Ron Howard Movies: 12 Notable Ron Howard Films

Ron Howard is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker and actor whose Hollywood career spans more than six decades. Born in Oklahoma, Ron moved to Los Angeles as a young boy with his parents, who worked in entertainment. As a child actor, his portrayal of Opie in The Andy Griffith Show and later, Richie Cunningham in Happy Days launched him into every living room in the United States. As an adult, Ron directed films such as Apollo 13 and Frost/Nixon.

The filmmaker has been married to actor Cheryl Howard since 1975. The couple has four children, including fellow actors Bryce Dallas Howard and Paige Howard.

In his twenties, Ron Howard moved behind the camera after starring in Eat My Dust!, an action-comedy that filmmaker Roger Corman produced. Wanting to pivot his career, Howard asked Corman if he could direct the follow-up, Grand Theft Auto, in addition to starring in the film. Released in 1977, Grand Theft Auto marked Ron Howard’s directorial debut.

Almost a decade later, Ron Howard founded his own production company, Imagine Entertainment, with producer Brian Grazer. Ron went on to develop an extensive directorial résumé, seeing success both with critics and at the box office. His projects include EDtv, Hillbilly Elegy, Night Shift, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Cocoon, The Paper, Willow, and the beloved TV series Arrested Development. He also directed the documentaries The Beatles: Eight Days a Week and Pavarotti.

Ron won two Oscars—Best Director and Best Picture—for his 2001 movie A Beautiful Mind.

Ron Howard’s impressive body of work and box office successes have made him a Hollywood legend. Among his feature films are:

1. 1. Hillbilly Elegy (2020): Starring Amy Adams and Glen Close, Hillbilly Elegy is a Netflix film based on a 2016 memoir of the same name by J.D. Vance. The movie depicts rural America. It follows Vance, a Yale law student, who puts his studies on pause to deal with a complicated family dynamic in Ohio.
2. 2. Rush (2013): The movie focuses on the intense rivalry between two real-life Formula One drivers, Niki Lauda, played by Daniel Brühl, and James Hunt, played by Chris Hemsworth (who also appears in Ron’s 2015 film In the Heart of the Sea).
3. 3. Frost/Nixon (2008): Based on a Peter Morgan play, the acclaimed film Frost/Nixon explores a series of 1977 interviews between US President Richard Nixon and British journalist David Frost. At the center of the movie’s storyline is the Watergate scandal, which led to Nixon’s resignation from office in 1974. Michael Sheen (who portrayed Frost) and Frank Langella (who portrayed Nixon) reprised their roles after starring in stage productions of Frost/Nixon.
4. 4. The Da Vinci Code (2006): Inspired by the best-selling novel of the same name by Dan Brown, the mystery thriller The Da Vinci Code stars Tom Hanks as Harvard University professor Robert Langdon, who combs Europe for a religious artifact. The film blends fact with fiction about historical figures and events as Langdon relies on his intellect to solve numerous ciphers and other puzzles. Ron Howard also directed the sequel, Angels & Demons (2009).
5. 5. Cinderella Man (2005): In this biographical drama, Russell Crowe plays James J. Braddock, a world heavyweight boxing champion who makes a comeback after a hand injury had forced him to temporarily give up the sport. Set in New York at the dawn of the Great Depression, Cinderella Man also stars Renée Zellweger as Braddock’s wife and Paul Giamatti as the boxer’s manager.
6. 6. A Beautiful Mind (2001): The biopic A Beautiful Mind focuses on the true story of mathematician John Nash, who had paranoid schizophrenia. Based on Sylvia Nasar’s biography of the same name, the film follows the career of Nash (portrayed by Russell Crowe) from his studies at Princeton to his recognition as a Nobel Laureate in economics.
7. 7. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000): Based on the beloved Dr. Seuss book, this fantasy-comedy is narrated by Anthony Hopkins and stars Jim Carrey as the titular grump.
8. 8. Apollo 13 (1995): The award-winning drama Apollo 13 dramatizes NASA’s 1970 lunar mission as recounted in a 1994 book by astronaut Jim Lovell (portrayed by Tom Hanks in the film) and author Jeffrey Kluger. While en route to the moon, an onboard explosion forces the Apollo 13 crew to cancel the moon landing and instead find a way to return to Earth safely.
9. 9. Far and Away (1992): This Western adventure-romance stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman as Irish immigrants seeking a life in the United States. The film is set in Oklahoma around the time of the Land Run of 1893.
   
10. 10. Backdraft (1991): In the thriller Backdraft, a group of Chicago firefighters—played by Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, and Robert De Niro—try to stop a serial arsonist while grappling with the dangers of their job. The film’s sound, sound effects editing, and visual effects all received Oscar nominations.
    
11. 11. Parenthood (1989): The comedy-drama Parenthood features an ensemble cast including Steve Martin, Keanu Reeves, and Joaquin Phoenix. The film follows the extended family of Midwestern sales executive Gil Buckman (played by Steve Martin), as he and those around him struggle with being the best parents possible.
12. 12. Splash (1984): In the fantasy-romantic comedy Splash, Tom Hanks plays Allen, a New Yorker who falls in love with Madison, a woman who is secretly a mermaid, played by Daryl Hannah. After Madison’s identity is revealed, she is captured by government scientists and Allen must find a way to free her. Splash was the first film released by Walt Disney Studios’ Touchstone Pictures.

Ron Howard has acted in films and TV shows since age 4. Some of the characters he has portrayed include:

1. 1. The Narrator in Arrested Development (2003-2019): Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment produced the Fox sitcom Arrested Development about the Bluth family, and Ron provides voiceover throughout the series.
2. 2. Sam Freeman in Grand Theft Auto (1977): Ron Howard cast himself as the lead alongside actor Nancy Morgan as Paula Powers in the action-comedy Grand Theft Auto, his feature film directorial debut. When Sam and Paula try to elope to Las Vegas, they encounter many humorous setbacks along the way.
3. 3. Gillom Rogers in The Shootist (1976): Gillom Rogers is the teenage assistant to a creamery owner in this Western based on a book by the same name.
4. 4. Richie Cunningham in Happy Days (1974-1984): Written to be the quintessential American teenager of the 1950s, Richie Cunningham is the main character of Happy Days, which also starred Henry Winkler as Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli.
5. 5. Steve Bolander in American Graffiti (1973): Recent high school graduate Steve is at the center of American Graffiti, George Lucas’s coming-of-age movie set in 1960s California, which follows a group of friends on the last night of their summer before college. Steve also appears in the sequel, More American Graffiti (1979).
6. 6. Winthrop Paroo in The Music Man (1962): In the film version of the classic musical The Music Man, Winthrop Paroo is a young boy with a lisp who wants to learn to play music on his new cornet.
7. 7. Opie Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968): Opie is the son of actor Andy Griffith’s character, Andy Taylor, who is the sheriff of the fictional town of Mayberry.
8. 8. Billy Rhinelander in The Journey (1959): Howard’s first credited acting role is in The Journey, a film about a woman who falls in love with a Communist officer while trying to escape the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

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