Ron Howard filmography

Howard in 2011

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).

Filmography

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

Feature film

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	No	[22]

Producer only

• Clean and Sober (1988)
• The Chamber (1996)
• Inventing the Abbotts (1997)
• The Alamo (2004)
• Curious George (2006)
• Changeling (2008)
• Restless (2011)
• Cowboys & Aliens (2011)
• The Good Lie (2014)
• The Dark Tower (2017)
• Tick, Tick... Boom! (2021)
• The Beanie Bubble (2023)

Executive producer only

• Leo and Loree (1980)
• No Man's Land (1987)
• Vibes (1988)
• The 'Burbs (1989)
• The Doors (1991) (Uncredited)
• Closet Land (1991)
• Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey! (2010)
• Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle (2015)
• Backdraft 2 (2019)
• Wedding Season (2022)

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

Documentary film

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

Television

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"

See also

• Ron Howard's unrealized projects

References

1. "Grand Theft Auto". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
2. "Night Shift". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
3. "Splash". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
4. "Cocoon". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
5. "Gung Ho". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
6. "Willow". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
7. "Parenthood". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
8. "Backdraft". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
9. "Far and Away". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
10. "The Paper". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
11. "Apollo 13". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
12. "Ransom". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
13. "EDtv". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
14. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
15. "A Beautiful Mind". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
16. "The Missing". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
17. "Cinderella Man". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
18. "Frost/Nixon". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
19. "Ron Howard on Career Highs, Self-Doubts and 'Hillbilly Elegy' Author J.D. Vance: "I Was Surprised by Some of the Positions He's Taken"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
20. "The True History Behind Ron Howard's 'Thirteen Lives'". The Smithsonian. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
21. Wiseman, Andreas; Fleming Jr, Mike (May 14, 2023). "Ron Howard's Survival Thriller 'Origin Of Species' Lines Up Starry Cast With Ana De Armas, Jude Law, Alicia Vikander & Daniel Brühl, AGC Joins Hot Pic For Cannes Market". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 5, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
22. "Ron Howard's First Animated Film 'The Shrinking Of Treehorn' Heading To Netflix". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
23. Carey, Matthew (March 30, 2022). "Ron Howard, Brian Grazer Team For Documentary On Jim Henson, With Full Participation Of Muppet Creator's Family". Deadline.
24. Deadline Fifth Season Team On Feature Docu Slate, Ron Howard Helms Pic On Photog Richard Avedon, Lawrence Kasdan Directs One On Martin Short January 22, 2024

External links

• Ron Howard filmography at IMDb