Sometimes, a single thing can define your entire life: a person, a moment, or even a television series.

For Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers, their lives were defined for them at a very early age. As costars of the show Leave It to Beaver, those young actors would forever be known as Wally and The Beav, no two ways about it.

It's an honor to be considered a star but to be remembered solely as a character you played during your adolescence can feel a bit suffocating at times, and it sure gets old quickly.

The two actors had opposing viewpoints regarding it. "I've been involved with the whole thing all my life," said Dow during an interview with the News and Record. "Not intentionally - I just couldn't get away from it."

Dow wasn't the only victim of the human memory. However, the actor also acknowledged that there were other actors who were seemingly immune to being pigeonholed.

"It's a strange phenomenon to me," said Dow. Henry Winkler is locked into the Fonz. Carroll O'Connor is pretty much Archie. But Alan Alda did M*A*S*H all those years and he's not locked in. Whatever the character is, "I suppose people say, 'There's Wally.' That's the first line of identification."

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Barbara Billingsley called Tony Dow ''an equal'' when they were costars on Leave It to Beaver

For his part, Mathers was eternally grateful to be remembered as The Beaver. In fact, he believed that it could only help his reputation, not hinder it.

"Errol Flynn was always a swashbuckler," said Mathers. "Anytime anyone remembers you for any part, you have an edge."

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