Tony Dow, an actor and director best known for his role as older brother Wally Cleaver on "Leave It to Beaver," died Tuesday. He was 77.

[BleedGopher]

per CNN:

Tony Dow, an actor and director best known for his role as older brother Wally Cleaver on "Leave It to Beaver," died Tuesday, according to his representatives. He was 77.

"It is with an extremely heavy heart that we share with you the passing of our beloved Tony this morning," Frank Bilotta and Renee James, Dow's managers, announced in a statement. "Tony was a beautiful soul - kind, compassionate, funny and humble. It was truly a joy to just be around him. His gentle voice and unpretentious manner was immediately comforting and you could not help but love him.

No cause of death was shared, but Dow revealed in May that he had been diagnosed with cancer.

Dow was thrust into stardom at age 12, when he was cast on the soon-to-be-smash sitcom "Leave It to Beaver." In the role, Dow helped create the archetype of a suburban nuclear family and became a household name to millions of viewers. The show ran from 1957 to 1963.

Tony Dow's management team removes statement star has died | CNN

After sharing a statement on his verified Facebook account Tuesday morning that Tony Dow, an actor and director best known for his role as older brother Wally Cleaver on "Leave It to Beaver," had died, Dow's management team has removed the statement.

www.cnn.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Dow had some Sci-Fi chops. He directed episodes of Babylon 5 and Star Trek: Deep Space 9, and also did some visual effects work on Babylon 5 and a Doctor Who TV-movie.

 

[Iceland12]

Sounds like he's not dead yet. Though probably won't be long.

MSN

www.msn.com

“Tony Dow is still alive,” reports Pennacchio. “I had a conversation with his wife, Lauren. She is understandably distraught and grief-stricken about what’s been going on with Tony’s health battle these past months. He’s been in hospice care at their home, and based on some health issues overnight, Lauren inferred that Tony had passed away to some people close to her and the word quickly spread. Lauren admits she’s been ‘a little fuzzy’ these days – understandable."