Billingley's casting in the 1980 movie spoof Airplane! as the passenger who spoke jive was so jolting – and hysterical.

Born Barbara Lillian Combes in Los Angeles, Billingsley had been a model in New York before being signed as an MGM contract player. She appeared on various TV shows ranging from dramas to comedies before the Cleaver clan gathered on CBS in 1957. The following year the show moved to ABC, where it remained until the end of its run.

Billingsley was married three times, and her first husband, restaurateur Glenn Billingsley, was a nephew of Sherman Billingsley, who owned New York's famed Stork Club. Her other husbands, both of whom predeceased her, were director Roy Kelino and Dr. William Mortenson.

Glenn and Barbara Billingsley, who divorced in 1947, had two sons, Drew and Glenn, Jr., who survive her, as do four grandchildren – as well as the untold millions who will always envision her in the kitchen, wearing apron and pearls, and saying, "Ward, I'm worried about the Beaver."