The Untold Truth Of Ron Howard

Ron Howard has refused to put himself in a box, and his willingness to push boundaries and try new things has led to an impressive career as both an actor and director. He got his foot in the door as a child actor when he landed his very first role in the film The Journey, and after appearing in minor roles on TV shows like The Twilight Zone and Dennis the Menace, he got his big break playing Opie in The Andy Griffith Show. He later went on to play Richie Cunningham in the popular sitcom Happy Days.

After years of working as an actor, Howard decided that he wanted to be on the other side of the camera, and in his early twenties, he became a director. Today, the man known for his down-to-earth mannerisms and his signature baseball hat is a two-time Academy Award winner for his film A Beautiful Mind, and he has directed several other critically acclaimed films, including Frost/Nixon, Apollo 13, and Rush. But what made Howard decide to become a director? What are his secrets to success? And did he ever consider leaving show business? Let's dig into a few lesser-known facts about Ron Howard.

Howard wasn't a troublemaker in school, but he did struggle in a traditional classroom. A typical year involved being tutored on set for about six months, and then spending a few months in school. Howard thrived when he was learning one-on-one with his tutor, Catherine Barton, and he still remembers her lessons about poetry and literature to this day — but he often had trouble keeping up in a classroom with other kids. And while he was playing catch-up on assignments, his fellow classmates were either asking him for autographs or making fun of him, which proved distracting.

"The kids tended to — I wouldn't say ostracize me — but to make me uneasy because there'd always be two or three weeks where every day at school was more like some kind of a personal appearance where I was at everybody's disposal," Howard told the Academy of Achievement. He explained, "I wasn't a person. I was this sort of image from TV that they now had at their disposal. It was kind of strange."

While Howard was working on The Andy Griffith Show, his father Rance was very much involved with his career – he wanted to make sure that his son was safe and happy on set, and he also wanted to give his input to make the show the best it could be. He occasionally found himself getting frustrated with the portrayal of the father-son relationship between Opie and his dad, Sheriff Andy Taylor. Sure, it was funny watching Opie sass back to Andy sometimes, but Rance wondered if their relationship could be more realistic, and he suggested as much to Andy Griffith himself. As a result, the showrunners decided to base Opie and Andy's relationship on Rance and Ron's relationship going forward, and Rance got involved with the writing process.

This is how Rance ended up writing Ron's favorite episode of the show, titled "The Ball Game." Sheriff Andy has to umpire a baseball game between the kids from Mayberry and a team from a neighboring city — but he feels conflicted, because Opie is on the Mayberry team. During the game, Andy calls Opie out on a play that could have handed the victory to Mayberry, sparking an argument with Opie and the rest of the town on one side and Andy on the other.

When you look at Howard's extensive filmography, it can seem like his style is tough to pin down. He doesn't tend to stick with any particular genre. Although he got his start in comedy, he's also directed documentaries like Pavarotti, historical dramas like In The Heart of the Sea, thrillers like The Da Vinci Code, and even the Christmas movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Howard says that this is no accident — early on in his career as a director, he made a strategic choice to work on films in a wide variety of genres so that he could never be pigeonholed.

"As an actor, I had great experiences, I enjoyed it. But I was limited as an actor, and I got typecast," Howard admitted in an interview with the Independent. "I didn't want to fall into that pattern as a storyteller. I always had a curiosity about the way the world works: human interactions, the way we rise to challenges, how we define ourselves at work, what matters most in our personal lives."

Throughout his years in Hollywood, Howard has seen his share of successes and failures, and in such a tumultuous and unpredictable industry, he has found that working with reliable people is the key to releasing films he's truly proud of. In 1981, Howard began working with producer Brian Grazer, and the two have since partnered up to release films like Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Frost/Nixon, and Splash. In 1986, they formed the film and television production company Imagine Entertainment. With a trustworthy partnership, Howard knows that even if one of their films happens to flop, they'll still be willing to sign on to projects together again in the future. 

"We really rely upon each other because it often feels emotionally dangerous in the business. You are always setting yourself up to fail," Howard told the Academy of Achievement. "Most shows and movies don't quite live up to expectations. There's a degree of disappointment that goes along with almost every project that you get involved with. It's important to be working with people you really trust." Recently, Howard and Grazer also launched a startup accelerator through Imagine Entertainment, with the goal of supporting new creative talent and bringing more diversity to Hollywood.

Howard became interested in acting and directing because of his parents' example and support — and two of his own children have also chosen to follow the same career path. Howard's daughters, Paige Carlyle Howard and Bryce Dallas Howard, are both actresses, with Bryce also venturing into directing. When they were kids, Howard would let his kids tag along with him and check out the action on set. Sometimes, they even appeared on screen — Bryce was an extra in Howard's film Parenthood. But when they acted up at home, set privileges could be revoked, which meant that the Howard kids dreaded getting grounded!

"Like, when I would be grounded, they would ground me from the set, because they knew, like, I did not want to risk that!" Bryce said in an interview with CBS News. "And I remember, one time I was like, 'You're ruining my life! How could you do this to me?'" Howard said that he learned all about parenting and fair discipline from his own dad, who taught him to be conscious about following through with his word.

Ever since he was young, Howard always knew that he would have to work hard to make it in Hollywood — even if he did come from a family with connections in show business. "I don't think I've ever assumed it was going to go on forever unless I kept earning my way, earning my keep, maybe even to a neurotic extent. I never want to coast on past performances," Howard told the Academy of Achievement. "It's probably one of the reasons why I wanted to become a director, because I wanted to be able to control those opportunities so I could keep doing good work."

Even today, Howard still considers himself a workaholic. He admits that sometimes, he only takes four days off after wrapping up one film before he starts working on the next. He believes that he got his strong work ethic from his father, who continued working well after most of his peers had retired, simply because he never wanted to miss out on a great opportunity. And Howard certainly isn't slowing down any time soon. Recently, he balanced working on the documentary Rebuilding Paradise with directing the film adaptation of JD Vance's autobiography Hillbilly Elegy. Naturally, he's already got two more films lined up: a biopic of famous pianist Lang Lang and the drama Thirteen Lives, which will tell the story of the Tham Luang cave rescue in 2018.