William Howard Popular Books

William Howard Biography & Facts

Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six decade career, Howard has received two Academy Awards, four Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2003 and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2013. Howard has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions in film and television.Howard first came to prominence as a child actor, acting in several television series before gaining national attention for playing young Opie Taylor, the son of Sheriff Andy Taylor (played by Andy Griffith) in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show from 1960 through 1968. During this time, he also appeared in the musical film The Music Man (1962), a critical and commercial success. Howard was cast in one of the lead roles in the influential coming-of-age film American Graffiti (1973), and became a household name for playing Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days (1974–1980). He starred in the films The Spikes Gang (1974), The Shootist (1976), and Grand Theft Auto (1977), the latter being his directorial film debut. In 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 well as the fantasy Willow (1988), the thriller Backdraft (1991), and the newspaper comedy-drama film The Paper (1994). Howard went on to win the Academy Award for Best Director and Academy Award for Best Picture for A Beautiful Mind (2001) and was nominated again for the same awards for Frost/Nixon (2008). Howard also directed other historical dramas such as Apollo 13 (1995), Cinderella Man (2005), Rush (2013), In the Heart of the Sea (2015) and Thirteen Lives (2022). He also directed the children's fantasy film How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), the comedy The Dilemma (2011), and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), as well as the Robert Langdon film series: The Da Vinci Code (2006), Angels & Demons (2009), Inferno (2016). Howard has gained recognition for directing numerous documentary films such as The Beatles: Eight Days a Week (2016), Pavarotti (2019), and We Feed People (2022). Early life Ron Howard was born on March 1, 1954, in Duncan, Oklahoma, the elder son of Jean Speegle, an actress, and Rance Howard, a director, writer, and actor. He is of German, English, Scottish, Irish, and Dutch ancestry. His father was born with the surname "Beckenholdt" and took the stage name "Howard" in 1948 for his acting career. Rance Howard was serving three years in the United States Air Force at the time of Ron's birth.Howard was tutored at Desilu Studios in his younger years but continued his schooling at Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary and David Starr Jordan Junior High when not working in television, eventually graduating from John Burroughs High School. He later attended the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts but did not graduate. Howard has said he knew from a young age he might want to go into directing, thanks to his early experience as an actor. Acting career In 1959, Howard had his first credited film role in The Journey. He appeared in June Allyson's CBS anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson in the episode "Child Lost"; in The Twilight Zone episode "Walking Distance"; a few episodes of the first season of the sitcom Dennis the Menace, as Stewart, one of Dennis's friends; and several first- and second-season episodes of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. Howard played "Timmy" (uncredited) in "Counterfeit Gun", Season 4, Episode 2 (1960) of the TV series, The Cheyenne Show. The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) In 1960, Howard was cast as Opie Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show. Credited as "Ronny Howard," he portrayed the son of the main character (played by Andy Griffith) for all eight seasons of the show. Recalling his experiences as a child actor on set, he commented I was five years old. And I was preoccupied with the prop that was in my hand, because it was a toy turtle. But I had to pretend it was a real turtle that the audience just wasn't seeing, and it was dead, so I was supposed to be crying and very emotional, and I remember him looking at that little turtle and talking to me about how it was kind of funny to have to pretend that was dead. So I recall just a very relaxed first impression. The sitcom was known for its old-fashioned wholesome quality. Even though it was set in a contemporary time period it evoked a mood of a different era from that of the 1960s. The series also starred Don Knotts, Frances Bavier and Jim Nabors. It received numerous nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards including three Outstanding Comedy Series nominations which it lost to The Jack Benny Show in 1961, The Bob Newhart Show in 1962, and The Monkees in 1967. Happy Days (1974–1984) A role in an installment of series Love, American Style, titled "Love and the Television Set", led to his being cast as Richie Cunningham in the TV series Happy Days (for syndication, the segment was re-titled "Love and the Happy Days"). Beginning in 1974, he played the likable "buttoned-down" boy, in contrast to Henry Winkler's "greaser" Arthur "Fonzie"/"The Fonz" Fonzarelli. On the Happy Days set, he developed an on- and off-screen chemistry with Winkler. Howard left Happy Days to become a film director just before the start of its eighth season in 1980, but returned for guest appearances in the show's eleventh season (1983-1984). Additional acting roles In the 1962 film version of The Music Man, Howard played Winthrop Paroo, the child with the lisp; the film starred Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, and Buddy Hackett. The film was based on the 1957 musical of the same name by Meredith Willson. The film was directed by Morton DaCosta who previously helmed the 1958 film Auntie Mame starring Rosalind Russell. The film was a critical and commercial success becoming the third highest-grossing film of that year. The film went on to receive six Academy Award nominations including for Best Picture. He also starred in the 1963 film The Courtship of Eddie's Father with Glenn Ford and Jones. He guest-starred as Tommy in the twelfth episode of the first season of The Big Valley and he appeared as Barry Stewart on The Eleventh Hour in 1965; on I Spy in the 1966 episode "Little Boy Lost"; as Henry Fonda's son in an ABC series, The Smith Family, in 1968; as Jodah in Land of the Giants in 1969; as a boy whose father was shot on Daniel Boone in 1971–72; and as an underage Marine on M*A*S*H in the episode "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet" in 1973. In the 1970s, he appeared in at least one episode of The Bold Ones, as a teenage tennis player with an illness. Howard appeared on the 1969 Disneyland Records album The Story and Song from th.... Discover the William Howard popular books. Find the top 100 most popular William Howard books.