Author Topic: R.i.p. Tom Bosley (Read 390 times)

Elano · « **on:** October 21, 2010, 03:46:33 AM »

Actor Tom Bosley, who played Howard Cunningham on the 70's iconic sitcom "Happy Days", died today at his Palm Springs home here in Southern California. Mr. Bosley was 83 years old. The cause of death was listed as complications from lung cancer.

The show ran from 1974 to 1984 on ABC television. Roberta and I loved the show, it was popular with both guys, girls, and yes - our parents. The whole family would gather around the TV to watch.

The chicks loved the poodle skirts and the 50's styles, the dudes loved the cars and the motorcycles. I had a friend, Bob Fusco, who was just like Henry Winkler, who played everyone's favorite, The Fonz.

But the All American family man, played by Tom Bosley, was the hardware store owner that kept the family together. This was an era where a man could still make a good living running a small business, before the "big box" retailers came along.

Tom spent 50 years on TV. Some of the other shows he worked on were "Love Boat", "Murder She Wrote", and "Father Dowling Mysteries". The spinoffs from Happy Days were "Laverne & Shirley", "Mork and Mindy", and "Joanie Loves Chachi".

The show also spawned a great pop culture slang term: "The series jumped the shark" was coined by "The Fonz", it meant your TV series was coming to a close.