Written by Jon Williams
We’re now
just a week away from the release of
Solo:
A Star Wars Story into theaters. This will be the second non-trilogy,
standalone film in the
Star Wars
saga, following the huge success of
Rogue One in 2016. Like that film,
Solo will also dive into the period of
time leading up to the events that take place in the original 1977
Star Wars. It will detail the early
life of Han Solo, the smuggler turned rebel originally played with such swagger
by Harrison Ford, as he meets Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian and embarks on his
life on the fringes of society. An impressive lineup fills the cast, and
bringing it all together from the director’s chair is Hollywood veteran Ron
Howard.
Although
he’s just 64 years old, Howard’s career spans nearly six decades itself. It
began in front of the camera, of course, including two very high-profile
television roles. He began playing Opie Taylor, son of the title character on
The Andy Griffith Show, in 1960,
when he was just six years old. That ran for eight seasons, and he also played
the character in single episodes of
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and
Mayberry R.F.D., as well as a 1986
reunion
movie that was his last significant acting role. In 1974, he began playing
Richie Cunningham on
Happy Days and served as the main
character of that series for most of its run. As with Opie Taylor, he also
crossed the role of Richie Cunningham over to
Laverne & Shirley.
Those are
his long-running and best-known roles, but as a young actor he also made
appearances in a number of other popular shows, including
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis,
Dennis the Menace,
The Fugitive,
M*A*S*H, and
The Waltons, among many others. And
those are just his television roles. He also appeared in a number of films,
such as
The Music Man,
The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, and
The Shootist, John Wayne’s final
film. In 1973, a starring role in the teenage comedy-drama
American Graffiti was Howard’s first
encounter with George Lucas’s then-burgeoning Lucasfilm company. He also
starred in the 1979 follow-up
More American Graffiti, but by then
his acting career was winding down.
In 1977,
Howard got his first chance to direct a feature film with
Grand Theft Auto, a rollicking car
chase adventure that he also wrote (with his father Rance) and starred in. His
big break in directing was 1982’s
Night Shift, a buddy comedy starring
Michael Keaton in his first major role and Howard’s
Happy Days co-star Henry Winkler. He then went on to bring Tom
Hanks to the big screen for the first time in the 1984 romcom
Splash, and later directed Steve
Martin in
Parenthood. While his first few
films were comedic in nature, in 1988 he returned to the Lucasfilm fold by
directing George Lucas’s fantastical
Willow
(currently unavailable).
Many fans
still recognize Ron Howard from his earliest roles as Opie Taylor and Richie
Cunningham; more currently he may be known as the narrator for the comedy
series
Arrested Development, which he also
produces. But whether it’s in front of or behind the camera, his vast Hollywood
experience made Howard the perfect choice to take over the reins of
Solo when the film’s original directors
departed, bringing his practiced eye to bear on the latest movie from a galaxy
far, far away. His most high-profile project to date will have patrons excited
to check out more from his filmography, which is well worth exploring in its
own right. Click any of the links above to add these movies to your collection,
or SmartBrowse his name on our website for a more complete collection of his
acting and directing roles.