Tony Dow was an American television actor, film producer, director, and sculptor. He was best known for his role in the television sitcom Leave It to Beaver, which ran in primetime from 1957 to 1963.
Dow played Wally Cleaver, the older son of June – played by Barbara Billingsley – and Ward – played by Hugh Beaumont – Cleaver, and the elder brother of Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver -played by Jerry Mathers. From 1983 to 1989, Dow reprised his role as Wally in a television movie and The New Leave It to Beaver.
Dow was born in Hollywood, California, on April 13, 1945, to John Stevens Dow Jr., and Muriel Virginia Dow. Tony’s father was a designer and general contractor, while his mother was a stunt woman in early Westerns and Clara Bow’s movie double for Hollywood movie studios.
In his youth, Dow trained as a swimmer and was a Junior Olympics diving champion. Dow married Carol Marlow in June 1969 and Lauren Shulkind in June 1980. He died on July 26, 2022, at age 77.
What was Tony Dow’s net worth when he died?
Tony Dow was worth 4 million dollars at the time of his death.
Apart from being on screen and behind the scenes in Hollywood, Tony Dow was also an accomplished artist. The Bilotta Gallery boasts of Dow’s talent as an abstract sculptor. One such piece even adorned the garden of his one-time screen mother, Barbara Billingsley, who played June Cleaver on both “Beaver” TV shows.
