Max Gordon Showalter (June 2, 1917 – July 30, 2000), sometimes credited as Casey Adams,[1] was an American film, television, and stage actor, as well as a composer, pianist, and singer.

[4] As a toddler, he developed a desire for acting while accompanying his mother to local theatres where she played piano for silent movies.

[5] By the late 1930s, Showalter had multiple stage roles under his belt, including acting in productions of the Pasadena Playhouse.

[3] Showalter also appeared in the traveling musical This Is the Army for two years and in other notable Broadway productions like Make Mine Manhattan and The Grass Harp.

The following year, billed as Casey Adams, he appeared as Ward Cleaver in "It's a Small World", the original pilot for the 1950s sitcom Leave It to Beaver.

[8] Casey Adams also appeared in The Andy Griffith Show as antiques dealer Ralph Mason in the episode titled "The Horse Trader."

In the 1960s, Showalter reclaimed his original name and continued to land roles in such big-budget films as Elmer Gantry (1960), The Music Man (1962), and How to Murder Your Wife (1965).

Showalter composed the music for Little Boy Blue, which opened at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, California, on September 11, 1950.

In the 1950s, Showalter took a hiatus from his work in Hollywood, returning to Caldwell, Kansas, to care for his 15-year-old sister who was orphaned by the death of their parents in an automobile accident.