John Eimen, the red-haired, freckle-faced child actor who appeared across some of the most iconic television series of the 1950s and ’60s — including Leave It to Beaver, McKeever and the Colonel, The Twilight Zone, Ozzie and Harriet and dozens more — has died. He was 76.
Eimen died Friday at his home in Mukilteo, Washington, following a prostate cancer diagnosis he received in September, his family told The Hollywood Reporter.
Born Oct. 2, 1949, in Chicago, Eimen was discovered when an agent visited his Los Angeles-area classroom. He was working in television almost immediately, first in background roles and then in speaking parts.
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In a lengthy memoir he published with TV Party, Eimen wrote, “I was involved in TV from the age of six, I started as an extra for the first year or so, in such shows as Ozzie and Harriet, Leave It To Beaver, The Millionaire, Bachelor Father and Petticoat Junction.”
He remembered that his first Leave It to Beaver appearance came before the show had ever aired. Years later, he appeared in the episode “Long Distance Call” and recalled working alongside Jerry Mathers and Tony Dow, calling them “such genuinely nice guys.”
His memories from the era were strikingly warm. Speaking of Ozzie and Harriet, he wrote, “The whole Nelson family was unassuming, kind, considerate… Their family values were no act at all.”
He appeared on Lassie, Fury, several westerns, and even worked with Frank Sinatra multiple times. And he became recognizable nationwide thanks to Carnation’s 1959 Instant Milk ad, which he noted was “the earliest (that I know of) model with a milk mustache.”
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Eimen once seemed on the verge of a major career jump when he was cast as Jane Wyman’s son in Dr. Kate, a planned Desilu series. But Wyman withdrew from the project over a scheduling issue, and the show never went forward.
“It seemed that a big break had come my way,” he recalled. “However, she backed out of the deal.”
The pilot aired as part of Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, and he joked that he still received occasional residual checks.
In 1962, Eimen landed his signature role as Cadet Monk Roberts on the NBC sitcom McKeever and the Colonel. He delighted in how many people remembered the show despite its single-season run, writing that it even spawned merchandise, board games and a comic book.
He also remembered fondly the adult actors who became mentors — including Jackie Coogan, whose childhood earnings helped lead to modern child labor laws. “He was especially nice to me, and I'll always remember his many kindnesses,” Eimen wrote.
His final screen role came in a 1967 episode of Petticoat Junction, where Bea Benaderet smoothed things over after he arrived a few minutes late. “She was one of the warmest and nicest people I'd ever worked with,” he wrote.
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Why He Stepped Away From Acting
As Eimen grew older, he gravitated toward music and theater rather than continuing as an actor. His time at Valley Junior College played a pivotal role.
“The people in Theater Arts were such a talented bunch — there was Ed Begley, Jr…. And Michael Richards — Kramer!!! — I was in awe of him,” he wrote. Surrounded by performers he deeply admired, “I began to reconsider what I wanted to do.”
He found his “little niche” in smaller stage roles and writing music for productions, eventually deciding that pursuing music made more sense than competing with classmates he called “extraordinary.”
His musical life led to remarkable experiences — including backing up Sonny and Cher on New Year’s Eve at Don Drysdale’s club and, in high school, being in a garage band with Stanley Fafara (“Whitey” from Leave It to Beaver) that appeared in a Sugar Frosted Flakes commercial.
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Eimen performed in supper clubs around Beverly Hills and West Hollywood before a blind date with a Japanese student changed everything. He traveled to Japan in 1974 intending to stay a month — and instead married Midori in a traditional Shinto ceremony and lived there for a decade.
During that time, he taught English in Osaka, performed weekly as a singer-guitarist, appeared once on Japanese television and even translated comic books for Kodansha. “As my Japanese got better, other opportunities came up,” he wrote.
When the family moved to Seattle in 1985, the transition was difficult. To support them, Eimen worked aboard factory trawlers in the Bering Sea — “heading and gutting fish, repairing the nets, offloading the finished product” — before deciding he needed a safer line of work.
He then spent several years at a major American law firm before an unexpected opportunity arose: Northwest Airlines was recruiting Japanese speakers as flight attendants. He joined in 1995 and spent 25 years flying international routes before retiring in 2020.
“The most wonderful aspect of it,” he wrote, “has been that I've gone so many places on my days off with my family.”
Eimen had nothing but fondness for his years as a child actor. “For me, my acting days were a positive experience overall,” he wrote, adding that he was grateful not to be one of the child actors whose lives “were never a normal life at all outside the soundstages.”
“I’m so happy that wasn’t me!!!” he reflected.
Eimen is survived by his wife of 51 years, Midori; his sons, Daniel and Chris; and his grandsons, Lucas and Oliver. A memorial service is being planned.
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