Ron was born in Oklahoma, into an acting family - his father had realized a boyhood dream of acting by attending the University of Oklahoma and majoring in drama, and his mother went through acting school in New York. He was in his first movie at 18 months, Frontier Woman (1956), although his first real part was at the age of 4. Soon a regular on "Playhouse 90" (1956) he was cast as Opie on "The Andy Griffith Show" (1960), and later moved from a child in Mayberry to America's teenager as Richie Cunningham in "Happy Days" (1974). The life of a child star is certainly not routine, but Ron's parents wanted his life to be as normal as possible - he attended public schools and at age 15 even took nine months off to play a basketball season. The transition from child actor to adult actor is always difficult, but for Ron the real transition was from child actor to adult director. There were some film roles, such as The Shootist (1976) for which he received a Golden Globe nomination, but his dream and now his focus was directing. He had begun shooting films at age 15 with a Super-8 camera, and after high school spent two years in a film program at the University of Southern California, but then left, feeling he could learn more from actual experience. That first film was the hardest to finance, but he struck a deal with Roger Corman - he would star in _Eat My Dust! (1976)_ and Corman would produce Grand Theft Auto (1977) which Howard would direct (he also wrote the script and starred). It was a success, and his directorial career was jump-started. Married since 1975 to his high school sweetheart, he, in 1997, is enjoying a life of telling stories as one of Hollywood's top directors.
Ron has become a successful director and producer of Oscar-caliber movies including A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Apollo 13 (1995). Throughout the '60s he was known to viewers as Opie Taylor, the young son on the folkys hit series The Andy Griffith Show (1960-68). During the '70s he was teenager Richie Cunningham on the '50s nostalgia TV series Happy Days (1974-80). He also had a film career, with notable roles as a boy -- 1962's The Music Man and 1963's The Courtship of Eddie's Father -- and as a young man, including American Graffiti (1972, directed by George Lucas) and The Shootist (1976, starring John Wayne). In the 1980s Howard stopped acting and began a respected career as a movie director and producer. His films include Night Shift (1984, with Michael Keaton); Splash (1984, starring Daryl Hannah); Cocoon (1986); Willow (1989); Parenthood (1991, with Steve Martin); Far and Away (1994, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman); Cinderella Man (2005, starring Russell Crowe); and The DaVinci Code (2006, based on bestseller by Dan Brown). A Beautiful Mind earned Howard an Oscar as best director; the film also won the Oscar as best picture and the best supporting actress award for Jennifer Connelly. Howard's production company, Imagine Entertainment (with Brian Grazer), has also backed several successful television shows, including Felicity (starring Keri Russell), 24 (starring Kiefer Sutherland) and Arrested Development.
