UPDATE: Leave It to Beaver star Tony Dow is still alive, despite a death announcement that was posted to Facebook Tuesday morning.
Dow’s management said his wife, Lauren, believed her husband was dead and shared the false news to his team, according to a TMZ report. The outlet reports she is “distraught” over the error, as the news rapidly spread around the world on Tuesday.
The outlet reports that the star is still alive and receiving hospice care.
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ORIGINAL STORY
Tony Dow, former star of beloved family TV comedy Leave it to Beaver, has died at the age of 77.
Dow’s management team confirmed on Facebook the actor’s passing on Tuesday morning. (The post, seen below, has since been removed from the social media platform.)
A post to Tony Dow’s Facebook page confirmed the actor’s death, but has since been removed.
Tony Dow / Facebook
“Tony was a beautiful soul — kind, compassionate, funny and humble. It was truly a joy to just be around him,” the statement read. “His gentle voice and unpretentious manner was immediately comforting and you could not help but love him. The world has lost an amazing human being, but we are all richer for the memories that he has left us.”
Dow’s manager, Frank Bilotta, confirmed to several news outlets Tuesday that the actor died of complications from liver cancer.
Dow was best known for playing older brother Wally Cleaver to Jerry Mathers’ Beaver in the iconic black-and-white television series that aired in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
(Pictured left to right) Jerry Mathers (as Theodore Cleaver) and Tony Dow (as Wally Cleaver) star in the CBS television situation comedy ‘Leave It To Beaver’ episode ‘Train Trip.’ Image dated Feb. 28, 1958.
CBS via Getty Images
He reprised the role for the 1983 TV film Still the Beaver, a 1987 episode of The Love Boat and The New Leave It to Beaver TV series from 1983-1989.
He also took on writing, producing and directing, helming episodes of Harry and the Hendersons, Coach, Babylon 5, Honey I Shrunk the Kids and an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
In May, Dow and his wife Lauren posted to Facebook that Dow had “once again” been diagnosed with cancer.
According to his website biography, Dow was also a talented sculptor and had his creations on exhibit in several international museums.
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