Ron Howard: ''I wasn't really a Hollywood kid.''

"I have lots of memories of actually speaking up and having grown-ups accept my ideas."

CBS Television Distribution

A star since childhood, it's surprising that Ron Howard wasn't interested in the traditional celebrity lifestyle.

"I wasn't really a Hollywood kid too much, because I didn't really know any other Hollywood kids, and my parents didn't allow my time away from The Andy Griffith Show to be absorbed by promotional things," Howard said during an interview with The Washington Post.

"Somebody wanted to do an Opie line of boys' clothing, and I guess it would have been a fairly lucrative thing, but they wanted me to travel to different department stores. And my parents just said no," Howard continued. 

Howard's parents seemed to take special care to ensure that their son was raised as normally as possible. Still, Howard was able to discover a love of directing while on the set of The Andy Griffith Show, further cementing his career in film and television.

"If I didn't have to go back to school, I'd get to hang around with the rest of the cast while they would pitch story revisions, talk about strengthening characters, things like that," he said. "I have lots of memories of actually speaking up and having grown-ups accept my ideas." 

The lessons Howard learned as a child were carried with him into his career as a director. In fact, Howard said that he believed a collaborative environment only improves his ability as a director.

"I have a theory that as a director I should come in with a plan, a foundation," he said. "How I'm gonna shoot things, what needs to be accomplished, what we need to capture in the movie. And then I hope someone else will come up with something that will work within that plan."

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7 Comments

trogg888 2 months ago
Well in the early episodes Ron was one of the cutest child actors ever and a natural and he was no slouch in some of his dramatic roles after happy days.never really was a happy days fan.but he really shone as a director
CortneyNicole 2 months ago
Nice story of Ron Howard. First he was a childhood actor and now he was a film or a movie director.
Badge714 CortneyNicole 1 month ago
And now he's a far Leftist.
CortneyNicole Badge714 1 month ago
What dose that means?
edcrumpacker 2 months ago
Very interesting article.
Ron Howard's accomplishments speaks volumes about how he was raised.
Not many childhood actors make it as far as he did.
trogg888 edcrumpacker 2 months ago
He must have had quite a set of parents
edcrumpacker trogg888 2 months ago
Yes they were trogg88.
You should read the book "Brothers" written by Ron and Clint Howard. It's all about their upbringing, childhood and parents. And how Ron met his wife. Very interesting and an excellent read.
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