The New York Times has confirmed that the statement Dow’s representatives issued to Facebook was false and that he is still alive, contrary to what they had previously said. Additionally, Variety published an obituary following confirmation from Dow’s team that the deceased had passed away. Variety has contacted his representatives again for additional information.
“This is a terrible moment,” his son Christopher Dow said on the family’s Facebook page. At this point, my father is under hospice care at home. My wife and I, as well as a slew of friends who have come to visit, are by his side. In his heart, “he’s got a battling spirit.”
Previously, Tony Dow, the actor and director best known for his role as Jerry Mathers’ elder brother Wally Cleaver in the classic television sitcom “Leave It to Beaver,” passed away. He was 77 years old at the time.
His death was announced on his official Facebook page on Tuesday morning. The demise of our beloved Tony this morning has left us with a heavy heart to share with you. “Tony was a great soul — kind, caring, hilarious, and modest,” read a statement from his colleagues.
In May, Dow and his wife Lauren announced that his illness had returned after he was first diagnosed with it several years earlier.
“He was not just my brother on TV but in many ways in life as well,” wrote Mathers on Facebook about Dow. Tony’s departure has left a void in my life that I will never be able to fill. Throughout the 65 years we shared our lives together he was the kindest, most kind, gentle loving, sincere and modest guy I had ever known.”
Dow’s mother was a stunt lady and Clara Bow’s dummy in her heyday. Despite his success as a diver in the Junior Olympics, he had no prior experience in the world of show business before accompanying a buddy to an audition where he ended up being cast as Wally. In 1957, “Leave it to Beaver” premiered and lasted through the following year. The popular black-and-white sitcom followed the exploits of Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont’s long-suffering but understanding parents as they dealt with the mischief of young Beaver, his practical brother Wally, their cunning friend Eddie Haskell, and other members of the idealized family of the time.
The show’s creators, Bob Mosher and Joe Connelly, based the characters on their own children, including details like Wally’s continuous hair-combing. Wally was going to start college and Beaver was about to start high school at the end of the show.
“Still the Beaver” and “The New Leave It to Beaver” were two of Dow’s projects in the 1980s, for which he also directed five episodes and scripted one.
Along with his work as an actor, he transitioned into directing and writing for shows like Harry and the Hendersons, Coach, Babylon 5, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
When Leave It to Beaver ended, Dow went on to appear on shows such as Mr. Novak (as himself), Never Too Young, Lassie, Square Pegs (as himself), and The Love Boat, where he as himself. Dickie Roberts: Ex-Child Star” and “The Kentucky Fried Movie”
A self-help film called “Beating the Blues” was made by Dow in his early 20s to help people who were suffering from depression. He later survived two cancer treatments. In addition to becoming a builder, he also became a sculptor.
With him in death was the love of his life, Lauren and their two young children.