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Ronald William "Ron" Howard, who lives in Greenwich, turns 62 on Tuesday. The movie director, producer and actor was born March 1, 1954, in Duncan, Okla.
In 1959 while a child actor, Howard had his first credited film role in "The Journey" and also appeared in June Allyson's CBS anthology series "The DuPont Show with June Allyson."
He came to prominence playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom "The Andy Griffith Show" for eight years, and later the teenage Richie Cunningham in the sitcom "Happy Days" for six years.
He appeared in the films such as "The Music Man" in 1962, "American Graffiti" in 1973, and "The Shootist" in 1976, the latter during his run on "Happy Days."
Howard made his directorial debut with the 1977 comedy "Grand Theft Auto," and left "Happy Days" in 1980 to focus on movie directing. His films include "Cocoon," "Apollo 13," "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "A Beautiful Mind," which earned him the Academy Award for best director.
In 2002, he conceived the idea for the Fox/Netflix series "Arrested Development," on which he also serves as producer and narrator, and plays a semi-fictionalized version of himself.
In 2003, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. Asteroid 12561 Howard is named after him. In 2013, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.
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