Tony Dow, who will always be known as Wally Cleaver on the classic television comedy Leave it to Beaver , has been hard at work developing his skills as a sculptor. According to The Washington Post , the actor-turned-artist’s work is so accomplished that it was displayed at the Louvre in Paris. While he embraces his on-screen persona, he admits that it’s been tough making a name for himself with the ghost of Wally Cleaver hovering over his shoulder.
“I think it’s hard, especially with the Wally image, to be taken seriously at pretty much anything other than that,” Tony Dow joked.
Despite having his sculptures displayed at the 2008 Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, a 150-year-old art show presented by the Louvre, Dow remains quite humble about his talents. “But it was a show that was represented by 20-some nations, and the U.S. had 14 pieces there, and there were two sculptors, and I was one of them,” he explained. “So it was a big deal.”
Tony Dow revealed to ABC News that he was simply too busy to devote a lot of time to sculpting when he was working in the entertainment industry. Now that he’s retired, most of his time in spent working with bronze and wood in his workshop. However, he did admit that he was open to an acting gig should the opportunity present itself.
For the time being, Tony Dow is focused on his skills as a sculptor. “I think my pieces have a lot of movement, and the movement is one of the things that are appealing,” he said of his artwork. “I don’t like to get too detailed because I think it takes away from the spontaneity of the piece.”
“My goal was to live a creative life,” he added. “I’m doing pretty good at that.”
Examples of Tony Dow’s work as a sculptor can be seen in the video embedded below.
