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Ronhoward
1. the
right
direction Oscar-winning director
Ron Howard has a golden reputation
for Hollywood blockbusters
and being just a plain ol’ good guy
by chris hodenfield
william taufic
january 2011 greenwich 55
2. On the set of Courtship of On the set of Wild Country Cast of On the set of
Eddie’s Father, 1963 with Jack Elam, 1970 Happy Days, Bitter Harvest
1975 1981
Howard on the set of the Howard on the set of Happy Days,
Ron Howard and John Wayne in a scene from the
show that made him America’s which ran for ten years. Howard in September of 1995
1976 movie The Shootist.
sweetheart.
Movie directors have a special place before our eyes, as the child actor playing Winthrop editing stations going through the final tune-ups always hear, as you do of Howard, that he’s a hell of
in our culture. But while they are generally lion- Paroo in The Music Man and then Opie for all those on Howard’s holiday-season movie, The Dilemma. a great guy to work with. And so the work keeps com-
ized and discussed with great gravity, they are years in The Andy Griffith Show, followed by his young- Things were humming. ing; in addition to the movies, he and partner Brian
not a universally admired species. Producers man self in Happy Days. Howard’s career could be summarized by the motto Grazer have put their names down as producers of a
hate their profligate habits, actors think they Besides his familiar face, what wins you over is his of his adopted state, The seemingly endless slate of
calm demeanor—he has the wry voice and depend- Land of Steady Habits. movies and TV shows.
are blind to human truth, and screenwriters able manners of a Midwestern rancher. That would He has directed twenty- “One reason it’s impor-
fume that directors hog all the credit. One be the genetic coding of his Midwestern parents one movies in thirty-three tant to do post-production
well-traveled entertainment writer I know coming through. Before moving to Greenwich thirty years. Some of them were here in Greenwich,” he
once declared that he hated interviewing years ago, Howard grew up in Burbank, California. larky fun-fests like Splash, says, climbing the stairs,
directors, whom he said were all just a lot of Actually, he grew up on movie lots. As he bicycled Parenthood and Cocoon. “is that it’s a good reason
control freaks. across the studio lot to the set of The Andy Griffith Some were extremely to settle down here for
TV and movie stills courtesy of Jerry ohlinger’s movie materials
ron and cheryl howard by Jon Kopaloff/Filmmagic/getty images
Show, he pedaled past the farmhouse from The Real ambitious, such as three months at a time.
That last part is mostly true—movie directors McCoys, then through the still-standing train station Apollo 13 (the 1995 movie And it’s really fun to be
usually know how to get their way. They are not all, from Gone With the Wind, then over to the market- that put the expression home because I do count
however, snarling wildebeests who dominate their place from The Ten Commandments. And when he “Failure is not an option” this as home.”
crews with the hauteur of Sherlock Holmes and the arrived at work, there waiting for him was the broad, into the language); He sits down in a small
intensity of Lucifer. There are the few who are actually happy face of Andy Griffith, who was just about to tell or the heartbreaking Ron and Cheryl Howard at the dining room, an assis-
2007 Vanity Fair Oscar Party.
swell folks, lovely, charming and utterly disarming. a funny story…. movie about a schizo- tant brings him a plate of
Ron Howard would be the poster boy of the latter phrenic professor played steamed carrots and broc-
sort of director. Should you bump into him on the WRITING HOME by Russell Crowe, A coli rabe. “I moved here
street here in Greenwich, you would get a crinkly, Wearing beat-up jeans, sneakers and a work shirt, Beautiful Mind (2001), which earned four Oscars that at thirty-one. I just like the feel and texture of this
blue-eyed smile, and he would start talking in the Ron Howard leads you through his workplace. It’s included Best Picture and Best Director. There were part of the country. It’s a choice I made because I like
easy voice of an old friend, and you’d feel instantly a house near downtown Greenwich that has been plenty of other Oscars and awards scattered across the four seasons. I like driving in the backcountry. It’s
that you’d known him for a very long time. In a sense, converted to an office and post-production facility. his CV, not to mention the simple reward of having the stone walls, the trees, the colors, the way the air
you have known him your whole life, as he grew up On the second floor, teams of editors sit at digital a great reputation in a business in which you don’t feels.” »
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4. movies. Just ask George Clooney, Sean such as John Ford and Frank Capra, and
Penn, Ben Affleck, Ben Stiller, Kevin finally settled on Billy Wilder as the great-
Costner…umm, the full list would actu- est director of all, simply because he put his
ally take up this page. In 1977, when Ron stamp on such a dazzling variety of movies.
Howard broke through with Grand Theft He was eventually confident enough to call
Auto, he was the exception. He was also up retired masters like Wilder and invite
just twenty-three. them out for lunch.
The wiring of his director’s brain began After a significant role in the hit movie
early. His parents, Rance and Jean Speegle American Graffiti, in 1973, he was cast as
Howard, had left their native Oklahoma the genial good boy in the series Happy
to act in Hollywood. When they weren’t Days, which ran from 1974 to 1980. The
doing small parts (Jean was eventually seen show, which was generally taped before
in the likes of Married...With Children), live audiences, required not much of an
they hosted actors’ improv groups in the emotional investment and he confesses
living room. that when the now-infamous “jump the
From the ages of six to fourteen, shark” episode was proposed, he thought
“Ronny,” as he was then known, played it was just another episode. (For the cul-
Opie, the son of a widowed father on The turally deprived: In this episode, Henry
Andy Griffith Show. Griffith was more than Winkler’s “Fonzie” character shows off
an actor—he was a force. “What I learned his water-skiing skills by jumping over
there,” he recalls, “is that every choice, a cage of sharks—all while wearing his
every creative idea, every challenge, really trademark leather jacket—in a show that
needed to be tackled. He threw himself is now emblematic of clueless overreach.)
heart and soul into that show. He didn’t In the midst of this, he struck a deal with
coast through it, ever. That didn’t mean film producer Roger Corman, a maker of
the work environment couldn’t be fun. cheap movies (often called “exploitation
So there was this loose feeling, and yet flicks”) that proved to be the springboards
tremendous focus and discipline. for young, ambitious directors with no
“There were moments when he would credits, such as Francis Coppola, Martin
resolutely argue against a joke because Scorsese and Jonathan Demme. “Roger
he thought it was selling the characters was a pivotal figure,” Howard says. “At
down the river. At the same time he’d be the time, actors weren’t getting a lot of
intense about it, he’d turn around and start chances to direct. There were no videos,
laughing and wind up telling a story about no cable outlets. The studios and networks
somebody from his childhood. There was a controlled everything.”
kind of joy in the process.” Corman’s lesson was that you could
Many of the show’s directors were also take a genre movie and find some way to
actors. One day, the comedian Howard creatively express yourself. Howard’s
Morris, who sometimes played the crazy quick-and-dirty enterprise, Grand Theft
hillbilly Ernest T. Bass, paused in the Auto, needs no explanation. He drew upon
directing of a show, looked at the ten-year- a lifetime’s worth of work experience.
old actor and said, “Seriously, I bet you’re “I don’t look back much. I try to follow
going to wind up directing.” Satchel Paige’s advice: ‘Don’t look back,
He was lucky enough to find himself in something might be gaining on you.’ But
television shows that provided what he calls when I think about lifetime highlights,
“a healthy environment.” As the Griffith even before Academy Award experiences
show ended in 1968, the American film pop into my head, my mind goes back to
business was going through a great artistic the wrap party at the end of filming Grand
convulsion instigated by the likes of Bonnie Theft Auto. There was something so gratify-
& Clyde and The Graduate. He seriously ing about getting through my first movie.
began to study the classic film directors The wrap party was in a biker bar out in
60 MOFFLYMEDIA.COM january 2011 greenwich 61
5. Barstow, California, just shots and a bar phantasmagorical. His next project after
band. But for me it was reaching a peak The Dilemma will not be just ambitious, it
that I’d been viewing from a distance for will also be something that’s never been
a long, long time, even though I was only done before: a long-form movie project
twenty-three. made simultaneously with a concurrent
“I remember telling Cheryl, who was television series. Stephen King’s post-apoca-
catering because the crew was gonna rebel lyptic western fantasy series The Dark Tower
if they got one more bucket of Kentucky will be the basis for Howard and Grazer’s
Fried Chicken, I remember saying to her, gigantic production, The Tower. Howard
‘I can’t believe it, babe. I like directing will direct the first film and then the first
more than I’d dreamed I’d like it. season of the TV series that follows. There
“From that point forward, I really never will be no shortage of material as King’s sev-
was an actor again. I did act, but I knew en-volume saga follows Western gunslinger
what I wanted my job to be.” Roland Deschain across a fantasy landscape
That he had a natural touch with actors in search of a tower that is supposed to be
became clear a couple years later when he the nexus of the universe.
was directing a TV movie called Skyward “We can make the movies big, exciting,
with the combative screen legend Bette cool cinematic experiences, and a lot of
Davis. “I had some sleepless nights,” he King’s character ideas that he writes so
recalls. “I was more tense than I probably brilliantly will have a home in all that
had ever been in my life. You know, living action. In our fevered minds, it’s at least
up to her standards. I don’t like conflict, so three movies and a couple of TV series.”
I was hoping for the best. It will be a hell of a lot of work,
“My dad said, ‘I know you’re worried but The Tower will also be an effort
but all good actors want to be directed. at staying fresh, which is something he
They know they need it. Don’t be afraid.’ worries about. “For me as a filmmaker,
“She kept calling me ‘Mr. Howard.’ it’s important that it never feels like man-
I was twenty-five or so at the time, and ufacturing. I love the medium and don’t
I kept saying, ‘Miss Davis, just call me Ron.’ want to feel constricted. I’m pursuing
She said, ‘I’ll call you Mr. Howard until I a way of life more than I am a career.”
decide whether I like you or not.’ And on His and Cheryl’s life is different now
the first day of filming she did test me a few that their four kids have left the farm.
times, but I stuck to my guns. She tried my The youngest, Reid, just graduated from
idea and found that it worked. And when college and is trying to make it as a golf
that first day was done, I said, ‘Thank pro. Eldest daughter Bryce and the twins
you, Miss Davis, great first day, you can Paige and Jocelyn are hunting for work
go home.’ And she said, ‘OK, Ron, see you in Hollywood, and so the folks took an
in the morning,’ and literally patted me apartment out there to make it easier to
on the ass.” check up on them.
By the end of the sometimes confronta- But home is still the farm in Greenwich,
tional shoot, she decreed that he had what feeding the menagerie and doing local
it takes to be among the best. Armed with things like helping out the Bruce Museum
such a confidence builder, he was able to fundraisers. Sometimes they even have
direct a cast of wily veterans to big suc- date night.
cess in Cocoon a few years later, topped He grins affably and pushes away his
off with an Oscar for the beloved old pro vegetables. “Still, for us, a date is just
Don Ameche. going to the movies. We don’t screen
In recent years he has touched on his- movies at home or go to that trouble or
tory with Frost/Nixon and creepy conspira- expense. We always go out to the movies.”
cies in Angels and Demons, but he is about It is, after all, the way of life he has
to embark on a three-year voyage into the pursued. G
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