Ron Howard

  Born March 1, 1954, Ronald William Howard is an American screenwriter, producer, and actor. Howard first rose to fame as an actor for children. Howard was a guest on several television series including The Twilight Zone. He was a national star for his portrayal of young Opie Taylor, the child of Sheriff Andy Taylor (played by Andy Griffith) in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show from 1960 through 1968. In this period the actor also appeared in the musical film The Music Man (1962) that was a commercial and critical huge success. Howard was recognized as Ronny Howard in his TV and film appearances from 1959 to 1973. Howard was part of one of the leading parts in the film about coming of age American Graffiti (1973), and became a household name for playing Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days, a role which he played from 1974 until 1980In the year 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 in addition to the romantic Willow (1988), the thriller Backdraft (1991) and the comedy-drama of newspapers The Paper (1994). Howard was widely appreciated and acknowledged in the 1995 docudrama historical Apollo 13 (1995). Howard continued to direct films, including the biographical film A Beautiful Mind (192001) and the biographical sport drama Cinderella Man (2006), the historical drama Frost/Nixon (2008) and the biographical sports drama Rush (2013). He also directed the historical action film In the Heart of the Sea (2015). Howard is also known for his work in directing the children's fantasy film How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) as well as the Robert Langdon series, The Da Vinci Code (2006) and Angels & Demons (2009). Inferno (2016) and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). Howard also directed The Beatles: Eight Days a Week (2016), Pavarotti (2019). Howard was nominated for Frost/Nixon's Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award For Best Picture for a Beautiful Mind. [2][3] In 2003, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. Howard was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2013. Howard has two stars on Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to the motion picture and television industries.