Tony Dow, TV's Wally Cleaver, Alive After False Death Report

Update: Dow was confirmed dead on July 27 by his son.

Though Tony Dow, a TV icon for his performance as Beaver Cleaver's sweet big brother Wally on "Leave It to Beaver," reportedly died Tuesday at 77, his wife has since come forward to confirm he is alive and breathing, albeit in hospice care.

Dow had announced a cancer diagnosis two months ago.

His Facebook page prematurely confirmed sad news: “It is with an extremely heavy heart that we share with you the passing of our beloved Tony this morning. Tony was a beautiful soul — kind, compassionate, funny and humble. It was truly a joy to just be around him. 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. From the warm reminiscences of Wally Cleaver to those of us fortunate enough to know him personally — thank you Tony. And thank you for the reflections of a simpler time, the laughter, the friendship and for the feeling that you were a big brother to us all. We will miss you.”

The post was later deleted.

TMZ confirmed Dow was still alive as of Tuesday afternoon.

Dow became a teen idol playing Wally on "Leave It to Beaver" from 1957-1963. He revived the role for the comedy movie "The Kentucky Fried Movie" (1977), and fully revisited him for the TV movie "Still the Beaver" (1983). That led to the series "The New Leave It to Beaver," on which he appeared for over 100 episodes from 1983-1989.

He was also Wally on the 1987 "Love Boat" finale episode.

Other than Dow, the only major player left from "Leave It to Beaver" is Beaver himself, 74-year-old Jerry Mathers.

Dow acted sporadically outside his signature role. He was a regular on the obscure teen soap "Never Too Young" (1965-1966) and appeared on shows including "Dr. Kildare" (1963), "My Three Sons" (1964), "Mr. Novak" (1963-1965), "Adam-12" (1970), "Mod Squad" (1971), "Emergency!" (1972), "Square Pegs" (1982), and "Murder, She Wrote" (1987).

He often winked at Wally in the roles he took, including a cameo in the nostalgic "Back to the Beach" (1987), and playing himself in "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star" (2003).

His last TV performance came on an episode of the series "Suspense" in 2016.

Dow's later years were spent as a TV director and an accomplished sculptor specializing in bronze. Having suffered from depression, he spoke out about the illness in a series of self-help videos.

Dow has been married to Lauren for more than 40 years.