Ron Howard is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor.
He started his career portraying Opie, the son of Andy Taylor (played by Andy Griffith) in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show from 1960 through 1968 and Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days , a role he would play from 1974 to 1980. During this time, he also acted in films such as The Music Man (1962), American Graffiti (1973), and The Shootist (1976). Howard retired from acting in 1980.
He then shifted into directing comedies such as Night Shift (1982), Splash (1984), and Cocoon (1985) as well as the fantasy Willow (1988), the thriller Backdraft (1991), and the newspaper film The Paper (1994). He then transitioned into directing critically acclaimed dramas such as Apollo 13 (1995), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Cinderella Man (2005), Frost/Nixon (2008), Rush (2013), and In the Heart of the Sea (2015). Howard also directed the children's film How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) as well as the Robert Langdon film series, The Da Vinci Code (2006), Angels & Demons (2009), Inferno (2016), and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). He has also directed the documentary films The Beatles: Eight Days a Week (2016) and Pavarotti (2019).
Short film
Year | Title | Director | Producer | Actor | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1969 | Old Paint | No | Yes | No | Credited as Ronny Howard | |
Deed of Daring-Do | No | Yes | No | |||
Cards, Cads, Guns, Gore and Death | No | Yes | No | |||
2011 | The Death and Return of Superman | No | No | Yes | Max's Son | |
When You Find Me | Yes | No | No | |||
Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1977 | Grand Theft Auto | Yes | No | Yes | [1] |
1982 | Night Shift | Yes | No | No | [2] |
1984 | Splash | Yes | No | No | [3] |
1985 | Cocoon | Yes | No | No | [4] |
1986 | Gung Ho | Yes | Executive | No | [5] |
1988 | Willow | Yes | No | No | [6] |
1989 | Parenthood | Yes | No | Story | [7] |
1991 | Backdraft | Yes | No | No | [8] |
1992 | Far and Away | Yes | Yes | Story | [9] |
1994 | The Paper | Yes | No | No | [10] |
1995 | Apollo 13 | Yes | No | No | [11] |
1996 | Ransom | Yes | No | No | [12] |
1999 | EDtv | Yes | Yes | No | [13] |
2000 | How the Grinch Stole Christmas | Yes | Yes | No | [14] |
2001 | A Beautiful Mind | Yes | Yes | No | [15] |
2003 | The Missing | Yes | Yes | No | [16] |
2005 | Cinderella Man | Yes | Yes | No | [17] |
2006 | The Da Vinci Code | Yes | Yes | No | |
2008 | Frost/Nixon | Yes | Yes | No | [18] |
2009 | Angels & Demons | Yes | Yes | No | |
2011 | The Dilemma | Yes | Yes | No | |
2013 | Rush | Yes | Yes | No | |
2015 | In the Heart of the Sea | Yes | Yes | No | |
2016 | Inferno | Yes | Yes | No | |
2018 | Solo: A Star Wars Story | Yes | No | No | [19] |
2020 | Hillbilly Elegy | Yes | Yes | No | |
2022 | Thirteen Lives | Yes | Yes | No | [20] |
2024 | Eden | Yes | Yes | No | [21] |
TBA | The Shrinking of Treehorn | Yes | Yes | Story | [22] |
Producer only
Executive producer only
Acting roles
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1956 | Frontier Woman | Bit Part | Uncredited |
1959 | The Journey | Billy Rhinelander | Credited as Ronny Howard |
1959 | Walking Distance | Boy with marbles | |
1961 | Five Minutes to Live | Bobby | |
1962 | The Music Man | Winthrop Paroo | |
1963 | The Courtship of Eddie's Father | Eddie | |
1965 | Village of the Giants | Genius | |
1969 | Land of the Giants | Jodar | |
1970 | The Wild Country | Virgil Tanner | |
1973 | American Graffiti | Steve Bolander | |
Happy Mother's Day, Love George | Johnny | ||
1974 | The Spikes Gang | Les Richter | |
1976 | The First Nudie Musical | Auditioning actor | Uncredited |
Eat My Dust! | Hoover Niebold | ||
The Shootist | Gillom Rogers | ||
1977 | Grand Theft Auto | Sam Freeman | |
1979 | More American Graffiti | Steve Bolander | |
1982 | Night Shift | Annoying Sax Player Boy Making Out with Girlfriend | Uncredited cameos |
1998 | Welcome to Hollywood | Himself | |
2000 | The Independent | Himself | |
How the Grinch Stole Christmas | Whoville Townsperson | Uncredited | |
2001 | Osmosis Jones | Tom Colonic | Voice role |
2011 | From Up on Poppy Hill | Philosophy Club's president | Voice role |
2016 | Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie | Himself | |
2022 | Scream | Principal Himbry (Stab) | Uncredited – image appearance |
Year | Title | Director | Producer | Himself |
---|---|---|---|---|
1992 | The Magical World of Chuck Jones | Yes | No | Yes |
1998 | One Vision | No | No | Yes |
1999 | Beyond the Mat | No | Yes | No |
2004 | Tell Them Who You Are | No | No | Yes |
2005 | Inside Deep Throat | No | uncredited | No |
2007 | In the Shadow of the Moon | No | No | Yes |
2012 | Katy Perry: Part of Me | No | Yes | No |
2013 | Made in America | Yes | No | Yes |
2016 | The Beatles: Eight Days a Week | Yes | Yes | No |
2019 | Pavarotti | Yes | Yes | No |
Dads | No | No | Yes | |
2020 | Rebuilding Paradise | Yes | Yes | No |
Breakthrough: Virus Fighters | Yes | Yes | No | |
2021 | Paper & Glue | No | Yes | No |
Julia | No | Yes | No | |
2022 | Lucy and Desi | No | Yes | No |
We Feed People | Yes | Yes | No | |
2024 | Jim Henson Idea Man [23] [24] | Yes | Yes | No |
Music by John Williams | No | Yes | Yes |
Year | Title | Director | Executive producer | Writer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1978 | Cotton Candy | Yes | No | Yes | TV movie |
1980 | Skyward | Yes | Yes | No | |
1981 | Through the Magic Pyramid | Yes | Yes | No | |
1983 | Littleshots | Yes | Yes | No | |
2017 | Genius | Yes | Yes | No | Pilot episode |
Producer only
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
1998 | From the Earth to the Moon | Miniseries |
1999 | Student Affairs | TV movie |
2000 | Wonderland | |
2015–present | Breakthrough | |
Executive producer
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
1981 | Skyward Christmas | TV movie |
1983 | When Your Lover Leaves | |
1984–1985 | Maximum Security | |
1985 | No Greater Gift | TV special |
Into Thin Air | TV movie | |
1986 | The Lone-Star Kid | |
1987 | Take Five | |
1988 | Poison | |
1999 | Mulholland Drive | |
1990–1991 | Parenthood | |
1998–2000 | Sports Night | |
1998–2002 | Felicity | |
1999–2001 | The PJs | |
2000 | Silicon Follies | TV movie |
2001 | The Beast | |
2003 | The Snobs | |
2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019 | Arrested Development | |
2006–present | Curious George | |
2010–2015 | Parenthood | |
2012 | The Great Escape | |
2014 | Unsung Heroes | TV documentary |
2016–2018 | Mars | |
2020 | 68 Whiskey | |
2021 | Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel | Documentary series |
Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer | ||
2022 | Under the Banner of Heaven | |
Light & Magic | Documentary series | |
Willow | ||
2023 | The Super Models | Documentary series |
The Slumber Party | TV Movie | |
2024 | The Truth About Jim | Documentary series |
I Am Not a Monster: The Lois Riess Murders | Documentary series |
Acting roles
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1959 | Johnny Ringo | Ricky Parrot | Episode: "The Accused" |
Five Fingers | — | Episode: "Station Break" | |
The Twilight Zone | Wilcox Boy | Episode: "Walking Distance" | |
The DuPont Show with June Allyson | Wim Wegless | Episode: "Child Lost" | |
Dennis the Menace | Stewart | 6 episodes | |
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis | Various roles | 4 episodes | |
General Electric Theater | Barnaby Baxter/Randy | 2 episodes: | |
Hennesey | Walker | Episode: "The Baby Sitter" | |
1960 | The Danny Thomas Show | Opie Taylor | Episode: "Danny Meets Andy Griffith" |
Cheyenne | Timmy | Episode: "Counterfeit Gun," uncredited | |
Pete and Gladys | Tommy | Episode: "The Goat Story" | |
1960–1968 | The Andy Griffith Show | Opie Taylor | Series regular, 243 episodes Credited as Ronny Howard |
1962 | Route 66 | Chet Duncan | Episode: "Poor Little Kangaroo Rat" |
The New Breed | Tommy Simms | Episode: "So Dark the Night" | |
1963 | The Eleventh Hour | Barry Stewart | Episode: "Is Mr. Martian Coming Back?" |
1964 | The Great Adventure | Daniel Waterhouse | Episode: "Plague" |
Dr. Kildare | Jerry Prentice | Episode: "A Candle in the Window" | |
The Fugitive | Gus | Episode: "Cry Uncle" | |
1965 | The Big Valley | Tommy | Episode: "Night of the Wolf" |
1966 | Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. | Opie Taylor | Episode: "Opie Joins the Marines" |
I Spy | Alan Loden | Episode: "Little Boy Lost" | |
1967 | The Monroes | Timothy Prescott | Episode: "Teaching the Tiger to Purr" |
Gentle Ben | Jody Cutler | Episode: "Green-Eyed Bear" | |
1968 | Mayberry R.F.D. | Opie Taylor | Episode: "Andy and Helen Get Married" |
The Archie Show | Archie Andrews | Early Pilot Cartoon | |
The F.B.I. | Jess Orkin | Episode: "The Runaways" | |
Lancer | Turk Caudle/Willy | 2 episodes | |
1969 | Judd for the Defense | Phil Beeton | Episode: "Between the Dark and the Daylight" |
Daniel Boone | Luke | Episode: "A Man Before His Time" | |
Gunsmoke | Jamie | Episode: "Charlie Noon" | |
Land of the Giants | Jodar | Episode: "Genius At Work" | |
1970 | Smoke | Chris | TV movie |
The Headmaster | Tony Landis | Season 1 - Episode 6 | |
Lassie | Gary | Episode: "Gary Here Comes Glory!" Part 1 & 2 | |
1971–1972 | The Smith Family | Bob Smith | |
1972 | Love, American Style | Richard "Richie" Cunningham | Episode: "Love and the Happy Days" |
The Bold Ones: The New Doctors | Cory Merlino | Episode: "Discovery at Fourteen" | |
Bonanza | Ted Hoag | Episode: "The Initiation" | |
1973 | M*A*S*H | Private Walter Wendell Peterson | Episode: "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet" |
1974 | The Waltons | Seth Turner | Episode: "The Gift" |
1974–1984 | Happy Days | Richard "Richie" Cunningham | |
1974 | Locusts | Donny Fletcher | TV movie |
The Migrants | Lyle Barlow | ||
1975 | Huckleberry Finn | Huckleberry Finn | |
1975–1981 | Insight | Connie/Joe | 2 episodes |
1976 | Laverne & Shirley | Richie Cunningham | 2 episodes |
I'm a Fool | Andy | TV movie | |
1980 | The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang | Richie Cunningham | Voice role, Episode: "King for a Day" |
Act of Love | Leon Cybulkowski | TV movie | |
1981 | Bitter Harvest | Ned De Vries | |
Fire on the Mountain | Lee Mackie | ||
1983 | When Your Lover Leaves | — | TV movie, Uncredited |
1986 | Return to Mayberry | Opie Taylor | TV movie |
1988 | Channel 99 | Himself | |
1998–1999 | The Simpsons | Himself | Voice role, 2 episodes |
1999 | Frasier | Stephen | Voice role, Episode: "Good Samaritan" |
2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019 | Arrested Development | Narrator (voice only) Self (8 episodes) | Series Regular, all seasons, uncredited; voice role Credited as Guest Star, 8 episodes across Seasons 3-5 |
2016 | The Odd Couple | Stanley | Episode: "Taffy Days" |
2017 | This Is Us | Himself | 3 Episodes |
2024 | Only Murders in the Building | Himself | Episode: "Escape From Planet Klongo" |
Ronald William Howard 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 multiple accolades, including two Academy Awards, six 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. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions in film and television.
Splash is a 1984 American romantic fantasy comedy film directed by Ron Howard, from a screenplay by Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel, and Bruce Jay Friedman, and a story by Friedman and producer Brian Grazer. The film stars Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, John Candy, and Eugene Levy. Its plot involves a young man who falls in love with a mysterious woman who is secretly a mermaid. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Anthony Wilford Brimley was an American actor. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and working odd jobs in the 1950s, Brimley started working as an extra and stuntman in Western films in the late 1960s. He became an established character actor in the 1970s and 1980s in films such as The China Syndrome (1979), The Thing (1982), Tender Mercies (1983), The Natural (1984), and Cocoon (1985). Brimley was known for playing characters at times much older than his age. He was the long-term face of American television advertisements for the Quaker Oats Company. He also promoted diabetes education and appeared in related television commercials for Liberty Medical, a role for which he became an Internet meme.
Richard Brooks was an American screenwriter, film director, novelist and film producer. Nominated for eight Academy Awards in his career, he was best known for Blackboard Jungle (1955), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Elmer Gantry, In Cold Blood (1967) and Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977).
Cocoon is a 1985 American science fiction comedy drama film directed by Ron Howard and written by Tom Benedek from a story by David Saperstein. The film stars Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Brian Dennehy, Jack Gilford, Steve Guttenberg, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy, Gwen Verdon, Herta Ware, Tahnee Welch, and Linda Harrison, and follows a group of elderly people rejuvenated by aliens.
Imagine Entertainment, formerly Imagine Films Entertainment, also known simply as Imagine, is an American film and television production company founded in November 1985 by producer Brian Grazer and director Ron Howard.
Brian Thomas Grazer is an American film and television producer. He founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with Ron Howard. The films they produced have grossed over $15 billion. Grazer was personally nominated for four Academy Awards for Splash (1984), Apollo 13 (1995), A Beautiful Mind (2001), and Frost/Nixon (2008). His films and TV series have been nominated for 47 Academy Awards and 217 Emmy Awards.
Clinton Engle Howard 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.
Rance Howard was an American actor who starred in film and on television. He was the father of actor and filmmaker Ron Howard and actor Clint Howard, and grandfather of actresses Bryce Dallas Howard and Paige Howard.
Dana Olsen is an American actor, film producer and screenwriter. He is the co-creator of the comedy television series Henry Danger alongside Dan Schneider. His written works include George of the Jungle, The 'Burbs and Inspector Gadget.
Marc "Babaloo" Mandel is an American writer and producer. He first wrote episodic television comedy, then transitioned to writing feature films and theatre. He and long-time writing partner Lowell Ganz wrote numerous high-profile films including Splash (1984), Parenthood (1989), City Slickers (1991), and A League of Their Own (1992).
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a 2000 American Christmas fantasy comedy film directed by Ron Howard, who also produced with Brian Grazer, from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. Based on Dr. Seuss's 1957 children's book of the same name, this marked the first Dr. Seuss book to be adapted into a full-length feature film. It is the first live-action adaptation and the second adaptation of the book, following the 1966 animated TV special.
Shawn Adam Levy is a Canadian filmmaker and actor. He is the founder of 21 Laps Entertainment. His work has spanned numerous genres, and his films as a director have grossed a collective $3.5 billion worldwide.
Peter A. Ramsey is an American illustrator, storyboard artist, and filmmaker. He is best known for directing DreamWorks Animation's Rise of the Guardians (2012), becoming the first African American to direct a major American animated film, and co-directing Sony Pictures Animation's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). For Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, he became the first African American to be nominated for and win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Donald William Peterman,ASC was an American cinematographer whose numerous feature film credits included Flashdance, Cocoon, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Point Break, and Men in Black. He was a regular collaborator of directors like Ron Howard, Ron Underwood and Barry Sonnenfeld. He was a two-time Academy Award nominee and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the American Society of Cinematographers since 1984.
Cinderella is a 2015 American romantic fantasy film directed by Kenneth Branagh from a screenplay by Chris Weitz. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Allison Shearmur Productions, Beagle Pug Films, and Kinberg Genre, it is a live-action remake of Disney's 1950 animated film Cinderella, itself an adaptation of Charles Perrault's 1697 fairy tale "Cinderella". Starring Lily James as the title character, the film features a supporting ensemble cast including Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden, Stellan Skarsgård, Holliday Grainger, Derek Jacobi, and Helena Bonham Carter.
The Grinch, also known as Dr. Seuss' The Grinch, is a 2018 American animated Christmas comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination, and distributed by Universal. The third screen adaptation of Dr. Seuss' 1957 book How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, following the 1966 television special and the 2000 live-action feature-length film, it is Illumination's second Dr. Seuss film adaptation, after The Lorax in 2012. The plot follows the Grinch, who plans to stop Whoville's Christmas celebration by stealing all the town's decorations and gifts, with his pet dog Max.
The following is a list of unproduced Ron Howard projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director Ron Howard has worked on several projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell in development hell, were officially cancelled, were in development limbo or would see life under a different production team.