Tony Lee Dow (April 13, 1945 – July 26, 2022) was an American television actor, film producer, director, and sculptor. He is best known for his role in the television sitcom Leave It to Beaver, which ran in primetime from 1957 to 1963

Tony Dow

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This article is about the American actor, film producer, and director. For the British director, see Tony Dow (director).
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Tony Dow
Leave It to Beaver Tony Dow 1961.jpg
Dow in 1961
Born Tony Lee Dow
April 13, 1945
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died July 26, 2022 (aged 77)
Topanga, California, U.S.
Occupation
Actordirectorproducersculptor
Years active 1949–2022
Spouse(s)
Carol Marlow

(m. 1969; div. 1980)[1]
Lauren Shulkind (m. 1980)[2]
Tony Lee Dow (April 13, 1945 – July 26, 2022) was an American television actor, film producer, director, and sculptor. He is best known for his role in the television sitcom Leave It to Beaver, which ran in primetime from 1957 to 1963. Dow played Wally Cleaver, the older son of June (played by Barbara Billingsley) and Ward (played by Hugh Beaumont) Cleaver, and the older brother of Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver (played by Jerry Mathers). From 1983 to 1989, Dow reprised his role as Wally in a television movie and in The New Leave It to Beaver.

Contents
1 Career
2 Personal life
2.1 Health and death
3 Selected filmography
3.1 Actor
3.2 Visual effects
3.3 Producer
3.4 Writer
3.5 Director
4 References
5 External links
Career
Dow began his career after he earned the role of Wally Cleaver in Leave It to Beaver in a casting call with almost no acting experience.[3][4]

Dow (top) with his Leave It to Beaver co-stars (L–R): Hugh Beaumont, Barbara Billingsley and Jerry Mathers, circa 1959
Dow continued to perform on Leave It to Beaver for six years, until the series ended in 1963. After that, he appeared on other television shows, including My Three Sons, Dr. Kildare, The Greatest Show on Earth, Never Too Young, and on five episodes of Mr. Novak in three different roles. Then, from 1965 to 1968, he served in the U.S. National Guard, interrupting his acting career. On his return to acting, he guest starred on the television series' Adam-12, Love American Style, Knight Rider, Square Pegs, The Mod Squad, The Hardy Boys, and Emergency![5]

During the 1970s, Dow continued acting while working in the construction industry and studying journalism and filmmaking.[4]

From 1983 to 1989, Dow reprised his role as Wally Cleaver in a reunion television movie and in a subsequent series The New Leave It to Beaver.

In 1986, he wrote an episode of The New Leave It to Beaver. In 1987, he was honored by the Young Artist Foundation with its Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Award for his role as Wally Cleaver.[6]

In 1989, he made his debut as a director with an episode of The New Lassie, followed by episodes of Get a Life, Harry and the Hendersons, Coach, Babylon 5, Crusade, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He served as the visual effects supervisor for Babylon 5. In 1996, he provided visual effects for the Fox television movie Doctor Who.

Dow's most recent screen appearance was in the 2003 film Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.[5]

In April 2019, Dow was seen promoting the Leave It To Beaver television series and other classic television series on the MeTV television network.[citation needed]

Aside from acting, he was also a sculptor, creating abstract bronze sculptures. He said about his work, "The figures are abstract and not meant to represent reality but rather the truth of the interactions as I see and feel them. I find the wood in the hills of Topanga Canyon and each piece evolves from my subconscious. I produce limited editions of nine bronzes using the lost wax process from molds of the original burl sculpture."[7] One of his bronze pieces was on display in the backyard garden of Barbara Billingsley, who played his mother on Leave It to Beaver. He was chosen as one of three sculptors to show at the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts exhibition, in the Carrousel du Louvre, in Paris, France, in December 2008. He represented the United States delegation, which was composed of artists from the Karen Lynne Gallery. His abstract shown at the Parisian shopping mall was titled "Unarmed Warrior", a bronze figure of a woman holding a shield.[8]

Personal life
Dow was born in Hollywood, California, to John Stevens Dow, Jr. (1908–1987), a designer and general contractor, and Muriel Virginia Dow (née Montrose) (May 27, 1906 – April 30, 2001),[9] a stunt woman in early Westerns and Clara Bow's movie double for Hollywood movie studios. In his youth, Dow trained as a swimmer and was a Junior Olympics diving champion.[3] Dow married Lauren Shulkind in June 1980.[3][10]

Health and death
In the 1990s, Dow revealed that he has suffered from clinical depression. He subsequently starred in self-help videos chronicling this battle, including the 1998 Beating the Blues.[11]

In October 2021, Dow had been hospitalized with pneumonia. In May 2022, he was diagnosed with cancer,[12] and died from complications of liver cancer at his home in Topanga, California on July 26, 2022, aged 77.[13][14]

Selected filmography

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Actor
Leave It to Beaver (234 episodes, 1957–1963)
The Eleventh Hour as Bob Quincy in "Four Feet in the Morning" (1963)
Dr. Kildare (1 episode, 1963)
The Greatest Show on Earth (one episode, 1964)
My Three Sons (one episode, 1964)
Mr. Novak (five episodes, 1963–1965)
Never Too Young (153 episodes, 1965)
Adam-12 (one episode, 1970)
Love, American Style (one episode, 1971)
The Mod Squad (one episode, 1971)
Emergency! ("Brushfire", 1972)
Death Scream (1975)
General Hospital (unknown episodes, 1975)
The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (one episode, 1977)
Square Pegs (two episodes, 1982)
Quincy M.E. (one episode, 1983)
Knight Rider (one episode, 1983)
High School U.S.A. (1983)
Murder, She Wrote (one episode, 1987)
The New Mike Hammer (one episode, 1987)
Back to the Beach (1987)
The New Leave It to Beaver, or Still the Beaver (1985–1989)
Charles in Charge (one episode, 1989)
Freddy's Nightmares, or Freddy's Nightmares: A Nightmare on Elm Street The Series (two episodes, 1990)
The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space (1995)
Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction (one episode, 1998)
Diagnosis: Murder (two episodes, 1999)
Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003)
Visual effects
Babylon 5 (unknown episodes)
The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space (1995)
Doctor Who (1996)
Producer
The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space (1995)
It Came from Outer Space II (1996)
Writer
The New Leave It to Beaver (one episode, 1986)
Director
"Field of Fire", Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (season 7)
Babylon 5 (several episodes)
Get a Life (episode Dadicus)
Coach (several episodes)
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References
"Glimpse into Tony Dow's Life after 'Leave It to Beaver' and His Almost 40-Year Marriage". January 8, 2020.
"'Leave It to Beaver' star Tony Dow 'doing well' after pneumonia hospitalization". USA Today.
"Tony Dow (Wally Cleaver): The Beaver's older brother is a man of many talents". www.tvbanter.net. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
"Leave it to Beaver: Tony Dow". TV Land. Archived from the original on April 28, 2006.
Tony Dow profile. IMDb. Accessed October 2, 2015.
"9th Annual Youth in Film Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
"Karen Lynne Gallery". www.karenlynnegallery.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016.
"Tony Dow: From 'Leave It to Beaver' to the Louvre". Los Angeles Times, November 11, 2008.
Profile. filmreference.com. Accessed October 2, 2015.
"Who is Carol Marlow?". Omnilexica. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
GMA "Leave It to Beaver: 50 Years later". ABC News, September 19, 2007. Retrieved October 6, 2007.
"'Leave It To Beaver' actor Tony Dow announces cancer diagnosis: 'It is truly heartbreaking'". Yahoo. May 10, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
"Tony Dow, Wally of 'Leave It to Beaver,' dies". WEAU. July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
Bernstein, Adam (July 26, 2022). "Tony Dow, the all-American Wally on 'Leave it to Beaver,' dies at 77". The Washington Post.