Howard Cunningham (Happy Days)

Howard Cunningham
Tom Bosley as Howard Cunningham in 1976
First appearance"Love and the Happy Days"
Last appearance"Passages Part 2"
Created byGarry Marshall
Portrayed byHarold Gould (pilot on Love, American Style)
Tom Bosley
In-universe information
NicknameMr. C
GenderMale
Occupationowner of Cunningham hardware
AffiliationRepublican
FamilySean Cunningham (father)
Dick Cunningham (brother)
SpouseMarion Kelp
Children
RelativesJoe Cunningham (uncle)
K.C. Cunningham (niece)
NationalityAmerican

Howard C. Cunningham is a fictional character played by Tom Bosley on the 1970s sitcom Happy Days. Actor Harold Gould played the character in the pilot, which aired as an episode of the anthology series Love, American Style.[1] He is the husband of Marion Cunningham, and the father of Chuck, Richie, and Joanie Cunningham. Originally, Gould was supposed to reprise his role on Happy Days as Howard Cunningham but wanted to commit to something else so Bosley was offered the part. Howard is one of only two characters, the other being Fonzie, to appear in all 255 episodes of Happy Days and to remain with the rest of the cast for all 11 seasons; of the two, Howard is the only one to have also appeared in the pilot.

  1. ^ After the pilot, "New Family in Town", was rejected by the networks, Garry Marshall liquidated it as an episode of Love, American Style to recover production costs; many failed pilots of the era were similarly salvaged. In keeping with the series's titling protocols which required each story to be called "Love and the _________", the former "New Family in Town" aired as "Love and the Happy Days".