Happily [comma]

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1
  1. Happily he died. [without a comma]
  2. Happily[size=200], [/size]he died. [with a comma]
    According to a Chinese professor of English: #1 means “He died in a happy way”; #2 means “Fortunately, he died.” But I think #1 is not correct. It should be rewritten as “He died happily.” Is #1 really acceptable?