Other directing credits include Get a Life, Harry and the Hendersons, Coach, Babylon 5 - starring fellow former child star Billy Mumy - Crusade and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In his show business career, Dow eventually moved toward directing, beginning with a 1989 episode of The New Lassie. He would settle into a life among an artistic community in the Santa Monica Mountains with his wife Lauren. Some of his subsequent appearances played off his well-known character: In 2003, for example, he showed up in the comedy Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.ĭuring the 1970s he supplemented his acting career with jobs in construction and would develop his skills in woodworking and homebuilding. Like Mathers and other child actors of the age, Dow would face a challenge in breaking through the typecasting that forever pegged him as the wholesome, popular and good-natured Wally.
#Actor dies today age 26 update
He reprised his most famous role in the 1980s update series The New Leave It to Beaver and wrote an episode of that series. Later, he made appearances in episodic shows such as Adam-12, Knight Rider, Square Pegs and The Hardy Boys. He left acting temporarily for several years in the late 1960s to serve in the National Guard.
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He was a Junior Olympics diving champ before attending a casting call for the show that would be Leave It to Beaver.Īlthough Wally was, and would remain, his signature role, Dow continued acting after the series went off the air, appearing in other TV series including My Three Sons, Dr. Until then, keep the good thoughts coming.”ĭow, who pivoted from acting in his later years to become a noted and successful sculptor, was born April 13, 1945, in Hollywood, and initially set his sights on swimming and diving. We will post again when there is more to report. The outpouring of love and concern from all of you certainly helps to ease this, and for that we thank you. He and Lauren have been trying to maintain a positive spirit, though at times this proves difficult. Tony has been in and out of the hospital with various complications and treatments. Last week, Dow’s Facebook page noted the actor’s health battles, posting: “As we are sure you can imagine, this has been a rollercoaster of ups and downs as Tony continues his fight with cancer. Watch Mathers talk about Dow in an interview for the Television Academy Foundation here: Wally was often Beaver’s protector against the elder boy’s best friend, the two-faced wiseguy Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond, who died in 2020).Īs the series progressed, Dow aged into a teen heartthrob, with episodes increasingly focusing on his high school romances and shifting attention away from the mischievous goings-on of star Mathers’ Beaver. The two boys, whose weekly adventures and lighthearted trouble-making set the tone for sibling camaraderie of the era, were sons to June and Ward Cleaver (Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont). We respectfully ask that everyone give the family privacy in their time of mourning.ĭow played the the amiable, protective Wally to Jerry Mathers’ Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver on the quintessential family sitcom of the late 1950s and early ’60s (the series ran in primetime from 1957-63 and has played in syndication ever since). He had such a huge heart and I’ve never heard Tony say a bad or negative thing about anyone.”
My wife said something powerful and shows the kind of man he was. He was my coach, my mentor, my voice of reason, my best friend, my best man in my wedding, and my hero. He was the best Dad anyone could ask for. Words cannot express how much we will all feel his absence, but will cherish the memories he left to each and every one of us.Ĭhristopher has stated: Although this is a very sad day, I have comfort and peace that he is in a better place. Our heart goes out to Tony’s wife, Lauren, who will miss her soulmate of 42 years…To his son, Christopher, who will dearly miss his father, who was also his best friend…to his daughter-in-law, Melissa, who loved him like her own father…To his Granddaughter, Tyla, who will undoubtedly carry on her Grandfather’s kind soul, To his Brother Dion and Sister-in-Law, Judy, and to all of his extended family and friends.
Franne Lee Dies: Broadway And 'SNL' Costume Designer Who Created Looks Of Coneheads, Blues Brothers & Roseanne Roseannadanna Was 81
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