Ron Howard

 Ronald William Howard (born March 1st 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Howard first gained attention as a child actor appearing in a variety of television shows, including the episode The Twilight Zone. He gained national attention because of his role as the role of a young Opie Taylor, the child of Sheriff Andy Taylor (played by Andy Griffith) in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show from 1960 through 1968. In that time, he also appeared in the musical film The Music Man (1962) that was a critical and commercial success. From 1959 to 1973, Howard was known as Ronny Howard. Howard was featured in one of the lead characters in the movie about coming-of-age American Graffiti (1973), and became famous for his role as Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days as a character he would play from 1974 to 1980.In 1980, Howard left Happy Days to focus on directing, producing, and occasionally writing a number of television and film series. He directed the comedies Night Shift (1982), Splash(1984), and Cocoon (1985) and Cocoon (1985), and also the romantic Willow (1988), Backdraft (1991) and The Paper (1994).