Photo: George Pimentel © WireImage.com

Born in Duncan, OK; educated at USC (Los Angeles). A showbiz veteran of over 30 years vintage, Howard experienced great success as a child actor in TV and film, a juvenile lead in TV, and a producer-director of successful Hollywood features in his maturity. As a filmmaker, he has been proven capable at handling light comic material, special effects sagas, and trans-generic family dramas. The son of actors Rance and Jean Howard, he made his first professional appearance at 18 months on stage with his parents in Baltimore. As a child and later teen actor, Howard was very much a "father's son" type: He first gained fame as Opie, the personable son of widowed Sheriff Andy Taylor on "The Andy Griffith Show" (CBS, 1960-68). He worked in features during breaks in TV production, notably in THE MUSIC MAN (1962) singing "Gary, Indiana" and, the following year, as the son of another widowed father (Glenn Ford) in Vincente Minnelli's THE COURTSHIP OF EDDIE'S FATHER (1963). After departing his charmingly rustic TV hometown of Mayberry, NC, Howard embarked on a minor feature career with a few bright spots, including a major role in AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973), George Lucas's landmark comedy-drama of teen life in southern California in the early 60s. This part led to a long TV gig as Richie Cunningham, the all-American-boy-next-door of the popular faux-50s sitcom "Happy Days" (ABC, 1974-84). Howard fared well in a memorable feature role as the son of a widowed Lauren Bacall who falls under the influence of a moribund John Wayne in THE SHOOTIST (1976). Otherwise he appeared mostly in undistinguished Westerns and drive-in fare. Howard made his directing and screenwriting debut at age 23 in the latter arena with GRAND THEFT AUTO (1977) produced by Roger Corman. After honing his filmmaking skills on several TV projects, Howard made his mark as a director with his second venture, NIGHT SHIFT (1982), a wacky comedy about two morgue attendants who double as pimps. This marked his first feature collaborations with producer (and future partner) Brian Grazer, former "Happy Days" writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (SPLASH, 1984; GUNG HO, 1986; and PARENTHOOD, 1989) and actor Michael Keaton (GUNG HO; THE PAPER, 1994). Howard followed up with SPLASH, a major hit for Disney's then new Touchstone division. This romantic fantasy about a man and a mermaid (Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah) proved to be Disney's most successful live-action feature up to that time. Howard enjoyed another hit with COCOON (1985) a Spielbergian sci-fi fantasy about old folks who rediscover youthful vigor thanks to alien intervention, but the George Lucas produced WILLOW (1988), a lavish fantasy peopled with elves, troll and a gallant hero, did not find an audience. The tone and style of Howard's films was already in place: Much as his success as a child actor helped to project a cozy, sweet aura of mainstream film and TV, so do his features essentially rework old genre formulas, with plenty of feel-good optimism and playful whimsy to soften the grimmer, more violent edge of contemporary mainstream cinema. Howard and Grazer formed Imagine Films Entertainment in 1985 and took it public in 1986. After a number of very successful features, the dynamic duo felt that Imagine was not paying them their street value. In 1992 they announced that they would leave Imagine for a joint venture at Universal. This horrified their stockholders, who consequently allowed Howard and Grazer to renegotiate their deal so that Imagine lent them money to buy out the company. By 1993, Imagine was a privately owned company with Howard and Grazer serving as co-CEOs. Through Imagine, Howard served as a producer on most of his own films as well as VIBES, CLEAN AND SOBER (both 1988), THE 'BURBS and CLOSET LAND. Imagine also produced such mainstream fare as KINDERGARTEN COP, MY GIRL, THE DOORS (both 1991), HOUSESITTER and BOOMERANG (both 1992). In recent years, Howard directed the popular ensemble comedy PARENTHOOD, the rousing firefighter drama BACKDRAFT (1991) and the historical romantic adventure epic FAR AND AWAY (1992). The latter, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, was a critical and commercial disappointment. Howard received more positive press if not better box office for THE PAPER (1994), a somewhat sentimental comedy-drama about tabloid journalism. Other directing credits include APOLLO 13 (1995), RANSOM (1996), EDTV (1999, also producer), DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (2000, also producer), A BEAUTIFUL MIND (2001, also producer), THE MISSING (2004), CINDERELLA MAN (2005), THE DA VINCI CODE (2006), FROST/NIXON (2008), and ANGELS & DEMONS (2009). Additional producing credits include THE CHAMBER (1996), INVENTING THE ABBOTTS (1997), "From the Earth to the Moon" (1998, TV mini-series), THE ALAMO (2004), CURIOUS GEORGE (2006), and CHANGELING (2008).  Best Picture of the Year 2001: A BEAUTIFUL MIND - Producer at Imagine Entertainment (w. Brian Grazer)  Best Achievement in Directing 2001: A BEAUTIFUL MIND 2 nominations, 2 Awards