Ron Howard

Ron Howard (born 1.3.1954)

Ron Howard is an American film producer and director. He rose to fame, however, working as an actor in The Andy Griffith Show and on Happy Days.

Ron Howard: Childhood

Ron Howard was born to Jean and Rance Howard, in Duncan Oklahoma. The family then moved to Burbank in California. Ron graduated from John Burroughs High School and then went on to attend the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, though he did not graduate.

Ron Howard: Career

Ron Howard's debut film role was in The Journey, in 1959, with Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner. He then appeared in The DuPont Show with June Allyson, as well as The Twilight Zone.

In 1960, Howard was cast as Opie Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show. He revised the role in 1968, when he starred with Griffiths in Return to Mayberry. In the 1962 film The Music Man, Ron Howard played Winthrop Paroo, alongside Robert Preston and Shirley Jones. The following year, he starred in The Courtship of Eddie's Father with Glenn Ford and in 1966, he appeared in an episode of the NBC series I Spy, which starred Robert Culp and Bill Cosby. He also made a guest appearance on M*A*S*H.

In George Lucas' American Graffiti, released in 1973, Ron Howard played the role of Steve Bollander, with Richard Dreyfuss also in a starring role. It was this performance that led to Howard being given the role of Richie Cunningham in Happy Days. His character was the opposite to Henry Winkler's character, 'The Fonz' (Arthur Fonzarelli). At the same time as appearing in Happy Days, Ron Howard also directed his first feature film, Grand Theft Auto.

In 1976, Ron Howard starred in The Shootist, with John Wayne (in one of his last films) and Lauren Bacall.

In 1982, Howard then starred in Night Shift, his big theatrical break, with Michael Keaton, Henry Winkler and Shelley Long.

When Howard moved away from acting and into directing, he worked on a number of high profile and successful films, such as Splash, which propelled the careers of Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks, as well as starring John Candy. He also directed Steve Martin and Martha Plimpton in Parenthood, Don Ameche and Jessica Tandy in Cocoon, Val Kilmer and Warwick Davis in Willow and Tom Hanks and Kevin Bacon in Apollo 13. The later was nominated for nine Oscars, winning two of them.

Ron Howard's next film, A Beautiful Mind, earned him the Best Director Oscar. The film starred Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly.

In 2005, Ron Howard directed Russell Crowe again, this time in Cinderella Man, as well as Renee Zellweger and Paul Giamatti.

Howard then took on the directorial role for the film adaptations of Dan Browns best-selling novels, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons. The films starred Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor and Audrey Tautou.

Ron Howard was then nominated for the Best Director Oscar once more for Frost/Nixon. The film was the story of TV presenter David Frost and the US president Richard Nixon. The title roles were played by Frank Langella and Martin Sheen.

Ron Howard is also the co-chairman of Imagine Entertainment, which has released a number of notable film projects such as Friday Night Lights (Billy Bob Thornton), 8 Mile (Eminem) and TV series such as 24, starring Keifer Sutherland. Howard also narrates the popular TV comedy series Arrested Development, starring Jason Bateman.

Ron Howard: Personal Life

Ron Howard married his childhood sweetheart, Cheryl Alley in 1975. They have four children and one grandchild.