Tony Dow

Tony Lee Dow (born April 13, 1945) is an American film producer, director, sculptor, and a television child actor of the 1950s and 1960s. Dow is best known for his role in the television sitcom Leave It to Beaver, which ran in primetime from 1957 to 1963 and in which he played Wallace "Wally" Cleaver, the older son of June and Ward Cleaver (Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont), and the brother of Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver (Jerry Mathers). Dow w... more

Tony Lee Dow (born April 13, 1945) is an American film producer, director, sculptor, and a television child actor of the 1950s and 1960s. Dow is best known for his role in the television sitcom Leave It to Beaver, which ran in primetime from 1957 to 1963 and in which he played Wallace "Wally" Cleaver, the older son of June and Ward Cleaver (Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont), and the brother of Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver (Jerry Mathers). Dow was born in Hollywood, California to John Stevens, a designer and general contractor, and Muriel Virginia Dow (née Montrose) (May 27, 1906–April 30, 2001), a stunt woman in early Westerns and Clara Bow's movie double in Hollywood. In his youth, Dow was a Junior Olympics diving champion. He won the role of Wally Cleaver in a casting call with almost no previous acting experience. Dow remained on the series until it ended in 1963. After the run of Leave It to Beaver, he appeared on My Three Sons, Dr. Kildare, Mr. Novak (five episodes in three... less