Ron Howard

For other people named Ronald Howard, see Ronald Howard.

Ron Howard
Howard after recording an episode of Here's Looking at Yul, Kid in 2023
Born
Ronald William Howard

(1954-03-01) March 1, 1954 (age 70)
Duncan, Oklahoma, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Southern California
Occupations
  • Director
  • producer
  • screenwriter
  • actor
Years active1959–present
Spouse
Cheryl Alley
​
(m. 1975)​
Children4, including Bryce Dallas Howard and Paige Howard
Parents
RelativesClint Howard (brother)
Seth Gabel (son-in-law)
AwardsFull list

Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received multiple accolades, including two Academy Awards, six Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2003 and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2013.[1][2] He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions in film and television.

Howard first came to prominence as a child actor, acting in several television series before gaining national attention for playing young Opie Taylor, the son of Sheriff Andy Taylor (played by Andy Griffith) in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show from 1960 through 1968. During this time, he also appeared in the musical film The Music Man (1962), a critical and commercial success. Howard was cast in one of the lead roles in the influential coming-of-age film American Graffiti (1973), and became a household name for playing Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days (1974–1980).[3] He starred in the films The Spikes Gang (1974), The Shootist (1976), and Grand Theft Auto (1977), the latter being his directorial film debut.

In 1980, Howard left Happy Days to focus on directing, producing, and sometimes writing a variety of films and television series. His films included the comedies Night Shift (1982), Splash (1984), and Cocoon (1985) as well as the fantasy Willow (1988), the thriller Backdraft (1991), and the newspaper comedy-drama film The Paper (1994). Howard went on to win the Academy Award for Best Director and Academy Award for Best Picture for A Beautiful Mind (2001) and was nominated again for the same awards for Frost/Nixon (2008).[4][5] Howard also directed other historical dramas such as Apollo 13 (1995), Cinderella Man (2005), Rush (2013), In the Heart of the Sea (2015) and Thirteen Lives (2022).

He also directed the children's fantasy film How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), the comedy The Dilemma (2011), and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), as well as the Robert Langdon film series: The Da Vinci Code (2006), Angels & Demons (2009), and Inferno (2016). Howard has gained recognition for directing numerous documentary films such as The Beatles: Eight Days a Week (2016), Pavarotti (2019), and We Feed People (2022).

  1. ^ "President Bush Announces 2003 Medal of Arts Recipients". November 12, 2003. Archived from the original on June 24, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  2. ^ Carlson, Erin (January 23, 2013). "Les Moonves, Dick Wolf and Ron Howard Among TV 'Hall of Fame' Inductees". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  3. ^ Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 1999
  4. ^ "Full list of Oscar winners and nominees". The Guardian. February 12, 2002. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  5. ^ "The 2009 Oscar Nominations". Harper's Bazaar. January 22, 2009. Retrieved November 27, 2020.