Tony Dow

Anthony Lee Dow

April 13, 1945 – July 27, 2022

With almost no acting experience, Dow's career began when he went on a casting call and landed the role of Wally Cleaver in Leave It to Beaver. For the show's entire run, from 1957 to 1963, he played 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).

After Leave it to Beaver, Dow 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!

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

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.

In 1989, Dow 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.

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." 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.

Good Night Mr. Dow

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa