<Tr> <Th> Relatives </Th> <Td> Clint Howard (brother) </Td> </Tr> <P> Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker . Howard is best known for playing two high - profile roles in television sitcoms in his youth and directing a number of successful feature films later in his career . </P> <P> Howard first came to prominence playing young Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years and later playing teenager Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for seven years . He appeared in the musical film The Music Man (1962), the comedy film The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963), the coming of age film American Graffiti (1973), the western film The Shootist (1976), and the comedy film Grand Theft Auto (1977), which he also directed . </P> <P> In 1980, Howard left Happy Days to focus on directing . His films include: the science - fiction / fantasy film Cocoon (1985), the historical docudrama Apollo 13 (1995) (earning him the Directors Guild of America award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures), the biographical drama A Beautiful Mind (2001) (earning him the Academy Award for Best Director and Academy Award for Best Picture), the thriller The Da Vinci Code (2006), the historical drama Frost / Nixon (2008) (nominated for Best Director and Best Picture Academy Awards) and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). </P>

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