The actor who portrayed Wally Cleaver is suing retro cable network TV Land for allegedly using and altering his image in ads without permission.
Tony Dow, who played Wally on the 1950s sitcom Leave It To Beaver, complained about print, TV and billboard ads that show a young Dow with tattoos on his chest and arms. The caption: "Times Change. Great TV Doesn't." Dow contends that the altered pictures portray him in "an unwholesome and negative light, quite contrary to the image of the character which he played on Leave it to Beaver.
The campaign included other actors similarly altered. "Tony should have had the ability to make a choice of whether he wanted to portray that image," said Dow's lawyer Jay Coggan. TV Land would not comment. - John Higgins
