Tony Dow (Wally)
Tony Dow had never acted before in his life, when he joined the cast as “Wally” on Leave it to Beaver (1957-1963). He was a he was a champion diver and he was only there, on the lot, as a favor to a friend, but it quickly became apparent that he was the perfect actor for the job.
After his stint on Leave it to Beaver, he appeared in other roles, but he also became a director for Manhattan, AZ, the sitcom version of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5. He also spoke out about his clinical depression, explaining that he’d inherited it from his mother but that Leave it to Beaver (being a child star) also had “something to do with it,” because they are “treated differently.”
