Tony Dow, an actor and director best known for playing Wally Cleaver on the sitcom Leave it to Beaver, died Wednesday morning, according to his manager Frank Bilotta, citing Dow’s son Christopher. He was 77.
“Although this is a very sad day, I have comfort and peace that he is in a better place. He was the best dad anyone could ask for. He was my coach, my mentor, my voice of reason, my best friend, my best man at my wedding and my hero,” Christopher Dow said, according to a statement Bilotta shared on Tony Dow’s official Facebook page.
The cause of death was not shared, but Doe revealed in May that he had been diagnosed with cancer.
Dow rose to stardom at the age of 12 when she landed her role on the sitcom Leave It to Beaver. In the role, Doe helped create the archetype of the suburban nuclear family and became a household name for millions of viewers. The show ran from 1957 to 1963.
In a January interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Dow recalled learning over a hamburger and malt that he had been offered the role after an audition on a whim.
“That’s where my life went,” he said.
Wally Cleaver, the teenage son, a star athlete and Boy Scout, became inextricably linked to Doe, who said he struggled to stand on his own.
“It’s sad to be famous at 12 or something, then you grow up and become a real person, and nothing happens for you,” he told CBS.
Doe, who said he experienced undiagnosed depression from his 20s to 40s, has spoken out about his mental health challenges for decades, long before it became common for celebrities to reveal that information publicly. In 1993, he was an honorary speaker at a convention of the National Depression and Manic Depression Association.
“I realize there’s a perceived irony to it,” he told the Baltimore Sun of his depression in 1993. “You know, the fact that I was on a television program that embodied the supposed ideal world of the 1950s, and here I was” suffering from depression. But I’m just one of millions.”
Doe told CBS that after accepting his diagnosis and starting treatment, he found hope. He channeled that hope into art as well, sculpting ornate works in his home studio.
“I think people need to believe that they can feel better,” he said.
Dow continued to work in Hollywood, starring in television series and even reprising her role on “The New Leave It to Beaver” in the 1980s. He also directed episodes of series such as Harry and Henderson, Coach and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Jerry Mathers, who stars alongside Dow as Beaver in their hit sitcom, told fans earlier this month that he had been in contact with Dow, whose managers said he had been “in and out of the hospital with various complications and treatments “.
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