Ron Howard

Ronald William "Ron" Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American film director and producer, as well as an actor. Howard came to prominence in the 1960s while playing the son of sheriff Andy Taylor (played by Andy Griffith), Opie Taylor, on The Andy Griffith Show (credited as Ronny Howard), and later in the 1970s as Howard Cunningham's son and Arthur Fonzarelli's best friend (played by Tom Bosley and Henry Winkler respectively), Richie Cunningham, on Happy Days (a role he played from 1974 to 1980). Since retiring from acting, he has directed many films including Splash, Cocoon, Backdraft, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Frost/Nixon, The Da Vinci Code, and Angels & Demons.

In 2003, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.

Early life
Howard was born in Duncan, Oklahoma, the son of Jean Speegle Howard, an actress, and Rance Howard, a director, writer, and actor. His family moved to Burbank, California in 1958, the year before the birth of his younger brother, Clint Howard. Howard graduated from John Burroughs High School, and later attended the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts but did not graduate.

Early acting roles and The Andy Griffith Show
In 1959, he had his first credited film role, in The Journey, and appeared in June Allyson's CBS anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson in the episode "Child Lost," as well as The Twilight Zone episode "Walking Distance", about a man (Gig Young) who learns that he cannot go home again.

In 1960, he was cast in the role of Opie Taylor in the hit CBS television series The Andy Griffith Show, a spin-off of The Danny Thomas Show. Credited as "Ronny Howard," he portrayed the son of the local sheriff, played by Andy Griffith, in the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina for the entire eight seasons of the show. He also spent a lot of time with Griffith off-screen.

Howard played Winthrop Paroo, the child with the lisp in the 1962 film version of The Music Man with Robert Preston and Shirley Jones. He also starred in the 1963 film The Courtship of Eddie's Father with Glenn Ford and (billed as "Ronny Howard") in Little Boy Lost, a 1963 episode of the NBC medical drama The Eleventh Hour as the character Barry Stewart in the episode entitled "Is Mr. Martian Coming Back?", and a 1966 episode of the NBC adventure series I Spy with Robert Culp and Bill Cosby. Howard made a guest-star appearance on the television series M*A*S*H during that show's first season as an underage American serving in the Marines during the Korean War. In the 1970s, Ron Howard appeared in at least one episode of The Bold Ones as a teenage tennis player with an illness.

In 1976, Howard was offered the role of Gillom Rogers in the movie The Shootist, starring opposite Hollywood legend John Wayne. At the time, Howard had no idea that this would be the last pairing of the two, as Wayne would die three years later of cancer; in fact, Howard is often quoted as saying, "About a couple of months after filming wrapped on The Shootist, Duke called me up and said, 'I found a good script, kid . . . it's you and me, or it's nobody." As a token of respect, during the beginning of The Shootist, Howard lent his voice to the beginning montage, which shows Wayne in various clips from his career.

American Graffiti and Happy Days
Howard played Steve Bollander in George Lucas' coming-of-age film American Graffiti in 1973. The role led to him being cast as Richie Cunningham in the TV series Happy Days on which, beginning in 1974, he played the likeable "buttoned-down" boy, in contrast to Henry Winkler's "greaser" Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli. In 1977, while still starring on Happy Days, he directed his first film, a low-budget comedy/action film called Grand Theft Auto.

His last significant on-screen role was when he reprised his famous role as Opie Taylor in the 1986 TV reunion movie Return to Mayberry reuniting him with Andy Griffith, Don Knotts, and most of the old cast.

When asked in 2000 if he would ever like to return to acting, he replied "Only if I can act with Cindy Williams again," referring to the actress who played opposite him in American Graffiti.

Directing
Before leaving Happy Days in 1980, Howard made his directing debut with the 1977 project Grand Theft Auto (after cutting a deal with Roger Corman to star in Eat My Dust with Christopher Norris). Howard went on to direct several TV movies. His big theatrical break came in 1982 with Night Shift featuring soon-to-be stars, such as Michael Keaton and Shelley Long, as well as reuniting Howard with Happy Days co-star Henry Winkler.

He has since directed a number of high-visibility films, including Splash, Parenthood, Cocoon, Willow, Backdraft, Apollo 13 (nominated for nine Academy Awards and winning two), A Beautiful Mind (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director), Cinderella Man, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons.

Howard's younger brother, Clint, has minor roles in most of his movies. He has also cast his father and mother (prior to her death in 2000) in a number of roles. Both his wife, Cheryl Howard, and father Rance Howard appeared in Angels & Demons as a CERN scientist and as Cardinal Beck, respectively.

Howard showcased the world premiere of his film Frost/Nixon at the 2008 London Film Festival in October 2008.

Ron Howard was the recipient of the Austin Film Festival's 2009 Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award. Michael Keaton presented him with the Award.

Howard has signed on to direct the upcoming first film adaptation of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, as well as the first season of the TV series.

Imagine Entertainment
Howard is the co-chairman, with Brian Grazer, of Imagine Entertainment, a major film and television production company, which has produced notable projects like Friday Night Lights, 8 Mile, Inside Deep Throat, and the television series 24, Felicity and Arrested Development, which he also narrated.

Personal life
On June 7, 1975, Howard wed his high-school sweetheart, Cheryl (née Alley), a writer with a degree in geriatric psychology. They have four children; daughters Bryce Dallas (b. 2 March 1981), Jocelyn Carlyle and Paige Carlyle (twins, b. 1985), and son Reed Cross (b. 1987). His daughters' middle names indicate where they were conceived, Bryce in Dallas, twins Jocelyn and Paige at the Hotel Carlyle in New York City. Son Reed Cross was named after a London street because "Volvo isn't a very good middle name", according to Howard. Daughters Bryce and Paige are actresses. The family lives on a 35 acre estate in the exclusive gated community of Conyers Farm in Greenwich, Connecticut. In February 2007, Howard became a grandfather when his daughter, Bryce, gave birth to a son, Theodore Norman Howard Gabel.

Howard is a sixth cousin to his Andy Griffith Show co-star, Don Knotts, through Howard's ancestor Lucinda Knotts.

In the June 2006 issue of Vanity Fair magazine, Ron Howard was asked, "What do you consider your greatest achievement?" He replied, "Forty-eight consecutive years of steady employment in television and film, while preserving a rich family life."

Howard in popular culture
Howard appeared as himself twice in The Simpsons. In "When You Dish Upon a Star", Homer meets and befriends Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger and Howard. Later in the episode, Howard is injured when trying to jump from a truck to the RV that Homer was driving. In the end, he pitches Homer's movie idea and gets it greenlit. Another episode ("Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder") Homer and Howard are fighting each other while appearing on The Springfield Squares. Later, Howard gives Homer the inspiration to spend more time with his kids and gives him some money that Homer refuses but takes anyway. Ron yoinks the money back from Homer and then drives away.

When he hosted Saturday Night Live in the 1980s, Eddie Murphy called him "Opie Cunningham".

In the South Park episode, "Ginger Kids", Cartman asks a crowd of fellow gingers to name great Americans with red hair, the only name they can think of is "Ron Howard", and when asked to name a second, one responds "Ron Howard" again.

On a VH1 special about the 100 greatest Child Stars, many of the interviewees considered Ron Howard to be the most successful child star of all-time, considering his two major television acting roles and his directing career. In Season 1, Episode 3 of Stroker and Hoop on Adult Swim, Stroker and Hoop ran a detective agency whose first client needed them to make Ron Howard stop controlling his mind.

In October 2008, Howard reprised his roles as Opie Taylor and Richie Cunningham for the first time in over 20 years when he appeared in a video on funnyordie.com in which he endorsed Barack Obama and urged people to vote. The video, titled Howard’s Call to Action", also features Andy Griffith and Henry Winkler. As seen in the video, Howard is seen shaving his beard and wearing wigs to recreate his younger look.

Ron Howard recently made a cameo appearance in the 2009 music video for fellow Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx's song "Blame It" along side Academy Award winner Forrest Whittaker, Academy Award nominee, Jake Gyllenhaal and Samuel L. Jackson. In the video he is shown holding a glass of champagne.