Ron Howard has been a famous name for almost as long as he has been alive—70 years! He has had a successful career in film and TV that started when he was just a toddler.
Besides his impressive career, Ron Howard has also had a long-lasting marriage. He has been married to his wife Cheryl for nearly 50 years.
Keep reading to learn more about Ron Howard’s amazing career and his long marriage!
Ron Howard was born on March 1, 1954, in Duncan, Oklahoma. From a very young age, it was clear he was destined for Hollywood greatness. At just 18 months old, he appeared in his first film, Frontier Woman. When he was two years old, he made his stage debut in the play The Seven Year Itch.
Soon after, the freckle-faced redhead began his celebrity career with a role on The Andy Griffith Show from 1960 to 1968.
In this show, little Ron Howard played Opie, the son of Andy Griffith’s character. During this time, Ron had the full support of his parents, who both worked in the entertainment industry.
Ron Howard remembers a conversation he had with his parents years ago. They said, “Remember how we always said, ‘You can do it if you want, but you don’t have to?’ Well, if you start this, you can’t quit.” They explained that he didn’t have to take other roles, but if he started this one, he had to keep doing it.
Ron Howard understood what his parents were trying to tell him. He says, “I think it was pretty clear at that point that I was enjoying it, and I was good at it.”
And he really was great at it! He was about to reach an even higher level of fame.
While he was starring in The Andy Griffith Show, Ron also appeared in the 1962 musical film The Music Man, which was a huge hit.
With his natural talent, Ron went on to star in the 1973 film American Graffiti. This movie also featured stars like Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss, and Cindy Williams, who he would work with again in the future.
In 1974, Ron Howard was cast as Richie Cunningham in a new TV series created by Garry Marshall called Happy Days. The show became a big hit and was on TV from 1974 to 1984, reaching homes around the world.
Happy Days also led to some popular spin-offs, including Laverne & Shirley, which starred Cindy Williams and Garry Marshall’s sister Penny Marshall, and Mork & Mindy, featuring Robin Williams as the lovable alien Mork.
Before he won a Golden Globe for his role as Richie Cunningham, Ron Howard met his high school sweetheart, Cheryl Alley, in 1970. They got married in 1975.
“I met her, and there was never anybody else,” Speaking with People, the director of the Da Vinci Code continued, “She’s unbelievably supportive and always has been. Our compatibility has endured through all kinds of experiences.”
After 50 years of shared experiences, Howard, who earned an Oscar for directing A Beautiful Mind, commemorated the 50th anniversary of his first date with Cheryl on Instagram.
“Nov 1 1970 Cheryl & I went on our 1st date,” he wrote alongside a photo of himself wearing socks with images of Cheryl’s face. “We went to see a re-release of Stanley Kramer’s It’s a Mad Mad Mad World and then got some pizza at now defunct Barnone’s in Toluca Lake. Quite a start, right?”
He also shared their plans that day, “We’ll be driving in the same ‘70 VW Bug I picked Cheryl up in 5 decades ago. It runs great. So do we.”
Cheryl made several cameos in Howard’s projects and even played herself on the TV comedy series Arrested Development, produced and narrated by Howard.
Speaking with the Television Academy, Ron called Cheryl his “good luck charm,” and explained that is why she appears in every film he makes.
“At a certain point, I became very superstitious about making sure that she appears, that she’s at least identifiable in one frame,” he said. “They don’t have to be big cameos, but she’s gotta be in there.”
In addition to bringing her husband some luck, Cheryl is also a published author who holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in screenwriting.
The power couple are grandparents to six children and the parents of four, daughter Bryce, twins Paige and Jocelyn and son Reed.
Bryce – a recognizable actor – is known for roles in movies like Jurassic World and The Help, while Paige made her feature film debut in the 2009 movie Adventureland. Since she’s appeared in films The Employer and Collection.
Reed is a professional golfer and Paige’s twin sister Jocelyn is very private.
Nearing their 49th anniversary on June 7, the Emmy Award-winning producer shares that “communication” is the secret to their enduring love.
People say, ‘How’d you do it?’ There’s no technique,” Howard tells People. “There’s no tactic, other than communication is really important. You have to learn to communicate and have difficult conversations in constructive ways. Beyond that, there’s an element of luck because people either grow together or they don’t and I don’t think you can force that.”
Mom Gets Harsh Criticism After Naming Her Daughter After A Disney Character
An Australian mom named Indy Clinton may only be twenty-five years old, but she knows what she wants when it comes to her newborn daughter’s name. After the 25-year-old mom from Sydney, Australia gave birth to her newborn daughter, she decided to name the child Bambi, after the classic Disney character and in honor of Molly-Mae Hague’s newborn child, Bambi – but lots of people online have shared their hatred for this chosen baby name and mom Indy Clinton doesn’t care one lick about their criticisms.
Indy skyrocketed to fame on the Chinese social media platform, TikTok, where she shares quirky videos that feature her sexy looks and her family. Clinton turned to TikTok to reveal that she could not “believe the coincidence” that she named her daughter Bambi after Love Islander Molly-Mae announced the same baby name on Instagram, revealing that she had named her baby daughter Bambi as well.
Indy has loved Disney’s movie Bambi since she was a little girl. She also purchased a copy of Bambi in a storybook, which she regularly reads to her 2-year-old son, Navy. Because she loved Bambi so much, it was only natural for the 25-year-old Aussie mom to name her newborn daughter after her favorite Disney character from the classic movie.
Originally, Indy planned to name her newborn daughter Paloma. However, she met the girl and was immediately struck by her “sweet, curious nature,” not to mention her “big, brown eyes.” She was immediately reminded of the Disney cartoon character and threw all her baby name plans out the window to name her child Bambi instead of Paloma.
Indy’s daughter is now four months old, but her extended family is still surprised that the TikTok mom chose to name her human child after a Disney cartoon baby deer.
“Four months ago, when I was giving birth, I was convinced Bambi was the most unique, unusual name that nobody would use.
“Good on Molly-Mae, though. It looks like great minds think alike. We were set on calling her Paloma at first. That was her name, and nothing was going to change that. But I was reading the book to Navy one night, and it came to me.”
The TikTok mom claimed that the moment she decided to name her newborn daughter after the Disney character was like lightning striking.
“I sat up and yelled, ‘what about Bambi?’ and from then on, it stuck.”
People have criticized Molly-Mae’s daughter’s name on social media. Although people are criticizing the same name that Indy chose for her daughter, now four months old, she doesn’t care if people don’t like it because she absolutely loves the Disney character name for her child.
“You know, unique names are the new trend,” the 25-year-old mom said. “Bambi is going to fit right in with the Rivers, Bears, Forests, Stormis, and Wolfs. I’d be more concerned calling my kid a name from the 1900s. People will criticize anything these days, so at least give them something to talk about.”
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