Tom Bosley

A Tony Award-winning turn on Broadway brought actor Tom Bosley to national attention, but his enduring fame derived from a string of television series and appearances from the late 1950s through the 1990s. Adept at playing average Joes with an inquisitive or irascible streak, Bosley found the perfect apotheosis of that persona playing Howard Cunningham, the perpetually exasperated but kind-hearted dad on "Happy Days" (ABC, 1974-1984). The show's staggering popularity ensured that Bosley would be the go-to for lovable father figures for decades to come. He later divided his acting roles between characters of that ilk and more curmudgeonly types like Sheriff Amos Tupper on "Murder, She Wrote" (CBS, 1984-1996) and the title sleuth in "The Father Dowling Mysteries" (NBC/ABC, 1987-1991). Meanwhile, his onscreen appearances were fewer and farther between in his later years, with an episode of "That 70s Show" (Fox, 1998-2006), the TV movie "Charlie & Me" (Hallmark Channel, 2008) and a small part in "The Back-Up Plan" (2010) marking some of his final roles. Despite his limited output in the 21st century, Bosley nonetheless remained a revered and well-remembered performer across several generations.