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Ron Howard

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Biography

Professionally, Ron Howard has come a long way from the tousle-haired, barefoot sheriff's son who trod the byways of idyllic Mayberry to reside in the heady company of Hollywood's most elite directors. Howard's films are pure entertainment; they are well-crafted efforts, frequently technically challenging from a production standpoint, and aimed at mainstream audiences. Though some of his lesser works have been criticized for possessing formulaic scripts, Howard's films approach even hackneyed subjects in fresh ways. Though he does not characterize himself as a risk taker, he loves the challenge of exploring different genres; therefore, his filmography includes B-movie actioners, domestic comedies, fantasies, sci-fi, suspense-thrillers, historical dramas, and big-budget action films.

The son of actors Rance and Jean Howard, he made his theatrical debut at age two in a Baltimore production of The Seven Year Itch. He made his screen debut at age five in the suspenseful political drama The Journey (1959). The youngster became a hot property after that and appeared in several features, including The Music Man and The Courtship of Eddie's Father (both 1962). Through this period his father was a strong ally who kept Howard from being exploited by filmmakers. In a November 1996 interview with the Detroit News, Howard describes an incident in which he was six years old and during rehearsal could not cry on cue (Howard doesn't name the production), causing the director to threaten to flog him. Other children may have been terrified, but Howard felt secure because his father was on the set and would protect him. When producer Sheldon Leonard approached Rance Howard about casting Ronny (as he was billed during childhood) as Opie, the son of widowed sheriff Andy Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968), the elder Howard stipulated that his son be allowed time off for a normal childhood. It was as the mischievous but guileless Opie that Ronny Howard became famous. During the popular show's long run, Howard occasionally appeared in other feature films.

While a series' demise often signals the death of a child actor's career, particularly if that child is obviously maturing, Howard managed the transition gracefully and continued working steadily. He was cast in a new television series, The Smith Family, in 1971 and starred opposite Henry Fonda, who became one of Howard's mentors, encouraging Howard to strive for creative growth and to take periodic risks to keep himself vital. The series lasted one season, but again Howard landed on his feet, making a bigger name for himself starring as a callow youth in George Lucas' smash hit American Graffiti (1973). The film spawned Garry Marshall's long-running hit, the '50s revival sitcom Happy Days (1974). Essentially reprising his role from the film, Howard (now billed as Ron Howard) starred as all-American youth Richie Cunningham. Again, Howard also worked simultaneously in films, notably in The Shootist (1976), where he played a teen who worshipped dying gunslinger John Wayne.

Though playing a teenager on the series, Howard was in his early twenties and felt it was time to follow his longtime dream of becoming a director. Producer Roger Corman, who had recently starred Howard in Eat My Dust! (1976), let Howard helm the similarly themed Grand Theft Auto (1977). Howard also co-wrote the screenplay with his father and starred in the film. While not exactly an original masterpiece, the film earned praise for its fast-paced, high-energy action scenes. After leaving Happy Days in 1980, he directed Bette Davis in a television movie, Skyward, and managed to earn the great lady's respect with his filmmaking skills. Howard had his first big hit in 1982 with the black comedy Nightshift. It was to be the first of many instances in which he would work with producer Brian Grazer, who eventually became his partner and the co-founder of Howard's production company, Imagine Films Entertainment (established in 1985), and screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, who formerly wrote for Happy Days.

Howard had even greater success with the Tom Hanks/Darryl Hannah vehicle Splash (1984), which launched Disney's Touchstone Pictures and became the company's most successful live-action film to date. He followed this up with sentimental favorite Cocoon (1985). Earlier that year Howard starred in an immensely popular television reunion movie, Back to Mayberry. He had his first misstep after hitting it big with Willow, a George Lucas-produced fantasy extravaganza that never clicked with audiences, though it has since developed a devoted cult following. During the early '90s, Howard went into a slump when a series of big-budget films such as Backdraft (1991) and Far and Away (1992) did relatively poorly with critics and viewers, but came back strongly with Apollo 13 (1995), a gripping account of a failed moon mission. A masterful blend of special effects wizardry (it contains the most realistic views of weightlessness on film), science, and human interest, Apollo 13 was a huge international hit, nominated for nine Oscars (it won for Best Sound and Best Editing), and earned Howard the coveted Director's Guild Association Outstanding Feature Film Directorial Achievement Award, which puts him in league with such directors as John Ford, Billy Wilder, George Cukor, and Francis Ford Coppola. In 1996, Howard attempted a new genre with the violent, bloody thriller Ransom, starring Mel Gibson. While an effective suspense thriller in it's own right, Ransom didn't darken Howard's sensibilities in any permanent terms, and after a few stints as producer on both the small screen (Felicity, Sports Night and the silver screen (Inventing the Abbots (1997) and Beyond the Mat (1999)), Howard was back in the director's chair for Ed TV in 1999. Though it was warmly recieved by critics and gained generally positive notice from those who saw it, Ed TV suffered immediate and fatal comparisons to the more popular and strikingly similar Jim Carrey vehicle, The Truman Show. Undaunted, Howard next teamed with the rubber-faced star of Truman for an imaginative and visually dazzling live-action adaptation of Theodore Geisel's animated Christmas classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas. With it's elaborate sets and costumes, as well as Carrey's giddy performance as the grumpy green Grinch, many found the film an overblown expansion of the beloved children's classic (though many were quick to single-out Carrey's energetic portrayal of the Grinch as a entertainingly distracting highlight). Once again turning back to reality after the marked departure of The Grinch, Howard helmed the sensitive real-life tale of paranoid schizophrenic mathematician turned Nobel Prize winnig genius John Forbes Nash Jr. in A Beautiful Mind (2001). With Russel Crowe essaying the role of Nash and Jennifer Connelly as his faithful and enduring wife, the film gained generally positive reception upon release, and only seemed to cement Howard's reputation as one of the most versatile and gifted director's of his generation as the filmt took the Best Picture award at both the that year's Golden Globes and Oscars. Academy Award night proved to be an even bigger night for Howard as the film also took home awards for Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay and, of course, Best Director.

When not working, Howard spends time at his Connecticut home with his wife, former high school sweetheart Cheryl, and their four children -- three of whom were named after the places in which they were conceived. Neither he nor his wife will permit the kids to become actors until they are fully grown. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Filmography

AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Tom Hanks (2002) (TV) .... Himself
74th Annual Academy Awards, The (2002) (TV) .... Himself
Inside: A Beautiful Mind (2002) (TV) .... Himself
Intimate Portrait: Cindy Williams (2001) (TV) .... Himself
Beautiful Mind, A (2001) (uncredited) .... Man at Gouverners Ball
From Morf to Morphing: The Dawn of Digital Filmmaking (2001) (V) .... Himself
Osmosis Jones (2001) (voice) .... Tom Colonic
Chuck Jones: Extremes and In-Betweens, a Life in Animation (2000) (V) .... Himself
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) (uncredited) .... Townsperson
... aka Grinch, The (2000/I) (Australia) (USA: promotional title)
... aka Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) (USA: complete title)
Welcome to Hollywood (2000) .... Himself
Independent, The (2000) .... Himself
Film-Fest DVD: Issue 2 - Cannes (1999) (V) .... Himself
Celebrity Profile: Henry Winkler (1999) (TV) .... Himself
From Star Wars to Star Wars: The Story of Industrial Light & Magic (1999) (TV) .... Himself
1998 MTV Movie Awards (1998) (TV) .... Himself
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Eddie Murphy (1998) (V) .... Opie Taylor
One Vision (1998) .... Himself
CBS: The First 50 Years (1998) (TV) .... Himself
Frank Capra's American Dream (1997) (TV) .... Himself (Host/Narrator)
Lost Moon: The Triumph of Apollo 13 (1996) (V) .... Himself
Day with, A (1995) (TV) .... Himself
Homeward Bound (1994) (TV) .... Himself
George Lucas: Heroes, Myths and Magic (1993) .... Himself
Andy Griffith Show Reunion (1993) (TV) .... Himself
Magical World of Chuck Jones, The (1992) .... Himself
Happy Days Reunion Special (1992) (TV) .... Himself
Return to Mayberry (1986) (TV) .... Opie Taylor
When Your Lover Leaves (1983) (TV)
"Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour, The" (1982) TV Series .... Richie Cunningham (1982-1983)
Fire on the Mountain (1981) (TV) .... Lee Mackie
Bitter Harvest (1981) (TV) .... Ned De Vries
"Fonz and the Happy Days Gang" (1980) TV Series (voice) .... Richie Cunningham
Act of Love (1980) (TV) .... Leon Cybulkowski
More American Graffiti (1979) .... Steve Bolander
... aka Purple Haze (1979)
NBC Salutes the 25th Anniversary of the Wonderful World of Disney (1978) (TV) .... Himself
Grand Theft Auto (1977) .... Sam Freeman
Battle of the Network Stars II (1977) (TV) .... ABC Team Contestant
First Nudie Musical, The (1976) (uncredited) .... Actor at Audition
I'm a Fool (1976) (TV)
Special Olivia Newton-John, A (1976) (TV)
Battle of the Network Stars (1976) (TV) .... ABC Team Contestant
All-Star Tribute to John Wayne, An (1976) (TV) .... Himself
Shootist, The (1976) .... Gillom Rogers
Eat My Dust! (1976) .... Hoover Niebold
Huckleberry Finn (1975) (TV) .... Huckleberry Finn
Locusts (1974) (TV) .... Donny Fletcher
Spikes Gang, The (1974) .... Les Richter
Migrants, The (1974) (TV) .... Lyle Barlow
"Happy Days" (1974) TV Series .... Richard 'Richie' Cunningham
... aka "Happy Days Again" (1974) (USA: syndication title)
Happy Mother's Day, Love George (1973) .... Johnny
... aka Run, Stranger, Run (1973) (USA: TV title)
American Graffiti (1973) (as Ronny Howard) .... Steve Bolander
Wild Country, The (1971) (as Ronny Howard) .... Virgil
... aka Newcomers, The (1971)
"Smith Family, The" (1971) TV Series .... Bob Smith
Smoke (1970) (TV) .... Chris
Boy Called Nuthin', A (1967) (TV) .... Richie ' Nuthin' ' Caldwell
Village of the Giants (1965) (as Ronny Howard) .... Genius
Courtship of Eddie's Father, The (1963) (as Ronny Howard) .... Eddie
Music Man, The (1962) (as Ronny Howard) .... Winthrop Paroo
Door-to-Door Maniac (1961) .... Bobby
... aka Five Minutes to Live (1961)
... aka Last Blood (1961) (USA: video title)
"Andy Griffith Show, The" (1960) TV Series (as Ronny Howard) .... Opie Taylor (1960-1968)
... aka "Andy of Mayberry" (1960) (USA: syndication title)
Journey, The (1959) (as Ronny Howard) .... Billy Rhinelander
Frontier Woman (1956) (uncredited) .... Bit Part

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