Ron Howard
Director ● Producer ● Supporting Actor
Ron Howard began his creative career as a child actor who portrayed the role of Opie Taylor in the popular 1960s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show. In his teenage years, he came to prominence playing Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years. From television he graduated to movies The Music Man (1962), American Graffiti (1973), and The Shootist (1976), before focusing on his career in movie direction. His most successful movies include Cocoon (1985), Apollo 13 (1995), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), and A Beautiful Mind (2001) which earned Howard the Academy Award for Best Director.
Trivia:
Howard credits Roger Corman, the famous 'B'-movie director who also sparked the careers of Scorsese, Bogdanovich, Francis Coppola, for giving him his first directing opportunity. He admits that he had to blackmail his way into the opportunity when Roger Corman invited him to act in a movie called, 'Eat My Dust.' In the guise of meeting him to accept the role, Howard successfully threw his pitch, making his directorial debut with 'Grand Theft Auto' in 1977.
In 2002, Howard conceived the idea for the Fox/Netflix series Arrested Development, on which he also served as producer and narrator, and played a semi-fictionalized version of himself.
In 2003, Howard was awarded the National Medal of Arts.
Asteroid 12561 Howard is named after him.
In 2013, Howard was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.
In 2002, Howard conceived the idea for the Fox/Netflix series Arrested Development, on which he also served as producer and narrator, and played a semi-fictionalized version of himself.
In 2003, Howard was awarded the National Medal of Arts.
Asteroid 12561 Howard is named after him.
In 2013, Howard was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.
