Ron Howard
Ronald William Howard is an American filmmaker 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, seven 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. 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 in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show from 1960 through 1968. During this time, he also appeared in the musical film The Music Man, a critical and commercial success. Howard was cast in one of the lead roles in the influential coming-of-age film American Graffiti, and became a household name for playing Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days. He starred in the films The Spikes Gang, The Shootist, and Grand Theft Auto, 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, Splash, and Cocoon as well as the fantasy Willow, the thriller Backdraft, and the newspaper comedy-drama film The Paper. Howard went on to win the Academy Award for Best Director and Academy Award for Best Picture for A Beautiful Mind and was nominated again for the same awards for the historical drama Frost/Nixon.
Howard has directed historical dramas such as Apollo 13, Cinderella Man, Rush, In the Heart of the Sea, and Thirteen Lives, the children's fantasy film How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the mystery-thriller series Robert Langdon, the comedy The Dilemma, and the space drama Solo: A Star Wars Story. He also directed numerous documentaries such as The Beatles: Eight Days a Week, Pavarotti, and We Feed People.
Early life
Ron Howard was born on March 1, 1954, in Duncan, Oklahoma, the elder of the two sons of Rance Howard, a director, writer, and actor, and Jean Speegle, an actress. He is of German, English, Scottish, Irish, and Dutch ancestry. His father was born with the surname "Beckenholdt" and took the stage name "Howard" in 1948 for his acting career. Rance Howard was serving three years in the United States Air Force at the time of Ron's birth. Clint Howard, also an actor, is Ron's younger brother.Howard was tutored at Desilu Studios in his younger years but continued his schooling at Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary and David Starr Jordan Junior High in Burbank, California, when not working in television, eventually graduating from Burbank's John Burroughs High School. He later attended the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts but did not graduate. Howard has said he knew from a young age he might want to go into directing, thanks to his early experience as an actor.
Acting career
In 1959, Howard had his first credited film role in The Journey. He appeared in June Allyson's CBS anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson in the episode "Child Lost"; in The Twilight Zone episode "Walking Distance"; a few episodes of the first season of the sitcom Dennis the Menace, as Stewart, one of Dennis's friends; and several first- and second-season episodes of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. Howard played "Timmy" in "Counterfeit Gun", Season 4, Episode 2 of the TV series Cheyenne.''The Andy Griffith Show'' (1960–1968)
In 1960, Howard was cast as Opie Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show. Credited as "Ronny Howard", he portrayed the son of the main character for all eight seasons of the show. Recalling his experiences as a child actor on set, he commented,The sitcom was known for its old-fashioned wholesome quality. Even though it was set in a contemporary time period, it evoked a mood of a different era from that of the 1960s. The series also starred Don Knotts, Frances Bavier and Jim Nabors. It received numerous nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards including three Outstanding Comedy Series nominations which it lost to The Jack Benny Show in 1961, The Bob Newhart Show in 1962, and The Monkees in 1967.
''Happy Days'' (1974–1984)
A role in an installment of series Love, American Style, titled "Love and the Television Set", led to his being cast as Richie Cunningham in the TV series Happy Days. Beginning in 1974, he played the likable "buttoned-down" boy, in contrast to Henry Winkler's "greaser" Arthur "Fonzie"/"The Fonz" Fonzarelli. On the Happy Days set, he developed an on- and off-screen chemistry with Winkler. Howard left Happy Days to become a film director just before the start of its eighth season in 1980, but returned for guest appearances in the show's eleventh season.Additional acting roles
In the 1962 film version of The Music Man, Howard played Winthrop Paroo, the child with the lisp; the film starred Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, and Buddy Hackett. The film was based on the 1957 musical of the same name by Meredith Willson. The film was directed by Morton DaCosta who previously helmed the 1958 film Auntie Mame starring Rosalind Russell. The film was a critical and commercial success becoming the third highest-grossing film of that year. The film went on to receive six Academy Award nominations including for Best Picture.He also starred in the 1963 film The Courtship of Eddie's Father with Glenn Ford and Jones. He guest-starred as Tommy in the twelfth episode of the first season of The Big Valley and he appeared as Barry Stewart on The Eleventh Hour in 1965; on I Spy in the 1966 episode "Little Boy Lost"; as Henry Fonda's son in an ABC series, The Smith Family, in 1968; as Jodah in Land of the Giants in 1969; as a boy whose father was shot on Daniel Boone in 1971–72; and as an underage Marine on M*A*S*H in the episode "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet" in 1973. In the 1970s, he appeared in at least one episode of The Bold Ones, as a teenage tennis player with an illness.
Howard appeared on the 1969 Disneyland Records album The Story and Song from the Haunted Mansion. It featured the story of two teenagers, Mike and Karen, who get trapped inside the Haunted Mansion. Thurl Ravenscroft plays the Narrator, Pete Reneday plays the Ghost Host, and Eleanor Audley plays Madame Leota. Some of the effects and ideas that were planned but never permanently made it to the attraction are mentioned here: the Raven speaks in the Stretching Room, and the Hatbox Ghost is mentioned during the Attic scene. It was reissued in 1998 as a cassette tape titled A Spooky Night in Disney's Haunted Mansion and on CD in 2009.
Howard played Steve Bolander in George Lucas's coming-of-age film American Graffiti in 1973, which was the inspiration for the sitcom Happy Days starring Howard. Howard starred in the film alongside Richard Dreyfus, Charles Martin Smith, and Harrison Ford. Critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the film in his four-star review writing, "American Graffiti is not only a great movie but a brilliant work of historical fiction; no sociological treatise could duplicate the movie's success in remembering exactly how it was to be alive at that cultural instant." Howard reprised his role in the sequel More American Graffiti.
In 1974, Howard guest-starred as Seth Turner, the best friend of Jason Walton, in The Waltons episode, "The Gift". Featured in the cast as Dr. McIvers is Ron Howard's father Rance Howard. In 1976, Howard starred alongside John Wayne and Lauren Bacall in Don Siegel's The Shootist, the story of a Western gunfighter dying of cancer.
Howard was the narrator for Arrested Development and also appeared as a cameo in later seasons.
Directing
1977–1992: Rise to prominence
Before leaving Happy Days in 1980, Howard made his directing debut with the 1977 low-budget comedy/action film Grand Theft Auto, based on a script he co-wrote with his father, Rance. This came after cutting a deal with Roger Corman, wherein Corman let Howard direct a film in exchange for Howard starring in Eat My Dust!, with Christopher Norris. Howard went on to direct several TV movies for NBC between 1978 and 1982, including the 1980 TV movie, Skyward, starring Bette Davis. His big directorial break came in 1982, with Night Shift, featuring Michael Keaton, Shelley Long, and Howard's Happy Days co-star Henry Winkler.Following Night Shift, Howard directed a number of major films, including the fantasy romantic comedy Splash starring Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, Eugene Levy, and John Candy. The film was a box office and critical success. He also directed the science-fiction comedy-drama Cocoon starring Don Ameche, Hume Cronyn, Wilford Brimley, and Brian Dennehy. This film was also a critical and financial hit and won a Best Supporting Actor award for Don Ameche. In 1988, he collaborated again with George Lucas on the high fantasy adventure film Willow starring Val Kilmer and Warwick Davis. Howard's final work as a director for the 1980s was the family comedy film Parenthood starring an ensemble cast that includes Steve Martin, Tom Hulce, Rick Moranis, Martha Plimpton, Joaquin Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, Jason Robards, Mary Steenburgen, and Dianne Wiest. The film opened at in its opening weekend, earning $10million. It eventually grossed over $100million domestically and $126million worldwide. The film was a critical hit and received two Academy Award nominations.
File:Apollo 13 filming at KSC.jpg|thumb|Howard with Tom Hanks and the production crew of Apollo 13
Howard continued directing through the 1990s, including the American thriller Backdraft revolving around firefighters. The film starred Kurt Russell, Donald Sutherland, and Robert De Niro. Film critics Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a positive review. In 1992, he directed the western film epic Far and Away starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics the film was a financial success, earning 137 million against its budget of 60 million. In 1994, Howard directed the newspaper comedy-drama The Paper with an ensemble starring Michael Keaton, Glenn Close, Marisa Tomei, Jason Alexander, Jason Robards, and Robert Duvall. The film received rave reviews with many praising Keaton's leading performance.