LOS ANGELES — Tom Bosley, who portrayed the patient, understanding father on television's long-running "Happy Days," has died. He was 83.

Bosley's agent, Sheryl Abrams, says Bosley died of heart failure at 4 a.m. today. She says he also was battling lung cancer.

TV Guide ranked Bosley's "Happy Days" character No. 9 on its list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" in 2004. The show debuted in 1974 and ran for 11 seasons.

After "Happy Days" ended, Bosley went on to a recurring role in "Murder, She Wrote" as Sheriff Amos Tucker. He also was the crime-solving priest in television's "The Father Dowling Mysteries," which ran from 1989 to 1991.