Tony Dow's fan mail from the '60s proves he was the ultimate heartthrob

Dow would receive thousands of fan letters per week while on Leave It to Beaver. Over half of them were from hopeful teenage bachelorettes.

The '60s had its fair share of heartthrobs for tweens, teens and adults alike to all swoon over. Whether it was Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson or Frankie Avalon... there were many faces for fans to fawn over. 

However, Tony Dow deserves a spot at the top of the list. Dow may not have initially come to mind, but the Leave It to Beaver star was one of the biggest heartthrobs of his time. 

By most teen standards, he was an unusual idol for many to swoon over. He didn't sing, he didn't dance, his sense of style was basic and he was a pretty ordinary guy compared to other top teen idols of the decade.

Dow played the role of Wally Cleaver on Leave It to Beaver for its entire six seasons. Dow beat out around 270 other hopeful teens who originally auditioned for the part of Beaver's older brother. Leave it to Tony Dow to get the part.

Leave It to Beaver had already been on air for two seasons when Dow's success with women exploded in the form of fan mail and offers to prom. Teenage girls around the world decided Dow was worthy of being their idol.

Dow would receive over thousands of fan mail from young women all around the world each week. He was even popular in Japan during the early '60s.

In a 1962 interview with The Bristol Daily Courier, Dow said about 100 of the fan letters would be from boys his age, and the other 900 to 1,000 letters would be from hopeful girls.

"It's really rough answering some of them," Dow said. "The idea of going steady kind of appeals to me. But 2,000 miles is a long way to go just for a soda. But I try to answer them as nicely as possible."

In the interview, Dow said he begged Leave It to Beaver producers, Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, to play down any romantic situations on the show, in hopes that he could slow down all the real romantic situations created by fans.

"We try to slow down the romance angle for Tony whenever possible," Mosher said. "But it's pretty hard to keep it out of the show altogether when letters, all in delicate feminine handwriting, roll in by the stacks."

According to the thousands of pieces of fan mail addressed to Dow, he was the best teen idol to ever live... in the '60s.

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95 Comments

The roller coaster episode called
Beavers Fear is my favorite LITB episode.
wallyandbagfan 30 days ago
Does anyone know why Larry Mondello played by Rusty Stevens disappeared from Leave It To Beaver?
All TV Show Requests To:
METV NETWORK
26 Halsted
Chicago Illinois 60661
I also wonder why :
Buddy Hart who played Chester Anderson on Leave It To Beaver and
Tiger Fafara who played Tooey Brown on LITB BOTH LEFT LITB
RIGHT AFTER THE LEAVE IT TO BEAVER EPISODE WALLY THE BUSINESS Man which is the episode where Wally (Tony Dow) was selling igloo bars ..
" All TV Show Requests To:"
--------------------------
Or just use the:
Feature. That's what it's there for.
JHP 1 month ago
for my 2 cents

three stooges

"what's a heartthrob?"

"A pain in the neck" :) so cool - not trolling on Tony
Deleted 1 month ago
This comment has been removed.
JHP 1 month ago
gee - won't get into that softball of a post - but we as in the UNTIED states know what it could be:)
MTEVENS 1 month ago
Thanks to MeTV I have been able to rewatch all of Leave it to Beaver over the last couple of years.

It's easy to see why the letter writers saw in Wally. He was nice looking, without vanity (except for that pug-nose episode). He was athletic without being a jock. He was kind, a gentleman, and you could trust him keep his word. His only flaw was that Eddie Haskel was his best friend, and would probably also be wherever you went on a date.
SrLerxst 1 month ago
"According to the thousands of pieces of fan mail addressed to Dow, he was the best teen idol to ever live... in the '60s."
Not exactly, MeTV. Ever heard of Ricky Nelson? And besides mid 1963 and Leave it Beaver in general hardly qualifies as "the 60's". However, in retrospect as Gen xer who gre up with this show, Beaver is no longer a hero of that show to me, and Wally/Tow as actor is much more impressive i real life.
PierreKhoury SrLerxst 1 month ago
Gen xer would be born when this show was off the air. You must have watched the reruns.
robert SrLerxst 1 month ago
Don Grady of My Three Sons fame had to be close to Dow. His show was not as good but was on a lot longer and Robbie Douglas had a little more pizazz than Wally Cleaver.
MichaelVegas 1 month ago
I was in charge of security and one time would not let Frank Herbert into the Convention because he did not have a badge
Mr305north 1 month ago
I really liked Shelly fabrases on donna Reed show
robert Mr305north 1 month ago
Too neurotic.
Mac2Nite 1 month ago
I simply adored "Wally" back in the 50's even though I was the same age as "Beaver" at the time. ❤️
LalaLucy 1 month ago
He was supremely likeable. I think that was the appeal. His interactions with his cast mates were always so natural. I would love to have met him.
GNOSTICTRACY 1 month ago
I met him and he was a very nice person.
Big3Fan 1 month ago
No one could throb my heart like Shelley Fabares could.
wallyandbagfan Big3Fan 1 month ago
https://youtu.be/OnEmeOUmjVk
wallyandbagfan Big3Fan 1 month ago
Johnny Angel by Shelley Fabares .
wallyandbagfan Big3Fan 1 month ago
That clip of Johnny Angel is from
The Donna Reed Show on ABC.
Mac2Nite wallyandbagfan 1 month ago
Never saw it colorized... cool...
tootsieg 1 month ago
I always thought Wally Cleaver was the ultimate big brother everyone would like to have.
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BAG AND SPIKE WERE IN McDonald's recently.
Spike :You know Bag I miss the
Good Old Days.
Bag :I can top that Spike !
I miss the Happy Days!
Spike :I miss talking to Fonzie and taking Joanie on her first date at
Inspiration Point !
Bag :I miss the Demons Club and playing the drums in Richies band.
Spike :Let's make a Toast in Unison
Bag !Here's to Happy Days !!
Bag and Spike holding their chocolate milk shakes up for a toast in Unison !
Bag And Spike :
HERES TO HAPPY DAYS 😊!!!!!!!!!!
harlow1313 1 month ago
Personally, I was attracted by Judy Hensler's body and intellect. I used to wish I could give her the business...
vinman63 harlow1313 1 month ago
I like the little tomboy Lauren Chaplin. Kathy Anderson.
robert harlow1313 1 month ago
They ended up firing her and replaced her with a hotter Penny for Beaver but he was a little slow out of the starting gate until that last season.
Inwonder why Jeri Weil who played
Judy Hensler was replaced by Karen Sue Trent who played Penny Woods on LITB.
David Kent who played Bill Scott on
Leave It To Beaver appeared in 4 episodes only before Bill Scott vanished from Leave It To Beaver.
wallyandbagfan vinman63 30 days ago
I liked Candy Moore who played
Chris Carmichael on The Lucy Show.
Great Happy Days Characters:
Moose :Barry Greenberg
Eugene Belvin:Denis Mandel
Moody 1 month ago
I was a preteen heartthrob. All the girls in Sister Louise's 5th grade class were warm for my form!😂
Bapa1 1 month ago
Probably got some fake fan mail from Eddie and Lumpy.
Andybandit 1 month ago
I never never knew on TITB that Wally's was short for Wallace. I like that name. I thought it was short for Walter.
ncadams27 Andybandit 1 month ago
Sometimes Eddie would say “Can I go upstairs and see Wallace?” when June answered the door.
marilouc ncadams27 1 month ago
And, Aunt Martha called him Wallace. After all, he was a Bronson!
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