Tony Dow.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

Actor Tony Dow, best known for playing Wally Cleaver on the classic television show Leave It to Beaver, died on Wednesday of complications from liver cancer, his manager Frank Bilotta announced. He was 77.

Dow died at his home in Topanga, California, while receiving hospice care. His death came one day after his management team erroneously posted on Facebook that the actor had died. Dow's son, Christopher, said in a statement that "although this is a very sad day, I have comfort and peace that he is in a better place. He was the best dad anyone could ask for. He was my coach, my mentor, my voice of reason, my best friend, my best man in my wedding, and my hero."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.