# Tony Dow -- Wally Cleaver -- dead at 77. {death now confirmed} **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [July 26, 2022, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602 "2022-07-26T17:26:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/1 "2022-07-26T17:26:10Z")
I’m sure it’s just our attempt to put order on statistical chaos, but it seems as if celebrity deaths come in clumps. The latest in this clump is Tony Dow, best known to us Boomers as wally Cleaver on : **Leave It To Beaver** He didn’t have any other roles I’m familiar with (he reprised it in later years). I didn’t know that he’d directed several episodes of TV series (including Deep Space Nine), or that he’d suffered from depression. I think this leaves Jerry Mathers as the last surviving cast member. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/2 "2022-07-26T17:29:10Z")
Tony Dow. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/3 "2022-07-26T17:29:41Z")
Might’ve been a pun? ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/4 "2022-07-26T18:04:01Z")
The Adventures of Wally, Lumpy, and Eddy would have been a much better show. Larry and the Beav could have been the sidekicks. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/5 "2022-07-26T18:07:45Z")
I remember he and Mathers appeared on I think it was Diagnosis Murder as a pair of businessmen. ;He had kind of a tough role, being the second banana to Mathers. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/6 "2022-07-26T18:17:48Z")
Mary Ellen Rogers is still around at 77. > **[Pamela Baird - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0047909/)** > > Pamela Baird. Actress: Leave It to Beaver. Pamela Baird was born on 6 April 1945 in Bexar County, Texas, USA. She is an actress, known for Leave It to Beaver (1957), The Ford Television Theatre (1952) and The 20th Century-Fox Hour (1955). She was... Sadly, Julie Foster is not. > **[Cheryl Holdridge - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0390374/)** > > Cheryl Holdridge. Actress: Leave It to Beaver. Cheryl Holdridge was born on 20 June 1944 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. She was an actress, known for Leave It to Beaver (1957), The Donna Reed Show (1958) and Life with Archie (1962). She was... RIP, Tony. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/7 "2022-07-26T18:17:52Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > He didn’t have any other roles I’m familiar with … He did play Patty Greene’s father on _Square Pegs_, but that series was short-lived (only one season). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/8 "2022-07-26T18:22:57Z")
I saw him not long ago in an episode of _ **Diagnosis: Murder** _, I think. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/9 "2022-07-26T18:30:16Z")
Another Baby Boomer icon gone. I was surprised to read he’d never acted before being cast as Wally Cleaver. From all accounts, he went on to live a normal, everyday life after the series ended, avoiding the pitfalls that child actors often encountered once the business had rejected them as too old. From what everyone says, he was a genuinely nice guy. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/10 "2022-07-26T20:02:36Z")
I saw him on an Emergency! episode just this weekend. he was stealing from homes that were evacuated because of a brush fire. I knew that Eddie was a bad influence! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/11 "2022-07-26T20:11:36Z")
Not dead yet, but it does appear he is in his final hours in hospice. > **[Tony Dow, 'Leave It to Beaver' star, is under hospice care in ‘last hours,’...](https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/tony-dow-leave-beaver-hospice-care-last-hours)** > > Tony Dow, Wally Cleaver on “Leave It to Beaver,” is under hospice care in “last hours,” son says. Dow's management team said actor had died in a since-deleted Facebook post ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/12 "2022-07-26T20:37:08Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I think this leaves Jerry Mathers as the last surviving cast member. Wasn’t he killed in Vietnam? 😛 Besides Star Trek:DS9, I’m pretty sure Dow directed a number of Babylon 5 episodes as well. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/13 "2022-07-26T20:43:57Z")
Tony Dow was in “The Kentucky Fried Movie” briefly. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/273Zrp2UagE/maxresdefault.jpg "Tony Dow (Wally Cleaver) in Kentucky Fried Movie 1977 (Landis/Zucker Bros)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=273Zrp2UagE) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/14 "2022-07-26T20:48:24Z")
ABC News posted " **Editor’s Note** : A story saying Tony Dow had died was published based on an incorrect statement from his agent confirming the actor’s death. The post from the agent has since been deleted. Los Angeles ABC station KABC has confirmed the agent’s post was incorrect." ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/15 "2022-07-26T21:49:01Z")
I’m confused now. Is he currently dead or not? (As of 4:48 PM CDT, July 26, 2022) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/16 "2022-07-26T21:49:56Z")
He is resting. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/17 "2022-07-26T21:50:53Z")
So… should the thread title be amended? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/18 "2022-07-26T22:01:14Z")
As of this report, he’s in hospice. > **[Tony Dow, 'Leave it to Beaver' star, dead at 77 after premature announcement](https://www.wqad.com/article/news/nation-world/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-on-leave-it-to-beaver-dies-at-77/507-68b15ae8-4b28-4410-bfdc-18dc95f85596?fbclid=IwAR3L7bUDoeV2Alvwto_sxx1jMNELTIyqC-uAPVEpnU-pLJLSLiW_gD3PGRY)** > > Tony Dow's wife told fans back in May that the "Leave it to Beaver" star was battling cancer again. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/19 "2022-07-26T22:11:25Z")
Maybe he’ll get better. 🤒 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602/20 "2022-07-26T22:15:17Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Wasn’t he killed in Vietnam? I thought that was Eddie Haskell? 🤨 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dow-wally-cleaver-dead-at-77-death-now-confirmed/968602.md?page=2)