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Biography
Ron Howard was born the son of Jean and Rance Howard, both
of whom were no strangers to show business, and from a very
young age, Ron knew he wanted to be an actor. When he was
six, he won his first big acting role as Andy Griffith's son,
Opie Taylor, in "The Andy Griffith Show".
It wasn't long before Ron was bitten by the directors' bug.
He received a video camera as a birthday present from the
cast of the "Andy Griffith" show and made his first
movie, a cops and robbers film featuring his dad, Rance, and
his younger brother Clint (star of the television show "Gentle
Ben").
After many guest appearances on "Gentle Ben" and
a short-lived series, "The Smith Family", Ron decided
to quit acting to play basketball. His family supported his
decision, as acting was always his choice, and they never
forced it upon him.
Ron soon began dating Cheryl Alley, his first love, who he
dated exclusively throughout high school. In the meantime,
he realized that he didn't have much of a future as a basketball
star--he was only 5'9, and wasn't getting any taller. He decided
to give acting another try.
Ron auditioned for a pilot, for which he got the leading
role, as "Richie Cunningham". The pilot was called
"A New Family in Town" and was produced by Gary
Marshall. It was set in the 1950's. Unfortunately, the pilot
did not sell as a series, and ended up being broadcast as
an episode of "Love and the Happy Days." Though
this pilot didn't take off, it changed Ron's career forever.
George Lucas was planning on doing a film entitled "American
Graffiti" that was set in the 1950's. The plot was about
a group of newly graduated high school kids on their last
night before they all went there separate ways. Ron was chosen
for the movie due to his performance in Gary Marshall's pilot.
"American Graffiti" turned out to be a huge success,
and brought about a new nostalgic interest in the 1950's era.
Gary Marshall decided to make another pilot, still using Ron
as "Richie Cunningham". This time, the pilot was
a success--the television show "Happy Days" was
born.
In 1974, the first year that "Happy Days" was on
the air, Ron married his long time girlfriend, Cheryl Alley.
He continued with "Happy Days" for six years, and
then left the show to pursue his dream of directing. His first
attempt at directing was in the movie "Grand Theft Auto",
of which he and his father Rance co-wrote the script.
Ron soon became known as one of the best directors in Hollywood,
and still is. Some off his movies include "Splash",
"Backdraft", and "EdTV". Ron does not
act anymore, but is still directing. He only directs one movie
a year however, so that he has time to spend with his family.
He is known in the movie industry as being the nicest guy
in Hollywood.
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