Actor Tom Bosley died 19 October 2010 after a brief battle with cancer. Born 1 October 1927 in Chicago, Illinois, he will be best remembered as father Howard Cunningham on the idyllic ’50s sitcom Happy Days (1974-84; he was nominated for an Emmy for that role in 1978). Later, he went on to take the crime-solving collar as the star of The Father Dowling Mysteries (1987-91).
Bosley served in the US Navy, and then studied at DePaul University, where he caught the acting bug. He enrolled at the Radio Institute of Chicago and began appearing in radio dramas. Before appearing on television (he had very few film roles), he became a stage actor, and won a Tony award in 1960 for playing the title role in Fiorello!. He moved to Hollywood in 1968, and didn’t return to the stage until originating the role of Belle’s father in Beauty and the Beast (1994).
His genre appearances include: The Fallen Ones (2005), Touched by an Angel (2002), Early Edition (1999), Rugrats (1993), Wicked Stepmother (1989), Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night (1987), Tales of the Unexpected (1982), The Stingiest Man in Town (1978), Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1975), Miracle on 34th Street (1973), Bewitched (1971), and two episodes of Night Gallery (1969 and 1971).
Bosley married dancer Jean Eliot in 1962, and the couple had one child, Amy, who survives him. Jean died in 1978, and two years later, Bosley married actress-producer Patricia Carr, who had three daughters from a previous marriage. She survives him, as do his three grandchildren.