TV lost another iconic parent this week.

Following the death of Barbara Billingsley (aka June Cleaver) on Saturday comes word that Tom Bosley (Mr. C of Happy Days) passed away on Tuesday.  The immediate cause of death was reported to be heart failure (following a battle with lung cancer).

While Bosley’s most-famous role by far was that of the loving dad to Richie and Joanie Cunningham and unlikely pal to the Fonz on Happy Days, his long career included many varied  roles, including that of the crime-solving priest on The Father Dowling Mysteries which ran for a couple of seasons in the late eighties and early nineties.

Father Dowling wasn’t particularly groundbreaking as a character. He wasn’t even TV’s first first crime-solving priest. Anyone remember a show called Sarge starring George Kennedy? But the show was a pleasant-enough diversion that at least showed Catholics in a positive light.

Bosley’s also known to TV audiences for playing Sheriff Amos Tupper on Murder, She Wrote. He also won a Tony Award for his starring role as New York’s legendary Mayor LaGuardia in the 1959 Broadway musical Fiorello!. 

With the deaths of Tom Bosley and Barbara Billingsley within a week of each other, it makes me wonder what TV parents today’s generation of kids will look back on fondly. I don’t see these two being equaled in the current prime-time landscape. At least there still are reruns of Leave it to Beaver and Happy Days.