Did ‘Leave It to Beaver’ Star Ken Osmond Become Alice Cooper or an Adult Film Star?
Ken Osmond was so accustomed to living a double life while portraying the annoying jerk Eddie Haskell on Leave It to Beaver that fans eventually made up the rumor that he became someone else entirely. For years, there were rumors that Ken Osmond grew up and became Alice Cooper. Of course, this isn’t true, as Cooper’s real name is Vincent Damon Furnier. Cooper is now 76 years old while Osmond was 76 when he died back in 2020.
Before he passed away, Osmond opened up about the rumors the show faced, including that people believed he was Cooper. He explained, “The way that came about, I understand, is that Alice Cooper was being interviewed, and someone asked, ‘What were you like as a child?’ He said, ‘I was AN Eddie Haskell,’ just referring to the type of person. He was misquoted and it took off from there.”
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Not only did people believe he was Cooper, but some believed that he grew up to become adult film star John Holmes after magazines falsely claimed that he started an adult film career. It was so widely believed that a Los Angeles movie theater put up a marquee “Eddie Haskell of TV in ‘Behind the Green Door’ — X-rated,” but Osmond was a police officer at that time and had it taken down and the rumor squashed. He also sued an adult bookstore in Los Angeles in the ’80s for advertising with his character’s name.
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Unfortunately, Osmond also lived for years with people believing he was just like his awful character, as many people have a hard time separating television from real life. But as the years went on, he was able to separate himself from the show and people realized how kind he was.
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Osmond even joined law enforcement to help shed his bad boy image. He said, “I was very much typecast. It’s a death sentence. In Hollywood you get typecast. I’m not complaining because Eddie’s been too good to me, but I found work hard to come by. In 1968, I bought my first house, in ’69 I got married, and we were going to start a family and I needed a job, so I went out and signed up for the LAPD.” What other Leave It to Beaver rumors have you heard? Let us know in the comments!
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