John Bosley (Charlie's Angels)

In early episodes, Bosley takes a playfully antagonistic role to the Angels. He also frets about vacation days, car damages, and timeliness when the opportunity arises.R White—[http://heldref-publications.metapress.com/index/R72NHX1345263617.pdf Lipgloss Feminists: Charlie's Angels and The Bionic Woman]{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}},

Storytelling: A Critical Journal of Popular Narrative (2006) Bosley is apparently the only Townsend Agency employee to have ever met Charlie, and he remains steadfast in never revealing Charlie's identity, or even a clue as to what he looks like. This was a running joke in the series.

Most of the Angels found themselves romantically involved at one time or another with someone they encountered on the job, and Bosley is no exception. In one early episode, Bosley mentions a wife, but by the second season he "has not been married for some time", and he became linked with several females encountered in cases, although always those of middle age. One particularly close relationship occurred when the Angels visited Aspen, Colorado in season three. However, these liaisons never seemed to last beyond the episode, and otherwise, little is known about Bosley's private life. He remains a father figure to the Angels. Although Bosley is proficient with firearms, disguises, and accents, his actions occasionally hampered the Angels' work. In one episode, Bosley, acting as an auctioneer, gets caught up in the excitement and mistakenly sells valuable merchandise not to an Angel as per the plan, ruining their attempt to catch a cat burglar.{{Cite web |url=http://www.charliesangels.gr/doyle.htm |title=David Doyle |access-date=2010-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028154426/http://charliesangels.gr/doyle.htm |archive-date=2010-10-28 |url-status=dead}}

{{rquote|left|Boz's comic persona is integral to his function as mediator between the Angels and the enigmatic Charlie and between the show and the male viewers. Boz is Charlie's body without Charlie's voice, the surrogate for Charlie's body in the Angels' world who relays messages to Charlie and assists the Angels.|Cathy Schwichtenberg, "A Patriarchal Voice in Heaven"{{Cite journal|url=http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC24-25folder/CharliesAngels.html|title=Charlie's Angels—A patriarchal voice in heaven|journal=Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media|date=March 1981|pages=13–16|first=Cathy|last=Schwichtenberg}}}}

John Bosley (often nicknamed "Boz") is portrayed as a middle-aged man of average looks, especially when contrasted with the glamorous "Angels". However, he is warm, funny, and intelligent, and often helps the Angels either with background information, or by joining them in the field. Seemingly asexual{{cite book|first=Sherry A.|last=Inness|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oNaXkUvTztUC|title=Disco Divas|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=156|date=2003|isbn=0812218418}}) (and thus unthreatening—Bosley has been described as an "indulgent eunuch"{{cite book|first=Todd|last=Gitlin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UPryhZrTnNIC&q=Bosley+angels&pg=PA121|title=Inside Prime Time|date=1994|publisher=Routledge|location=London, England|page=121|isbn=0415085004}})), he helped direct the Angels to meet Charlie's desired ends in the series where most men were villains and women were often victims (outside the Angels themselves[http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/charliesang/charliesang.htm Charlie's Angels]). Several times he played either a pratfall-type character, the buffoon,{{cite book|first=Bill|last=Osgerby|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JUGehoTVrOAC|title=Action TV|year=2001|publisher=Psychology Press|location=Hove, England|page=94|isbn=0415226201}}) or a Sugar Daddy as part of one of the Angels' covers. Bosley always initiates the phone conferences between Charlie and the Angels as they learn of each case. He also acts as a bumbling father figure or big brother figure to the ladies.{{Cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922576,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403222923/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922576,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 3, 2009|title=Farewekk to a Phenomenon|first=Otto|last=Friedrich|magazine=Time|publisher=Time Life|location=New York City|date=June 8, 1981|accessdate=August 7, 2008}} Schwichtenberg described Bosley as a "narrative pimp"—with the sole male character (Bosley) an asexual "eunuch", the male viewer is free to desire the Angels without feeling threatened. Writing for The New York Times in 2000, Molly Haskell noted that critics, more so than the fans, saw Bosley and Charlie "more as procurers than protectors" and that the two male characters and the Angels "fell into pimp-prostitute roles along traditional gender lines".{{Cite web|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04EFDD1639F933A2575AC0A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2|title=Can 'Charlie's Angels' Still Fly in a 'G.I. Jane' World?|first=Molly|last=Haskell|newspaper=New York Times|location=New York City|date=September 10, 2000|accessdate=August 7, 2008}}

David Doyle was nominated for a 1977 Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series,{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Emmy_Awards/1977|title=Emmy Award nominees 1977|website=IMDb|accessdate=August 7, 2008}} and a 1980 Golden Globe Award for Best TV Actor in a Supporting Role.{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Golden_Globes_USA/1980|title=Golden Globe nominees 1980|website=IMDb|accessdate=August 7, 2008}}

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| footer = Bill Murray played Bosley in the first installment of the film series. Following his departure, Patrick Stewart reprised the role in the third installment.

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In the 2000 Charlie's Angels film, John Bosley was played by Bill Murray. Murray's take on the stodgy and avuncular Bosley character was more buffoon-like, giving rambling speeches of little or no help to the Angels.{{Cite web|url=http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/110900/mov_1109000020.shtml|title=Jordan: Girl power rules|publisher=Athens Banner-Herald|date=9 November 2000|accessdate=2008-08-07}} Murray's Bosley was well received; The Washington Post described him as "very funny as the Angels' fussy, butler-esque helper", but considered the fact that this was "only because Murray's funnier than the role written for him".{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2000/11/03/AR2005062902010.html|title='Angels' Plays All the Right Angles|newspaper=Washington Post|publisher=Washington Post Company|location=Washington, D.C.|date=November 3, 2000|first=Desson|last=Howe|authorlink=Desson Howe|accessdate=August 7, 2008}}

For the first film, Drew Barrymore, the producer and star of the film series, pursued Murray for months to play Bosley; he consistently declined. Eventually, he did the film but did not return for the sequel. Murray clashed with co-star Lucy Liu on the set; the two eventually made up, but Murray didn't want to work again with her, fearing that they would have further conflict.{{Cite news|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2005/10/28/2003277777/wiki|title=Bill Murray wears his heart on his sleeve|date=October 28, 2005|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London, England|accessdate=August 7, 2008}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.starswelove.com/scriptsphp/news.php?newsid=3667 |title=Bill Murray Clears Up 'Charlie's Angels' Feud with Lucy Liu |access-date=September 3, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814030250/http://www.starswelove.com/scriptsphp/news.php?newsid=3667 |archive-date=2007-08-14 |url-status=dead}}

In the 2003 sequel film, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, a new character, John's adoptive brother Jimmy Bosley played by Bernie Mac, was introduced to replace him.{{cite book|first=Roger|last=Ebert|authorlink=Roger Ebert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kk5gaB7_bQ0C&q=Bosley+angels&pg=PA113|title=Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2004|year=2003|publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing|location=Riverside, New Jersey|page=113|isbn=0740738348}}) Bosley's adoptive mother, Momma Bosley, played by Ja'net DuBois, is also introduced in the film.

John Bosley returned in the 2019 third installment, played by Patrick Stewart. In this film, the Townsend agency has expanded internationally with multiple teams of Angels guided by multiple Bosleys, a rank named after John. After many years of service, John decided to retire from the agency. Near the end of the film, it is revealed that John is the villain, frustrated for not being chosen to replace Charlie as head of the agency, following his death.{{cite magazine|first=Thomas|last=Ling|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/film/2018-09-18/patrick-stewart-and-elizabeth-banks-are-both-playing-bosley-in-the-new-charlies-angels/|title=Patrick Stewart AND Elizabeth Banks are both playing Bosley in the new Charlie's Angels|magazine=Radio Times|publisher=Immediate Media Company|location=London, England|date=18 September 2018}}{{cite web|first=Kevin|last=Burwick|url=https://movieweb.com/charlies-angels-movie-reboot-2019-cast-djimon-hounsou-bosley/|title=Djimon Hounsou is Bosley #3 in New Charlie's Angels Movie|website=Movieweb|date=September 28, 2018}}

==Reboot==

In the 2011 reboot television series, Bosley is portrayed by Ramón Rodríguez.

In this version, Bosley is younger than the version from the original timeline. In "Angel with a Broken Wing", it's revealed that John was a hacker that was headed for a twenty-year sentence for tax fraud when Charlie got him out of it.

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