Created by Garry Marshall Gender Male Creator Garry Marshall Last appearance "Passages Part 2" | Nickname(s) Mr. C, Mr. Okay, Howie Played by Tom Bosley First appearance "Love and the Happy Days" | |
Portrayed by Harold Gould (pilot on Love, American Style)
Tom Bosley Occupation owner of Cunningham hardware Family Sean "Cap" Cunningham (Father)
Unnamed Mother
Richard "Dick" Cunningham (Brother) Movies and TV shows Happy Days, Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story Children Richie Cunningham, Joanie Cunningham Similar Marion Cunningham, Richie Cunningham, Joanie Cunningham, Ralph Malph, Potsie Weber | ||
Howard Cunningham is a fictional character played by Tom Bosley on the sitcom Happy Days & Harold Gould in the pilot (which aired as an episode of the anthology series Love, American Style). 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 the only one (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.
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Biography
Howards Cunningham was born on September 28, 1910 (it is revealed in season 3's "Howard's 45th Fiasco" that his birthday is on Confucius' birthday; the year is 1955). In Howards youth, Cunningham was a cook in the Army. In his later years, he became owner of a hardware store (Cunningham Hardware) while residing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his family. His character was written to portray Cunningham to be the stereotypical all-American 1950's father - a sage, white, Republican business owner in Middle America with traditional values. He was a member of Leopard Lodge No. 462 in Milwaukee, eventually becoming its "Grand Poobah."
Trivia
