Thomas Edward Bosley (born October 1, 1927) is an American actor, best known on-stage for his work in Fiorello!, and for his starring and supporting roles on television shows like Happy Days, Murder, She Wrote and the Father Dowling Mysteries.
Bosley was born in Chicago, Illinois; he is Jewish. During World War II, Tom 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.
Bosley's breakthrough stage role was New York's Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia in the long-running Broadway musical Fiorello! (1959) for which he won a Tony Award. In 1994, Tom originated the role of Maurice in the Broadway version of Disney's Beauty & the Beast.
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 and The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal. Bosley shared a heartfelt story about his experience with the Holocaust in the documentary film Paper Clips.
Bosley's best known role is the character Howard Cunningham, Richie Cunningham's father, in the long-running television sitcom Happy Days. Bosley is also known for portraying Sheriff Amos Tupper on Murder, She Wrote. He also portrayed the titular Father Frank Dowling on the TV mystery series, Father Dowling Mysteries. In 2004, Bosley guest starred as a toy maker named Ben-Ami on the series finale of the Christian video series K10C: Kids' Ten Commandments. 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. In 2008, Bosley will star in the television drama Charlie & Me.
Also notable as a voice actor due to his resonant, fatherly yet expressive tone, Bosley hosted The General Mills Radio Adventure Theater, a 1977 radio drama series for children. He went on to voice many memorable animated 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.
He has endorsed Glad Trash Bags, D-Con, the IQ Computer and Sonic Drive-Ins, and currently is the spokesman for SMC Specialty Merchandise Corporation.
