When Mr. C. Was Mr. L.

Quick! Name someone who appeared in both the film Divorce, American Style and the TV show Love, American Style.

I haven’t researched all the possible answers, but one who comes to mind is Tom Bosley.

A certain generation will always think of Bosley as Howard Cunningham on Happy Days because the show was a huge success, ‘70s feathered hairstyles in the ‘50s notwithstanding. Bosley was fortunate enough to pick up starring roles in other shows—Wait Till Your Father Gets Home and The Father Dowling Mysteries. He narrated a nostalgic clip trip called That’s Hollywood. But his first regular role, I believe, is on a series that you may never have seen. It was The Debbie Reynolds Show, which aired in 1969-70.

If you were to ask me what the series was about, I couldn’t tell you, other than I sort of remember it kind of being like I Love Lucy except without the physical comedy. That didn’t leave much.

United Press International interviewed Bosley at the time about his nascent career. It’s interesting the wire service would devote a column to someone pretty much unknown on a show that featured a huge film star. He comes across as a regular guy in this interview, which is how he came across in his TV roles, certainly on Happy Days. This column appeared in papers around February 4, 1970.

Actor Came West for Film And Stayed
By Vernon Scott
HOLLYWOOD (UPI)— Tom Bosley, the round, funny man on The Debbie Reynolds Show," is less humorous but equally rotund away from the television cameras.
A dedicated actor who suffered hunger pangs in New York for eight years before finding acting jobs, Bosley starred in the title role on Broadway in "Fiorello!" from November, 1959, to October, 1961.
Bosley came West several years ago for what he thought would be a brief stay while he appeared in a movie He is still here.
Bosley and his wife Jean, married eight years, are the parents of Amy Elizabeth, 3 1/2, who shares a two-bedroom apartment with her mother and father in Beverly Hills.
The actor, who plays Debbie's brother-in-law in the NBC series, discovered that Beverly Hills apartments are larger but just as costly as those in Manhattan.
His apartment house is equipped with a swimming pool in which Bosley splashes gleefully whenever possible. Jean has furnished their quarters with a few pieces brought west from their old apartment. The couple currently is redecorating the living room with contemporary furniture.
A native of Chicago, Bosley is undergoing a difficult change of loyalty.
Since childhood he has been an ardent fan of the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Bears, both of which had less than triumphant seasons on the diamond and gridiron. The transplanted Bosley has season tickets for Los Angeles Rams football games and cheers for the Dodgers with misgivings.
One of his first professional assignments in Hollywood was a role in the movie, "Divorce, American Style," which starred Miss Reynolds.
Bosley said this affiliation is responsible for his present part in the series. Debbie recalled his brand of comedy and asked the producers to cast him in the role of Bob Landers, the accountant.
Bosley is aided in his characterization by the fact that his brother in Chicago is an accountant. “I use my brother as an image for the character,” says Bosley, “except he is bigger and smarter than I am.”
Bosley is 42 years old and a motion picture buff. He and Jean dine out frequently and then take in a movie. He also enjoys sailing on the boats of friends both here and in the Windy City.
His working schedule varies. The show is filmed on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Mondays and Tuesdays are long rehearsal days. But Friday demands only a two-hour run-through of the script and then a lengthy weekend of relaxation.
He lives a convenient seven minutes from MGM studios where the series is filmed and manages to have dinner at home with Jean and Amy almost every night.
An admitted loner, Bosley is happiest sitting in his living room listening to classical music on his new stereo set.