“Leave it to Beaver’s” Wally Cleaver really mattered to those of a certain age | Opinion

Tony Dow, the actor who played Wally Cleaver on the beloved late 1950s television series “Leave it to Beaver,” died Wednesday at 77.

And at his passing, it seems fitting to note the significance of the older-brother role he played and shaped from 1957 to 1963, one of television’s most endearing teenage characters, a polite young man, who was respectful to his elders and never said a bad word. Where have those kids gone?

Wally Cleaver was supportive, understanding and sensitive older brother, a rarity in TV land and in real life — the brother we wished we had. That was Wally’s special appeal, which made him a sympathetic and comforting fictional character for America’s generation of latch-key kids — those who came home from school to be babysat by television because their parents were at work.

Their babysitters were black-and-white sitcom reruns of old television shows like “I Love Lucy,” “Gilligan’s Island” and “Leave it to Beaver,” of course.

And the Cleavers’ warm and fuzzy family cocoon dynamic made those lacking it feel at home for half a hour. They might even have wished their mom and dad were like Mr. and Mrs. Cleaver, Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont.

And Dow was tasked by his parents to keep an eye on his incorrigible younger brother, the Beav, played by Jerry Mathers, which he responsibly did.

Wally was never a jerk to the Beav. He never yelled or screamed or beat him up. He never squealed on him to their parents or humiliated him in front of friends; he never refused to take his little brother along on outings with his older friends. The Beav was not a bother.

Wally’s moral compass is the one that guided the brothers through childhood shenanigans. He calibrated the right from wrong.

And If Wally’s best friend and weaselly bully, Eddie Haskell, picked on the Beav, Wally, who had the power that comes from being an athlete and popular in school, often used it to defend his little brother: “Knock it off, Eddie!” Eddie would listen, and the Beav would proudly stand, beaming, next to his defender.

Among the show’s most heartwarming scenes were ones of the brothers walking home from school and chatting about some adult issue they didn’t quite comprehend.

The Beav would ask his older brother all sorts of child-like philosophical questions.

”Gee, I don’t know, Beav,” Wally would answer.. “We’re just kids, and we’re not supposed to know all that stuff yet.” Such leveled-headedness, in no way a smart-aleck.

Mathers on Wednesday affirmed that Dow’s older brotherliness was genuine.

“Tony Dow was not only my brother on TV but, in many ways, in life as well. . . . He was the kindest, most generous, gentle, loving, sincere and humble man.”

Yeah, that sounds like Wally Cleaver.