Tony Dow Passes Away
Anthony Lee Dow (April 13, 1945 – July 27, 2022) was an
American actor, film producer, director and sculptor. He portrayed Wally
Cleaver in the iconic television sitcom Leave It to
Beaver from 1957 to 1963. From 1983 to 1989, Dow reprised his role as
Wally in a television movie and in The New Leave It to Beaver.
Early Life
Dow was born in
the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In his youth, he trained as a swimmer and was
a Junior Olympics diving champion.
Career
With a little stage
acting and two television pilots as his only acting experience, Dow's career
began when he went on an open casting call and landed the role of
Wally Cleaver in Leave It to Beaver. With the exception of the television
pilot, 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 protagonist 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. 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. In 1977,
he parodied his role as Wally from Leave it to Beaver in The
Kentucky Fried Movie, with Jerry Zucker playing Beaver.
From 1983 to 1989, Dow
reprised his role as Wally Cleaver in a reunion television movie and a
subsequent sequel series, The New Leave It to Beaver, for which Dow
wrote an episode in 1986. 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. It was
followed by episodes of Get a Life, Harry and the
Hendersons, Coach, Babylon 5, Crusade and Star
Trek: Deep Space Nine. Dow served as
the visual effects supervisor for Babylon 5. In 1996, he
provided visual effects for the FOX television movie Doctor
Who.
Dow also
co-produced The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space in
1995, and It Came from Outer Space II in 1996.
In addition to acting,
directing, producing and writing, Dow 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."
In December 2008, Dow
was chosen as one of three sculptors to show at the Société Nationale des
Beaux-Arts exhibition, located in the Carrousel du Louvre in
Paris, France. 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.
Personal Life
Dow married Carol
Marlow in June 1969 and their marriage ended in 1978. They had one child, born in 1973. In June
1980, Dow married Lauren Shulkind.
In the 1990s, Dow
revealed that he had suffered from clinical depression. He subsequently starred in self-help videos
chronicling this battle, including the 1998 Beating the Blues. Dow was also hospitalized with pneumonia in
2021.
Death
In May 2022, Dow was
diagnosed with liver cancer. On
July 26, 2022, after a premature report of Dow's death, his family announced that he was at
his home in Topanga, California. However, it was reported that he was in his
"last hours" and under hospice care. Dow died the following day, July 27, at the
age of 77.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Dow
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