Report: Tony Dow, Wally of ‘Leave It to Beaver,’ in last hours, son says

(Gray News) - Tony Dow, the actor who played Wally Cleaver in the hit 1950s television show “Leave It to Beaver,” is in hospice care and in his “last hours,” his son said Tuesday.

Christopher Dow told Fox News of his father’s condition, saying it was a difficult time. The actor’s management team announced he had died earlier in the day on his official Facebook page, but the post has since been removed.

The actor appeared in several TV shows spanning decades and genres, including “Adam-12,” “Mod Squad,” “Emergency,” “The Love Boat,” and “Murder, She Wrote.”

Dow also worked behind the camera, directing episodes of some TV shows, including “Coach,” “Babylon 5” and “Harry and the Hendersons.”

But he is best known as the older brother of The Beaver, played by Jerry Mathers, in the quintessential TV sitcom, which ran for six seasons, from 1957 to 1963.