Kenneth Charles "Ken" Osmond (born June 7, 1943) is an American actor. Beginning a prolific career as a child actor at the age of four, Osmond is best known for his iconic role as Eddie Haskell on the 1950s television situation comedy Leave It to Beaver, and for reprising the role on the 1980s revival series The New Leave It to Beaver. Osmond was born on June 7, 1943 in Glendale, California. His father was a carpenter and his mother, a home-maker, whom Osmond has described as "a typical movie mother", with ambitions to get him and his brother, Dayton into show business. Osmond began going on professional auditions at the age of four, and was soon landing work in commercials. Soon, Mrs. Osmond began taking him and his brother to lessons every day after school, where he studied dance, drama, diction, dialects, martial arts, and equestrian riding. Osmond first broke into feature films working as an extra, the first job he remembers being an appearance in the film Plymouth Adventure with Spencer Tracy and Gene Tierney. He landed his first speaking role at the age of 9, with a small role in the film So Big starring Jane Wyman and Sterling Hayden.