Tom Bosley

Tom Bosley is best remembered for playing the patriarch 'Howard Cunningham' in the popular television series "Happy Days," from 1974 to 1984. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he served in the United States Navy during World War II, and attended DePaul University following his return home. After becoming interested in an acting career, he studied at the Radio Institute of Chicago, and began performing on various radio programs. He made his debut in the Broadway Theatre in the production "The Power and the Glory" (1958 to 1959), and began a lengthy television career during that same period. His breakthrough theatre role was his Tony Award-winning performance as New York City Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia in the musical "Fiorello!" (1959 to 1961), which was followed by scores of television guest appearances on such programs as "Car 54, Where Are You?," "Route 66," "The Defenders," "Night Gallery," "The Streets of San Francisco" and "Kolchak: The Night Stalker." He found substantial film roles in the pictures "Love with the Proper Stranger" (1963), "The World of Henry Orient" (1964) and "Divorce American Style" (1967). After recurring parts in the series "The Debbie Reynolds Show" (1969 to 1970) and "The Sandy Duncan Show" (1972), Bosley would inherit the role of 'Howard Cunningham' for the series "Happy Days" (initially played by Harold Gould in a 1972 episode of "Love, American Style," which inspired the show), and with it he would become a household name, earning an Emmy Award nomination in 1978.