Barbara Billingsley, who died Oct. 16 at age 94, was known as 'America's Mom' in the 1950s when she played the mother on 'Leave it to Beaver.' But she became equally famous -- iconic, actually -- for wearing a classic strand of pearls around her neck as housewife June Cleaver. Stylishly speaking, June Cleaver was the Betty Draper of her day, sans a philandering husband and otherwise dysfunctional fictional life. Like Draper, Cleaver also had a signature look. Indeed, fashion in the '50s was groundbreaking, an era that marked Dior's New Look of voluminous skirts, often on a tiny waist. Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Grace Kelly and later, Jackie Kennedy added celebrity style to the period. But none -- including the real housewives in America back then -- ever pushed a Hoover in high heels or waxed furniture in form-fitting dresses, sometimes worn over a crinoline petticoat. Billingsley's style, and in particular those pearls around her neck, made for a memorable mama Cleaver, a look she wore on the show from 1957 to 1963 for a total of 234 episodes that have found new audiences via cable TV. But it was the pearls -- a favorite look of first ladies Barbara Bush and Michelle Obama -- that had more to do with covering up one of Billingsley's flaws than with making a fashion statement. I know this because when I lived in Los Angeles several years ago, Billingsley invited me to lunch at her Santa Monica garden home where she told me the secret about the pearls that became just as famous as her character -- and her Spam casserole that she cooked for me that day. As she dished out her bubbling concoction of chopped broccoli, onions, mustard, milk, eggs and chunks of Spam at a perfectly set table with pressed floral print napkins and a centerpiece of fresh roses, she revealed that the pearls 'happened' because of a 'big hollow here in my neck.' The actress -- who starred with Clark Gable, Ronald Reagan, David Niven and Dick Powell -- pointed to the spot, slightly adjusting the pearls she wore that day, ever true to the style standard she had set. She explained that wearing pearls created a shadow that hid the spot. 'In those days, cameras and the film weren't as good as they are today,' she said. 'So I used to wear different kinds of jewelry around my neck to hide that spot. It was easier to be filmed and photographed if something made a shadow there.' Costumers agreed that a pearl necklace was the fashionable fix. 'So no matter what I was doing -- cleaning, cooking or answering the phone -- I had those darn pearls on,' she said back then. And on her feet, she wore high heels, even though when the series began she wore flats or ballerina shoes. When her TV kids Wally and the Beaver hit growth spurts, Billingsley, at 5 feet 5 inches, was put in heels because producers thought she should look taller. For added height, she often would stand on the stairs by the home's front door where she'd greet hubby Ward with a kiss or send the kids off to school before she began her day tucking in bed sheets or peeling potatoes -- naturally, while wearing pearls. She considered the look divine -- what America expected then for a TV stay-at-home mom who believed in family and ladylike attire. June was no Snooki. She was akin to Donna Reed or Harriet Nelson, other famous TV moms. There was no such thing as Cleaver cleavage. She wore shirt dresses from JCPenney with Peter Pan collars and skinny belts. The dresses, often accessorized with a starched apron, were fitted to her hourglass figure. She called the clothes timeless 'with skirts kept to just below the knees, little short sweaters, sleeves that were three-quarters length.' She never disagreed with the way June Cleaver looked, she said. Well, maybe once. 'I only wore trousers one time on the show,' she said. It was for a gardening scene. She always wondered why she didn't wear pants beyond that time because she certainly wore them at her own home. But she figured it out quickly: 'They just didn't want June Cleaver to wear the pants in the house.' So she wore pearls. 'It's silly, isn't it?' she asked over another helping of Spam, talking about her pretty dresses, polished heels and cultured pearls. 'Honestly, June Cleaver has always been a part of my life and always will be.' -- (E-mail: mquintanilla@express-news.net) From: Freedman, Dan Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010 6:22 PM To: Bertling, Terry Subject: Billingsley appreciation Is Quintanilla's piece on Billinglsey running Tuesday? Can you or someone send it to us? Thanks, Dan Freedman National Editor Hearst Newspapers Washington Bureau (O) 202-263-6419 (C) 240-461-5405 