"Happy Days" Actor Tom Bosley 2010 Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills

Thomas Edward "Tom" Bosley (October 1, 1927 – October 19, 2010) was an American actor. Bosley is best known for portraying Howard Cunningham on the long-running ABC sitcom Happy Days, and the titular character on the NBC/ABC series Father Dowling Mysteries. He also was featured in a recurring role on Murder, She Wrote. He originated the title role of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical Fiorello!, earning the 1960 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical.

Early life

Bosley was born in Chicago, the son of Dora (née Heyman) and Benjamin Bosley.[1] Although well known for playing a Catholic priest—and numerous Protestants—Bosley was actually Jewish.[2] During World War II, Bosley served in the United States Navy. While attending DePaul University, in Chicago, in 1947, he made his stage debut in Our Town with the Canterbury Players at the Fine Arts Theatre. Bosley performed at the Woodstock Opera House in Woodstock, Illinois, in 1949 and 1950 alongside Paul Newman.

Career

Early roles and stage roles

Bosley played the Knave of Hearts in a Hallmark Hall of Fame telecast of Eva Le Gallienne's production of Alice in Wonderland in 1955. But his breakthrough stage role was New York mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia in the long-running Broadway musical Fiorello! (1959), for which he won a Tony Award.[3] In 1994, he originated the role of Maurice in the Broadway version of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Bosley also toured as Cap'n Andy in Harold Prince's 1994 revival of Show Boat.[4]

His first motion picture role was in 1963, as the would-be suitor of Natalie Wood in Love with the Proper Stranger. Other films include The World of Henry Orient, Divorce American Style, Yours, Mine and Ours, Gus and the made-for-television The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal. Bosley shared a heartfelt story about his experience with the Holocaust in the documentary film Paper Clips.

Among his early television appearances was in 1960 on the CBS summer replacement series, Diagnosis: Unknown, with Patrick O'Neal. In 1962, he portrayed Assistant District Attorney Ryan in the episode "The Man Who Wanted to Die" on James Whitmore's ABC legal drama The Law and Mr. Jones. In 1969, he appeared in a comical episode of The Virginian.

Happy Days and other notable film and television roles

Bosley's best known role was the character Howard Cunningham, Richie and Joanie Cunningham's father, in the long-running sitcom Happy Days. Bosley was also known for portraying Sheriff Amos Tupper on Murder, She Wrote. He also portrayed the eponymous Father Frank Dowling on the TV mystery series, Father Dowling Mysteries. Among myriad television appearances, one notable early performance was in the "Eyes" segment of the 1969 pilot episode of Rod Serling's Night Gallery, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Joan Crawford.

Bosley also starred in the 2008 Hallmark Channel television movie Charlie and Me. In 2010, he appeared in The Backup Plan starring Jennifer Lopez, which was his final film.

In 1984, Bosley guest-hosted the "Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular" with local newscaster Pat Harper.[5]

Voice-over roles

Also a voice actor, Bosley hosted The General Mills Radio Adventure Theater, a 1977 radio drama series for children. He voiced many cartoon characters, including Harry Boyle in the animated series Wait Till Your Father Gets Home. He provided the voice of the title character in the 1980s cartoon The World of David the Gnome and the shop owner Mr. Winkle in the children's Christmas special The Tangerine Bear. He also narrated the movie documentary series That's Hollywood. Additionally, he played the narrator B.A.H. Humbug in the Rankin/Bass animated Christmas special The Stingiest Man In Town. Bosley was also the voice of Mister Geppetto, Pinocchio's 'dad' in Filmation's Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night, released in 1987.

Commercials

During the 1970s and 1980s, Bosley did several commercials for the Glad Sandwich and Garbage Bags.

Tom Bosley did radio commercials for the new Saturn Car Company a "different kind of car company," in 1990.

Later in life he was the television spokesman for SMC (Specialty Merchandise Corporation), a national wholesaler and dropshipper.[6][7]

Bosley was also the “face“ of LifeBack USA helping bring the benefits of Life Settlements to seniors, having himself sold an unwanted life insurance policy during his later life.

Role in popular culture

In a 1993 episode of The Simpsons, Homer claims to have been the son of Tom Bosley.

Homer and Marge are going to their high school reunion:

Homer: It'll be great to see the old gang again. Potsie, Ralph Malph, the Fonz.
Marge: That wasn't you, that was "Happy Days"!
Homer: No, they weren't all happy days. Like the time Pinky Tuscadero crashed her motorcycle, or the night I lost all my money to those card sharks and my dad Tom Bosley had to get it back.

Death

Bosley died of heart failure on October 19, 2010, at a hospital in Rancho Mirage, California, near his home in Palm Springs, California.[8] He was 83 years old. His agent, Sheryl Abrams, said Bosley had been battling lung cancer.[8] His remains are interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills.

Happy Days lawsuit

On April 19, 2011, Bosley's estate and four of his Happy Days co-stars, Erin Moran, Don Most, Marion Ross and Anson Williams, filed a $10 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against CBS, which owns the show, claiming they had not been paid for merchandising revenues owed under their contracts. The cast members claimed they had not received revenues from show-related items, including comic books, t-shirts, scrapbooks, trading cards, games, lunch boxes, dolls, toy cars, magnets, greeting cards and DVDs where their images appear on the box covers. Under their contracts, they were supposed to be paid five percent from the net proceeds of merchandising if their sole image were used, and half that amount if they were in a group. CBS said it owed the actors $8,500 and $9,000 each, most of it from slot machine revenues, but the group said they were owed millions.[9] The lawsuit was initiated after Ross was informed by a friend playing slots at a casino of a "Happy Days" machine on which players win the jackpot when five Marion Rosses are rolled.

In October 2011, a judge rejected the group's fraud claim, which meant they could not receive millions of dollars in potential damages.[10] On June 5, 2012, a judge denied a motion filed by CBS to have the case thrown out, which meant it would go to trial on July 17 if the matter was not settled by then.[11] In July 2012, the actors settled their lawsuit with CBS. Each received a payment of $65,000 and a promise by CBS to continue honoring the terms of their contracts. [12][13]

References

1.^ "Happy Days Actor Tom Bosley Dies". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2010-10-19.

2.^ "Tom Bosley: A 'Golden Pond' of Memories". The Philadelphia Jewish Exponent. 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2006-12-13.

3.^ The Broadway League. "Fiorello! | IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information". IBDB. Retrieved 2010-08-31.

4.^ Tony-Winning Actor Tom Bosley, Best Known for Happy Days, Dies at 83 — broadway.com

5.^ WPIX-TV coverage of "The M*A*C*Y*S 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular," 4 July 1984.

6.^ "SMC". Smcorp.com. Retrieved 2012-08-13.

7.^ Tom Bosley at the Internet Movie Database

8.^ "Tom Bosley, Father on 'Happy Days,' Dies at 83", Associated Press via The New York Times, October 19, 2010.

9.^ Zamost, Scott (April 20, 2011). "'Happy Days' actors claim fraud, money owed for merchandising". CNNMoney.

10.^ Gardner, Eriq (June 5, 2012). "'Happy Days' Actors Win Key Ruling in CBS Lawsuit". The Hollywood Reporter.

11.^ Scott, Zamost (June 5, 2012). "'Happy Days' cast members' lawsuit heading for trial". CNN.

12.^ Daley, Sean (August 6, 2012). "Chachi done with broke Joanie". New York Post.

13.^ Zamost, Scott (July 7, 2012). "'Happy Days' actors settle lawsuit with CBS". CNN.