Father Dowling & Sister Steve

Tom Bosley as Father Dowling

It seems that Father Dowling himself, Tom Bosley, was always ear-marked to be a figure of authority. Having got his big break starring as the fictional Mayor of New York in the musical Fiorello! on Broadway, Tom received 200 written votes for the 1960 New York mayoral elections. Opting to remain in showbiz rather than enter the unseemly world of politics, Tom soon became a worldwide star thanks to his role in the smash hit Happy Days as Howard Cunningham.

Tom's penchant for solving crimes was already in evidence before he donned Father Dowling's famous cassock, having played Sheriff Amos Tupper in Murder She Wrote. It seems that crime just finds poor Tom wherever he goes. He's not entirely innocent himself though, having indulged in a spot of double-dealing when filming Father Dowling; Tom was on occasion known to pop up as the padre's identical twin brother Blaine.

Tracy Nelson as Sister Steve

While Father Dowling may be the star of the show, he'd be nothing without his sassy sidekick Sister Steve. Tracy Nelson who played the nifty nun is an unlikely candidate for holy orders, coming from a family with showbiz in their blood. Tracy's father Ricky Nelson was a huge star himself, selling millions of records and giving a certain Mr Presley a run for his money in the hit parades of the 50s and 60s. Tracy's mother Kristin was a fellow thespian, so it's no wonder that Sister Steve brings an air of glamour and cool to the world of prayer and penitence.

Sister Steve comes from the wrong side of the tracks, having been raised on a pretty grim housing project, so she's no stranger to the darker sides of human behaviour. What her mother superior would make of her hotwiring cars and outwitting the police is another matter of course.