Tom Bosley arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of Memoirs of a Geisha held at the Kodak Theatre in this December 4, 2005, file photo, in Hollywood, California. Tom Bosley is still going strong at 80, with acting jobs coming his way.Last year, Bosley costarred with Michael Learned in a seven-month national tour of "On Golden Pond." He's starting the new year with a starring role in the movie "Charlie & Me," airing Saturday, January 5, 2008, on the Hallmark Channel. (AP Photo/Tammie Arroyo, File)__________________________________________
LOS ANGELES (AP), January 2, 2008:
Tom Bosley is still going strong at 80, with acting jobs coming his way. Last year, Bosley costarred with Michael Learned in a seven-month national tour of "On Golden Pond." He's starting the new year with a starring role in the movie "Charlie & Me," airing Saturday on the Hallmark Channel.
"Like most actors, I have endured my share of down time every time I was waiting for the next role to come my way," Bosley told the cable channel in a statement. "Actors spend half their careers out of work and in de facto retirement. So when an actor says he's been in the business for 60 years, you'd better deduct at least a few of those years for all the times he was unemployed."
Bosley is best known as Richie Cunningham's father on "Happy Days."
In "Charlie & Me," Bosley plays a charismatic grandfather who, despite suffering a near-fatal heart attack, is determined to mend the relationship between his workaholic, widowed son and his feisty 12-year-old granddaughter before he dies.
"Although I love my home, my family and everything about my non-work life, I also want to keep acting as long as God will let me," Bosley said. "It's what still drives me. I want to prove to myself that I can still do it."
Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press
