only a few notes from herhusbandthroughout the entire ordeal. “We were so compatible be-


fore,” she said in an interview during his time in captivity. “But people can change so much in a year.” They divorced not long after


his return home. A complete list of survivors could not be con- firmed. Mr. Lee retired to Texas after


federal service.He was often seen among friends at the 301 Bar and Grill, where he sat on a stool draped in theU.S. flag. Reached by phone at the estab- lishment one recent afternoon, his friend Patty Asack said that the flag had been removed from Mr. Lee’s usual seat at the bar and that the stool had been ceremoni-


His dream of a home came true life from C1


people into apartments. Mr. Hart, who had heard voic-


es for as long as he could remem- ber, remained a drinker until the finalmonths of his life, and itwas the drinking that led directly to the liver disease that killed him Oct. 8 at 59, Kaufman said. Mr. Hart, who grew up at the


Sursum Corda project off North Capitol Street, was one of nine children, several of whom were shot to death or killed them- selves, he said. He was not in regular contact with any rela- tives. When Mr. Hart said that he


didn’t want to die in a hospital but rather in his own bed, the health aides and Pathways ad- ministrators who worked with him came to be with him in his final days. Kaufmanwas there at the end.


“There weren’t any heroic mea- sures,” she said. “Gregory saved the system, I don’t know, at least $100,000 by choosing not to go to


MICHAEL WILLIAMSON/THE WASHINGTON POST


Whenmovers kept bringing furniture into his newapartment in December 2007, GregoryHart was overwhelmed.


the hospital. Itwas very dignified and very simple. At 3 a.m., his breathing slowed, and at 3:30, he stopped breathing.” “I prayed for him,” said Kauf-


man, who is also an Episcopal priest, “and commended his spir- it to God.”


marcfisher@washpost.com


one episode. “My mother says it looks as though you never do any work in here.” June Cleaver’s far-fetched ac-


couterments, notably her fond- ness for pearls and fashionable shoes, were inspired by produc- tion needs more than anything else. “The pearls happened because


DAMIAN DOVARGANES/ASSOCIATED PRESS


Barbara Billingsley—and her trademark pearls—in 2007.


Thompson said. Although better-rated family


sitcoms fromthat era were large- ly forgotten by later generations of TV viewers — including “The Adventures ofOzzie andHarriet,” “Father Knows Best” and “The DonnaReed Show”—“Leave It to Beaver” thrived in syndication. Thompson credited the smart scripts and appealing ensemble cast, which included Hugh Beau- mont as the father, Ward, Tony Dow as the teenage Wally and Jerry Mathers as the freckle- faced Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver. As the sympathetic June


Cleaver, Mrs. Billingsley was known for her signature line, “Ward, I'm very worried about the Beaver,” when her younger son got into trouble or seemed despondent. She also had to tend with Wally’s friend Eddie Haskell, who was perpetually buttering her upwhen not giving her backhanded compliments. “Gee, your kitchen always looks so clean,” Haskell said in


I have a big hollow here in my neck,” Mrs. Billingsley told the Los Angeles Times in 2003. “In those days, cameras and the film weren't as good as they are today, so I used to wear different kinds of jewelry around my neck to hide that spot. . . . So no matter what I was doing — cleaning, cooking or answering the phone —I had those darn pearls on.” The high heels also had a


reason. “In the beginning of the series, I wore flat shoes, but then Wally and theBeaver beganto get taller,” she said. “That’s why they put me in heels. The producers wanted me to be as tall or taller than the kids. Sometimes Iwould stand on the stairs for a scene so I could have somemore height.” Barbara Lillian Combes was


born Dec. 22, 1915, in Los Ange- les, where her father became an assistant chief of police. She attended junior college before entering show business and ap- peared on Broadway in 1937 in the comedy satire “Straw Hat.” “Unfortunately, the play lasted


five days,” she later said, “and thatwas the end ofmy Broadway career.” She spent time as a fashion


model in New York, working for designer Hattie Carnegie, among others, beforemarrying restaura- teur Glenn Billingsley, a nephew of Stork Club nightclub owner Sherman Billingsley. They had two sons before divorcing in the


late 1940s. Her second husband, cinematographer and director Roy Kellino, died in 1956 after three years of marriage. Her third husband,WilliamMortens- en, a physician, died in 1981. Survivors include her sons


Drew Billingsley and Glenn Billingsley Jr. Mrs. Billingsley’s cool blonde


looks earned her a movie con- tractwithMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1945, and she won small roles in dozens of films, often playing secretaries and receptionists. She fared better on television, earn- ing a co-starring role as the wife of a child psychologist played by Stephen Dunne on the CBS sit- com“Professional Father” (1955). Reruns of “Leave It to Beaver”


transformedMrs. Billingsley into what was often described as “America’s secondmom,” and she reprised her role in reunion shows, including “Still the Bea- ver” in the 1980s. She played Aunt Martha in the 1997 feature film“Leave It to Beaver.” She made cameo appearances


on TV that attempted to poke fun at her June Cleaver persona. She played a jail inmate in “Mork and Mindy,” a gun-wielding neighbor- hood-watch official in “Murphy Brown” and a devious nurse in “EmptyNest.”Hermostmemora- ble later role came in “Airplane!” (1980), a popular satire of big- budget disaster films directed by JimAbrahams,David Zucker and Jerry Zucker. Mrs. Billingsley played a gray-


haired passenger who offers to help a befuddled stewardesswho cannot understand two black men who have become sick on the plane. Mrs. Billingsley offers her assistance: “Oh, stewardess, I speak jive.” Al White, one of the actors in


EZ SU


KLMNO OBITUARIES


SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2010


ASSOCIATED PRESS


The cast of “Leave It to Beaver”: TonyDowasWally,Mrs. Billingsley as June,Hugh Beaumont asWard and JerryMathers as the Beaver.


the scene, told the Toronto Star that he helped Mrs. Billingsley learn the cadence of black slang. “She was so open and attentive and eager,” he said. “She wanted to learn, and she wanted to get it right.” The stewardess tells the pas-


sengers, “Would you tell him to just relax and I'll be back as soon as I can with somemedicine?” Mrs. Billingsley translates,


“Jus’ hang loose, blood. She gon- na catch ya up on da’ rebound on da’med side.” bernsteina@washpost.com


JOHN DWYIER/WASHINGTON POST FILE PHOTO Gary E. Lee was a key coordinator for Secretary of StateHenry Kissinger’s “shuttle diplomacy.”


ally tipped forward to mark his absence. On the bar in front ofMr. Lee’s


Anthony T. Swann WASHINGTON GAS EMPLOYEE


Anthony T. Swann Sr., 98, who


spent 38 years with Washington Gas as a service repairman, died Oct. 6 at Washington Hospital Center of complications from a fall while on vacation in Wil- liamsburg. He was a Dunkirk resident. Mr. Swann repaired furnaces


and worked in the company’s gas plant.He retired in 1972. Anthony Thomas Swann was


born in Washington. During the 1930s, he sold ice for ice boxes. He was an usher at St. Philip


the Apostle Catholic Church in Camp Springs and St. Bernar- dine’sRectory in Suitland.Hewas a member of the Knights of Co- lumbus. Evelyn Burns Swann, his wife


of 64 years, died in 1999. Survivors include three chil-


dren, Carol Zust of Forestville, A. Rosemary Curtin of Dunkirk and AnthonySwannJr. of Rosaryville; 12 grandchildren; 21 great-grand- children; and two great-great- grandchildren.


—Timothy R. Smith


spot, bartenders placed one shot glass upside down and another filled to the rim with scotch.


Robert F. Garbarini WESTERN UNION EXECUTIVE


Robert F. Garbarini, 91, an


engineer and former Western Union vice president who led the company’s satellite communica- tions subsidiary, died Oct. 12 of heart disease at the Riderwood Village retirement community in Silver Spring. Mr. Garbarini joined Western


Union in 1967 and later became president of Western Union Space Communications, a New Jersey-based subsidiary that managed a billion-dollar NASA satellite program. He retired in 1984 and moved to Bethesda in 1987. He had lived at Riderwood for the past 11 years. Robert Frank Garbarini was


born in New York City. He re- ceived bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineer- ing from the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., in 1940 and 1945, respectively. In 1940, he became an engi-


neer for the Sperry Gyroscope Co. inNewYork, where he worked on bomber navigation systems and the Norden bombsight mecha- nism.He eventually became chief engineer of Sperry’s air arma-


shapirot@washpost.com


mentdivision. In1963, he became a NASA deputy associate admin- istrator.He joinedWesternUnion four years later. He received the American In-


stitute of Aeronautics and Astro- nautics’ Aerospace Communica- tions Award in 1976. In his spare time,Mr. Garbari-


ni enjoyedmakingsteamengines. He once made a model boat that ran on liquid oxygen. Mary Driscoll Garbarini, his


wife of 61 years, died in 2007. Survivors include five chil-


dren, Laura Donnelly ofUniversi- ty Park, Frances Garbarini of Co- lumbia, John Garbarini of Flan- ders, N.J., Ginger Garbarini of Front Royal, Va., and Helen Mil- grom ofChicago; a brother; seven grandchildren; and two great- granddaughters. —Timothy R. Smith


News Obituaries A news obituary is a staff-writ-


ten article that summarizes a per- son’s life. It does not include fu- neral service arrangements or in- formation on memorial contribu- tions. For information on what is required for a news obituary, call 202-334-7389 or go to washington- post.com/obituaries.


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