Wally Cleaver's bombshell date was the same girl who revealed the origin of Dobie Gillis' name

She moved a little too fast for two teens of early-Sixties sitcoms.

Beaver and Gilbert gaze at the young woman in the movie theater ticket booth like they've spotted a rare snow leopard. This blonde doesn't go to school — she works a real job! After punching out, she heads to Hank's Place where she chugs frosty mugs of lager and smokes cigarettes! 

"She's what they call a woman of the world," Gilbert declares in awe.

Certainly, Mayfield had rarely seen a girl like Marlene Holmes. The youths of Leave It to Beaver were more into saying "Gee!" than drinking beer. But the episode "Box Office Attraction" came near the end of the series, as the boys were coming of age. Wally's date with Marlene was proof that the Cleaver kids were soon to be men. Though not quite yet.

Wally heads out on a Saturday date with Marlene, after bringing her home to meet Ward and June. Marlene — gasp — lies to his parents about her schooling! She then drags to Wally to Hank's, where she commences lighting up and sipping a brewski. All this after she clutches Wally in the car and plants a kiss right on his smacker! Wally is in over his head with this "fast" older woman. He heads home alone.

Diane Sayer played Marlene in this 1963 tale, in one of her earliest screen roles. A year later, she portrayed a victim of the strangler in The Strangler, sang with the Rat Pack in Robin and the 7 Hoods, and ran alongside Ann-Margret as a juvenile delinquent in Kitten with a Whip. No wonder the innocent Wally and Beaver could not see eye-to-eye with ol' Marlene!

But before all that, in the spring of '62, Diane Sayer made her screen debut on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. Thanks to her character, the spectacularly named Giselle Hurlbut, we know why "Dobie" is named Dobie!

"I think 'Dobie' is icky and awful and too, too ridiculous!" Giselle Hurlbut hurls at Dobie in "Names My Mother Called Me."

Giselle also envisions a demanding future of Dobie. She tells him once they're married, she expects him to work his way up to a vice presidency role in a big corporation and move them into a split-level house in the suburbs with three children (two boys and a girl). She has it all figured out. And she's devastated that one day she might be featured in the society pages as "Mrs. Dobie Gillis."

So why is Dobie named Dobie? Even Dobie doesn't know! He asks his folks. Mr. Gillis says it was all mom's doing.

Meanwhile, Dobie receives a mysterious letter from a Dr. D. W. Kline, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who summons the young man to New York. Dobie meets Dr. Kline, who presents the teen with a scrapbook about Dobie's life. Dobie's mother has been sending him clippings about the boy for years.

Dobie and Dr. Kline philosophize on the meaning of life, as Kline is nearing the end of his life. He asks the adolescent to deliver his final words of wisdom to a waiting world. "Be kind to each other and have a dream," Dobie declares. 

Of course, the "D." in D. W. Kline stands for Dobie. Dobie Gillis was named after the revered scientist. 

Dobie returns home and tells Giselle he will not change his name. She doesn't care — she has a new fiance.

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10 Comments

swog85 17 months ago
Lee Meriwether had a very small role in the ORIGINAL, "Leave It To Beaver" but if you blinked, you might have missed her! It was the episode where Beaver and Gilbert collect door to door on behalf of a charity drive. June had another obligation and decided Beaver was responsible enough to collect the money in her place. One of the neighbors the boys asked to donate was a very young and cheerful Lee Meriwether!
PatrickRegan 18 months ago
Dobie Gillis would be a nice show to run on MeTV.
Ready2go 19 months ago
Just watched this episode today, 3/22/23. Wally was better off with Julie Foster.
cjbronx 35 months ago
Does anyone happen to know what the name of the twist song that they always play on leave it to beaver
robert 35 months ago
Wally had Julie Foster and Mary Ellen Rogers fighting over him which made we wonder why he took up with this hussy. She had a hard boiled look to her.
AnnieM 48 months ago
If we all took Dobie's words to heart, the world would be a much nicer place.
Dario 48 months ago
Diane Sayer was a Los Angeles native, born on February 22, 1938. She died on March 26, 2001 in Newport Beach, California, of breast cancer at age 63.
Lillyrose 50 months ago
I have Leave it to Beaver on DVD, and I remember seeing this episode. Leave it to Beaver is one of my favorite shows!
VickiSmall 51 months ago
I have Dobie Gillis on DVD and remember seeing this one!
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