Wally Cleaver

Wallace "Wally" Cleaver is a fictional character in the iconic American television sitcom Leave It to Beaver. Wally is the thirteen-year-old son of archetypal 1950s suburban parents, Ward and June Cleaver and the older brother of the seven-year-old ("almost eight") title character, Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver. The characters grew older along with the actors. Wally is portrayed in the series by Tony Dow. Dow portrays an adult Wally Cleaver in both the reunion telemovie, Still the Beaver (1983), and in the sequel series The New Leave It to Beaver (1985–1989). Child actor Paul Sullivan, however, portrays the character in the series pilot, "It's a Small World", which aired in April 1957. In the 1997 film adaptation of the original series, Leave It to Beaver, Wally is portrayed by Erik von Detten. Leave it to Beaver was created by writers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, who found inspiration among their own children for plot lines and dialogue. Wally is based on Connelly's son, Jay.