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Milestones
- 2003: Directed the psychological thriller "The Missing", starring Cate Blanchett as a frontier woman who teams up with her estranged father, played by Tommy Lee Jones, to rescue her abducted daughter
- 2002: With Grazer, was a producer of the comedy feature "Stealing Harvard"
- 2001: Directed Russell Crowe in "A Beautiful Mind", a fictionalized biopic of Nobel Prize winner John Forbes Nash who overcame schizophrenia; film received eight Academy Award nominations including two for Howard, Best Picture and Best Director; won four Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director
- 2001: With Grazer, was an executive producer of the ABC summer series "The Beast"
- 2001: Provided the character voice of the animated figure Tom Colonic in the mixed media feature "Osmosis Jones"
- 2000: Renewed Imagine's production deal with Universal through 2005
- 2000: Served as executive producer of the short-lived ABC drama "Wonderland", created by Peter Berg
- 2000: Helmed the live action version of "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas", starring Jim Carrey
- 1999: Directed the feature comedy "EDtv", starring Matthew McConaughey, a loose remake of a French-Canadian comedy-drama about a man who wins a contest and has his life broadcast 24 hours a day on television
- 1998: Served as one of the producers of the Emmy-winning HBO series "From the Earth to the Moon"; Tom Hanks was driving force behind the project, serving as executive producer as well as director, screenwriter and co-star
- 1996: Helmed "Ransom", a remake of the 1956 film about a child kidnapping, starring Mel Gibson and Rene Russo
- 1995: Directed the based-on-fact drama about an aborted NASA mission to the moon, "Apollo 13"; starred Tom Hanks, Ed Harris, Gary Sinise and Kathleen Quinlan; film earned 9 Academy Award nominations including Best Picture but not Best Director; won the DGA Award
- 1994: Helmed "The Paper", featuring an all-star cast including Michael Keaton, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall and Marisa Tomei
- 1993: Bought out Imagine (with Grazer), making the company private again
- 1992: Teamed with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman on the sweeping period romance "Far and Away"; proved to be a box-office disappointment
- 1992: Announced that he and Grazer were leaving Imagine for a joint venture at Universal Pictures
- 1991: Helmed the action thriller "Backdraft", about firefighters with a cast including Robert De Niro, Kurt Russell and Donald Sutherland
- 1990: Returned to TV series as executive producer of "Parenthood", a short-lived NBC sitcom
- 1989: Enjoyed hit with the genial comedy "Parenthood"; Dianne Wiest received a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination
- 1988: Had box-office misfire with the fantasy "Willow"
- 1988: Executive produced the TV sequel "Splash Too" (ABC)
- 1987: Was an executive producer on the short-lived CBS sitcom "Take Five"
- 1987: First Imagine production, "Like Father Like Son"
- 1986: Reprised signature childhood role of Opie Taylor in the NBC reunion movie "Return to Mayberry", executive produced by Andy Griffith
- 1986: Took Imagine Films public
- 1985: Moved east with his family to Connecticut at his wife's urging
- 1985: Helmed "Cocoon"; actor Don Ameche received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar
- 1985: Founded Imagine Films Entertainment with Brian Grazer; served as co-CEO
- 1984: Breakthrough feature as director, "Splash", featuring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah; scripted by Mandel and Ganz
- 1982: Helmed his breakthrough feature, "Night Shift"; first collaborations with producer Brian Grazer, writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel and actor Michael Keaton; "Happy Days" co-star Henry Winkler also starred
- 1981: Met Brian Grazer
- 1980: Feature debut as executive producer, "Leo and Loree"; "Happy Days" co-star Don Most had title role of Leo
- 1980: TV producing debut, "Ron Howard's 'Skyward'", a TV-movie about a paraplegic teen who yearns to pilot her own plane with Bette Davis in featured role; also directed
- 1980: Cast as a man who honors his brother's wishes by committing a mercy killing and then is tried for murder in the NBC movie "Act of Love"
- 1979: Reprised his role in the less successful sequel "More American Graffiti"
- 1978: TV directing and screenwriting debut, "Cotton Candy", an NBC teen comedy movie; co-written with brother Clint
- 1976: Co-starred with John Wayne in the elegiac Western "The Shootist"
- 1976: Made uncredited cameo appearance in "The First Nudie Musical", starring Cindy Williams
- 1975: Played title role in the ABC adaptation of "Huckleberry Finn"; his parents and brother played supporting parts
- 1974: Had dramatic role in the acclaimed TV production "The Migrants" (CBS)
- 1973: Starred in George Lucas' ground-breaking teen film "American Graffiti"; Cindy Williams was also in the cast
- 1971: Feature debut as director and co-writer at age 23 with "Grand Theft Auto"; also starred
- 1970: Resumed movie acting career in "Smoke"
- 1965: Last film role for five years, "Village of the Giants"
- 1963: Played Eddie in the feature "The Courtship of Eddie's Father"
- 1962: Had featured role in the big screen adaptation of "The Music Man"
- From 1960 to 1968: Portrayed Opie Taylor, the son of Sheriff Andy Taylor, on "The Andy Griffith Show" (CBS)
- 1959: First feature acting role at age four in "The Journey"
- 1959: TV series debut, playing various characters on the sitcom, "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" (CBS)
- 1958: TV acting debut, "Police Station"
- 1956: Stage acting debut at 18 months old with parents in "The Seven Year Itch" at the Hilltop Summer Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland; father directed production
- 1956: Appeared as a baby in "Frontier Woman", featuring his father Rance Howard
- ---: Will direct the film adaptation of Dan Brown's best-selling novel "The Da Vinci Code" (lensed 2005)
- Was an executive producer of the ABC sitcom "Hiller & Diller"
- Served as executive producer of the ABC sitcom version of his 1986 feature "Gung Ho" which had starred Michael Keaton
- With partner Brian Grazer, was an executive producer of the ABC sitcom "Sports Night"
- Served as co-editor of his high school newspaper
- Cast as Richie Cunningham on the long-running ABC sitcom, "Happy Days"; was a regular on the series for six years; left to pursue career as a filmmaker but made occasional appearances when his character "visited"; gradually written out of the show, which continued until 1984
- Played Bob Smith on the ABC comedy-drama, "The Smith Family", starring Henry Fonda and Janet Blair
- With Grazer, executive produced the highly-touted drama series "Felicity" (The WB)
- With Grazer and Eddie Murphy, served as executive producer of the animated series "The PJs" (Fox, 1999-2000; The WB, 2000-2001)
- Raised in Burbank, California
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