Mr C's gone.

According to the Oz ABC News site:-

Tom Bosley, one of the stars of the long-running 1970s television series Happy Days, has died of heart failure aged 83.

For 11 seasons, Bosley played long-suffering, gravel-voiced father Howard Cunningham.

He was the perfect foil for the show's eternally cool Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli, played by Henry Winkler, and Cunningham's less hip son Richie, played by Ron Howard.

Bosley earned an Emmy nomination for best supporting actor in 1978.

He went on to star in Murder She Wrote and The Father Dowling Mysteries.

Agent Sheryl Abrams says Bosley had been battling lung cancer and died of heart failure in hospital near his Palm Springs home.

Winkler has paid tribute to Bosley, saying he was his mentor.

"I'm in shock, I really am," Winkler told Los Angeles' KNX-1070 News Radio.

"I spoke to him just a few weeks ago and he seemed to be getting his strength back.

"We really were a family. Tom was not only the TV father, he was also one of the dads on the set," he added.

Scott Baio, who played Fonzie's cousin Chachi, paid tribute to Bosley on his Twitter page.

"Mr Tom Bosley will be missed by many," Baio wrote.

"He was a great actor, teacher and man."

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Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating