Ronald William Howard (born, March 1, 1954) is an actor and director from the United States who has won an Academy Award . He became famous in his youth as Richie Cunningham in the television series Happy Days , and after that in the teenage film George Lucas American Graffiti . After that he became a film director.
| Quick Facts | |
|---|---|
| Birthday | March 1, 1954 |
| Age | 70 years |
| Birth place | Duncan, Oklahoma, United States |
| Years active | 1956–present |
| Occupation | Director |
| Net worth | $4.298 billion |
Howard was born in Duncan , Oklahoma . Son of Jean Speegle Howard , an actress, and Rance Howard , director, writer, and actor. It has Dutch, Scottish, English, Irish, German and Czech ancestry. His younger brother, Clint Howard , is a renowned actor. He studied at the School of Cinematography at the University of Southern California , but failed to graduate.
He married actress and writer Cheryl Howard . He has had with her three daughters and one son: actress Bryce Dallas Howard (1981); two twins, Jocelyn Carlyle and Paige Carlyle; and Reed Cross. As Bryce Dallas Howard has stated, both his middle name and that of his sisters correspond to the cities in which they were conceived. His brother’s name, to a specific street.
Howard became known for playing Winthrop Paroo in the film version of The Music Man , with Robert Preston and Shirley Jones . After this project, he participated as Opie Taylor in the television series The Andy Griffith Show , which was the hit spin-off of The Danny Thomas Show , where he was credited as Ronny Howard. He also appeared in the film The Courtship of Eddie’s Father , with Glenn Ford . He also made a notable participation in the popular series M * A * S * H , playing a sailor in the Korean war .
When he was a child, he participated in the 1964 chapter Cry Uncle of the famous series of the 60s The fugitive with David Janssen and where he played the role of Gus an orphaned child who was in a farm / shelter. At that time he was known as Ronny Howard.
Howard is known for his role as Richie Cunningham in the Happy Days series . At the same time he participated in the George Lucas movie , American Graffiti , playing Steve Bollander. In 1977, he directed his first film, Grand Theft Auto .
After leaving Happy Days in 1980, he directed several television series. The leap to film director came in 1982 when he directed the hit film Night Shift with Michael Keaton , Shelley Long , and co – star of Happy Days , Henry Winkler .
He has directed many renowned films, such as Splash , Willow , Cocoon , Llamaradas (Backdraft) , Apollo 13 (nominated for several Academy Awards), A Beautiful Mind , for which he won the Oscar for Best Director, and Cinderella Man . His last two films were the film adaptations of The Da Vinci Code and its sequel Angels and demons , films of great cultural and religious controversy, starring Tom Hanks , who has worked on several productions of Howard: Splash (1984), Apollo 13 ( nineteen ninety five),The Vinci Code (2006), Angels and Demons (2009).
Vanity Fair published the list of the Top 40 Hollywood celebrities with more income throughout 2010. Howard along with Brian Grazer were ranked No. 23 on the list, earning an estimated $ 21 million for their films.