Talbot's first appearance as Gilbert on
Leave It to Beaver was in a 1959 episode called "Beaver and Gilbert", in which he played an insecure new kid in town who is prone to telling tall tales. Over the next five years, he would appear in 57 episodes of the series, which ended in June 1963. The conniving Gilbert frequently got the hapless Beaver into trouble, once declaring, "I may be a dirty rat, but I'm not a dumb rat." However, as the series developed, Gilbert became Beaver's best friend. Talbot guest-starred on many television programs in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including three episodes of
Lassie, "Growing Pains," "The Flying Machine," and "The Big Race." He appeared in two episodes of
The Twilight Zone: "
Static" and "
The Fugitive". In 1960, he played Jimmie Kendall, son of the title character in
CBS's
Perry Mason in the episode, "The Case of the Wandering Widow". Talbot appeared as well in
Lawman,
Sugarfoot,
M Squad,
The Barbara Stanwyck Show,
The Blue Angels,
Men Into Space,
Wanted: Dead or Alive,
Law of the Plainsman,
The Donna Reed Show,
Mr. Novak, and
The Lucy Show. He performed in comedy sketches with
Bob Newhart in the NBC variety program
The Bob Newhart Show. Talbot also played the role of Ronnie Kramer in "I Hit and Ran", a 1960 episode of the
CBS's
anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson. On stage in 1960, Talbot co-starred as "Sonny" in
William Inge's
Dark at the Top of the Stairs with
Marjorie Lord at the
La Jolla Playhouse. He also played
Dick Clark's ward and nephew in Clark's first movie, ''
Because They're Young'' (1960). The high school melodrama also starred
Tuesday Weld with music by
Duane Eddy and
James Darren. Having spent his early years in front of the cameras, Talbot abandoned acting for a career as a journalist. In an article for
Salon.com in 1997, he looked back with a sense of humor about his past role on
Leave It to Beaver: In the interests of historical accuracy I should say that, yes, Gilbert was a troublemaker and an occasional liar, but my character was certainly no
Eddie Haskell – that leering teenage hypocrite who spoke unctuously to parents ("Well, hello Mrs. Cleaver, and how is young Theodore today?") and venomously to the Beav ("Hey, squirt, take a powder before I squash you like a bug").... I have spent my adult life trying to conceal my
Leave It to Beaver past or correcting the historical record. Either way the series has become inescapable. When I was a kid, I loved acting; in fact, I badgered my father and mother until they allowed me to work. But how could I have known as an innocent 9-year-old that I was taking part in a television program that would live on for 40 years as an icon for baby boomers? In the early '80s, I turned down an offer to revive my role as Gilbert in a
Beaver reunion series. "I'm trying to establish myself as a documentary filmmaker and an investigative reporter," I explained to the producers. "I can't go back to being Gilbert." More recently Talbot has reflected affectionately on his
Beaver experience in articles and interviews and even in a
Frontline documentary, "Diet Wars." ==KQED==