Ron Howard

February 5, 2:23 PMCelebrity Profile ExaminerAndy Williamson

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RON HOWARD

Is there another actor/performer/celebrity who oozes the same amount of Americana as Ron Howard?  Whether you remember him as Opie Taylor or Richie Cunningham or as an Oscar-winning director, you can’t argue that this man is as American as apple pie.  I used to joke that Tom Hanks and Ron Howard could run on a Presidential campaign under the All-American Ticket and win!  (That was, at least, until that whole DaVinci Code thing alienated all the right-wing Christians.)

Ronald William “Ron” Howard was born on March 1st, 1954 in Duncan, Oklahoma.  His parents, Rance Howard and Jean Speegle Howard, are both actors who moved their brood to Burbank, California when Ronny was three.  The following year, the Howards welcomed another son, Clint (who would also be an actor).

As a show business family, the Howards, seeing that their sons enjoyed performing, encouraged them to audition for roles.  Ronny first found work when he was only two-years-old, making his debut in the film Frontier Woman, which costarred his father, Rance.  Much TV work followed on shows like Johnny Ringo, The Twilight Zone, Make Room For Daddy, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, and Dennis The Menace.

In 1960, Ronny was cast as Opie Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show.  The show would run for 8 seasons, and would nearly overnight turn Ronny into “America’s son.”  Not many actors can say they got one of their signature roles before the age of 10 -- at least not many who lived to tell the tale.  Ronny did it at age 6, and was one of the few child actors to escape the pitfalls of growing up in the spotlight.  Spending his formative years on this set, with these people, it’s actually no wonder that Ron would years later not only seek a career as a director, but succeed wildly doing so.

Ronnie’s first major film role was in the 1962 film version of Meridith Willson’s The Music Man.  Ronnie played Winthrop whose adorable lisp charmed everyone who saw the film, and nearly stole the show from its very talented and charismatic leads, Robert Preston and Shirley Jones.  Not bad for an 8-year-old.

While Ronny did appear on other shows during his run on The Andy Griffith Show (Dr. Kildare, The Fugitive, The Big Valley), when the show was over, he had a little trouble making the transition to more grown-up parts.  But then, in the early 1970s, two things set the stage for what would be another signature role.  The first was a 1972 episode of Love, American Style called Love and the Happy Days, about a suburban family in the 1950s.  The premise was not quite formed yet -- no Fonzie, a different Mr. C and Joanie -- but as a pilot it was going to take a bit more for a network pick-up.  Enter George Lucas, whose 1973 film American Graffiti, also starring “Ronny” Howard, enflamed a love of “nostalgia” around the nation.  Picking up on this, Happy Days producer Garry Marshall repitched his idea to ABC.  This time it sold -- the show would run for ten seasons, 1974 - 1984 (though Ron would leave in 1980).

While in-between seasons of Happy Days in the 1970s, Ron made a few feature films -- notably John Wayne’s last movie, The Shootist, in 1976.  Also that year, Ron starred in a crash’em up feature, Eat My Dust, for legendary producer Roger Corman.  After convincing the producer to let him try his hand at directing, Corman gave him the reigns of a similar film.  In 1977, Grand Theft Auto became Ron Howard’s theatrical directorial debut.

Though he directed some TV fare after this, it wasn’t until 1982 that Ron directed a theatrical hit.  Night Shift, starring Happy Days-alum Henry Winkler, a pre-Cheers Shelly Long, and introducing Michael Keaton, about two morgue attendants who run a prostitution ring out of their office, was a laugh-out-loud surprise hit ... despite its seamy subject matter.  (The film was not that dirty -- even its R-rating was questionable.  It would be PG-13 today.)

If Night Shift put "Ron Howard, Director" on the map, 1984’s Splash proved he could also line audiences around the block.  The Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah mermaid story was budgeted at $8 million, and went on to do nearly $70 million domestic.  (In 1984 dollars, this was a lot.)  Splash also marked Ron’s first film with Tom Hanks -- many more would follow.  Ron was hot.

Next came Cocoon (another hit), Gung Ho (also with Michael Keaton), Willow (for producer, and old friend, George Lucas), Parenthood, Backdraft, Far and Away, The Paper (Michael Keaton again), Apollo 13 (number two with Tom Hanks), Ransom, EdTV, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (which, even though I think the world of Ron, was a stinker of the worst kind).

At the 2001 Academy Awards, Ron won Best Director and Best Picture for A Beautiful MInd, his biopic of Nobel-winning mathematician John Forbes Nash, whose struggles with paranoid schizophrenia nearly derailed his illustrious career.  The film was also a commercial hit.

In the wake of this Oscar success, Ron directed The MIssing, Cinderella Man, The DaVinci Code (number three with Hanks), and Frost/Nixon (for which he would again receive multiple Oscar nominations).

Along with producing partner Brian Grazer, Ron is co-chairman of Imagine Entertainment.

Ron has been married to his high school sweetheart, Cheryl (Alley), since June 7th, 1975.  The have three daughters and a son.  Daughter Bryce Dallas Howard is an actress.   The family lives on a 35-acre estate in Greenwich , Connecticut.

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

Well said, Ron.  And well done.

Up next: The DaVinci Code sequel, Angels and Demons (number four with Hanks) and the theatrical version of Imagine Entertainment's Arrested Development.