‘Leave It To Beaver’ Star Tony Dow Dies At 77

If you are a fan of classic sitcoms, you no doubt remember Leave It To Beaver, featuring the picture-perfect clan called Cleaver, which exemplified the idealized suburban family we all craved.

Like other family-themed comedies of that time (Father Knows Best and The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, for example) love and understanding — and a happy ending — was the recipe for any situation. But what set Leave It To Beaver apart was its perspective, where the comedy focused on life through the eyes of Jerry Mathers (as Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver), who was seven years old when the series began, and his older brother Wally (Tony Dow).

Sadly, Tony Dow died on Tuesday at the age of 77.

“It is with an extremely heavy heart that we share with you the passing of our beloved Tony this morning,” Frank Bilotta and Renee James, Dow’s managers, announced in a statement. “Tony was a beautiful soul – kind, compassionate, funny and humble. It was truly a joy to just be around him. His gentle voice and unpretentious manner was immediately comforting and you could not help but love him. The world has lost an amazing human being, but we are all richer for the memories that he has left us. From the warm reminiscences of Wally Cleaver to those of us fortunate enough to know him personally – thank you Tony. And thank you for the reflections of a simpler time, the laughter, the friendship and for the feeling that you were a big brother to us all.”

No cause of death was shared, but Dow’s wife Lauren revealed in May that he was facing another battle with cancer.

Born April 13, 1945 in Hollywood, California, Tony Dow trained as a swimmer and was a Junior Olympics diving champion. He landed the role of Wally Cleaver in Leave It To Beaver in a casting call with almost no acting experience. Given that his mother, Muriel Dow, was a stunt woman in early westerns and Clara Bow’s movie double in Hollywood, his eventual path to acting was no real surprise.

In this world of innocence, where the boyhoods of “Beaver” and Tony Dow as Wally (who was 12 when the sitcom began) were the focus, Leave It To Beaver remains a defining comedy at a time when TV families were portrayed as perfect. It aired for six seasons.

After Leave It To Beaver ended, Dow appeared as a guest star in a number of TV series including My Three Sons, Dr. Kildare, Mr. Novak, Adam-12, Lassie and Emergency! In 1983, the cast of Leave It To Beaver (minus Hugh Beaumont, who passed away in 1982), reunited in 1983 for CBS made-for television movie Still the Beaver. After a positive reception, the sitcom was revived as The New Leave It to Beaver (also known as Still the Beaver). It aired on Disney Channel from 1984 to 1985, and then on TBS from 1986 to 1989.

Dow also played himself in the 2003 comedy Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, which featured cameos of dozens of former young actors, and he appeared in the John Landis skit comedy feature The Kentucky Fried Movie. His most recent appearance was in the revival of anthology drama Suspense in 2016.

He is survived by his wife Lauren and two children.