Clinton Engle Howard (born April 20, 1959) is an American actor. He is the second son born to American actors Rance and Jean Howard, and younger brother of actor and director Ron Howard. His 200-plus acting credits include feature films such as The Waterboy and Apollo 13, as well as television series, such as Gentle Ben, The Baileys of Balboa, The Cowboys, My Name Is Earl, and several entries in the Star Trek franchise. He has appeared in many films directed by his brother, Ron, and had a small role in the 1967 animated film The Jungle Book. He is lead singer of his own band, The Kempsters, and also makes custom snow globes.
Howard began his career when he was two, appearing in five episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, then starring his older brother Ron. He played Leon, a toddler in a cowboy outfit who wandered around Mayberry and silently offered people a bite of his sandwich, to which they would respond, "No thanks, Leon".[1] Other early notable roles include his appearance on The Streets of San Francisco in the episode entitled "The House on Hyde Street", and The Virginian as Tommy, the proud owner of a new litter of pups in the episode entitled "Melanie".
In 1963, Howard appeared in the ABCmedical dramaBreaking Point in the role of four-year-old Mikey in the episode "The Gnu, Now Almost Extinct". He also played little Billy Taft, the nephew of Dr. Richard Kimble, in the season one episode of The Fugitive, "Home is the Hunted" (1964).
In 1966, he appeared as the powerful but childlike alien Balok in "The Corbomite Maneuver," a season one episode of Star Trek: The Original Series (although not the first episode broadcast, it was the first episode of season one to be produced after the pilot episodes). He briefly reprised the character in 2006 on Comedy Central's roast of William Shatner.
As a nod to Howard's prominent place in Star Trek culture, he played a part in Star Trek director J. J. Abrams' series Fringe: in the season one episode "The Road Not Taken", as a man who thought he was the son of Sarek of Vulcan. He discussed a fictitious plot by Romulans from the future, much like the one in Abrams' own Star Trek film. (In the next episode, Leonard Nimoy was revealed to be the mysterious character he was discussing.)
In 2003, Howard played Johnny Bark on Arrested Development in the season one episode "Key Decisions", which was produced and narrated by his brother, Ron. He was seen in an episode of Married... with Children as a creepy janitor. He played a car thief/murderer Tobias Lehigh Nagy in the season four Seinfeld episode "The Trip". Howard played Creepy Rodney in the season one My Name Is Earl episode "Stole a Badge", and he was a guest star in the season three episode of the NBC show Heroes "I Am Sylar".[3][4]
In 2024, Howard appeared on the CBS soap The Bold and the Beautiful as Tom Starr, a homeless man who turned his life around, only to be murdered.
Film
In his film debut The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963), he played a child party guest standing on a table at his birthday party.
Howard also played Sheriff Purdy in The Missing (2003), Lloyd Davis in Frost/Nixon (2008), Herbert Trimpy in The Dilemma, and Paul Lucas in the episodes "Spider" and "We Interrupt This Program" of the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, which was produced by Ron.
In 1981, Howard formed The Kempsters, a new waverock and roll group that was composed mostly of his friends who were neighbors with him on Kemp Street. The band played regularly at Madame Wong's West. The band retired in 1983. Although The Kempsters never released an album while together, Howard has recently begun distributing No Brains At All, a CD[citation needed] featuring four tracks the band recorded in various studios, and seven tracks recorded live on October 17, 1982, at Madame Wong's West.
Personal life
Howard has been married three times. After a short courtship, Howard married Ann Marie Lynch in 1988.[6] He filed for divorce after less than a year of marriage. The couple had no children.
Howard's second marriage, in 1995, was to Melanie Sorich. He filed for legal separation in 2015, and their divorce was finalized in 2018. The couple had no children.[7]
On July 1, 2020, Howard married Kat C. Cruz, at a private service in Las Vegas. They have a daughter.[8]
Howard was an avid golfer who played 150 rounds a year from 1990 until hip replacements forced him to quit.[9][10]
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