Ron Howard and his brother tell their family story: Preview the new memoir
If you’re familiar with Ron Howard’s body of work, then you’ve seen his brother Clint before. Acclaimed director Ron Howard has put Clint in seventeen of his films, including his first directorial debut when he was ten and had his brother star in his first full-length feature Grand Theft Auto (no relation to the video game).
Now, Ron is writing a memoir and enlisting the help of the younger Howard brother. They’re penning The Boys (no relation to the superhero show on Amazon), which will be a tell-all about their childhood days in Hollywood. Read on to discover what Ron Howard and his brother will touch on in the memoir.
Child stars
Both Ron & Clint Howard were child stars. The elder brother, Ron, appeared in The Music Man starring Robert Preston in 1962, and both Ron & Clint appeared on The Andy Griffith Show. While Ron played the famous big-eared ginger Opie, like many of his appearances in Ron’s work, Clint’s appearance on Andy Griffith was a recurring cameo of a boy in a cowboy suit.
When people ask who Ron Howard is, no one’s going to say “child star” first. Of all the child stars in Hollywood, Clint’s older brother was one of the most successful. Amid child stars who end up addicted to drugs or completely broke, Ron rose to prominence as a prolific, celebrated director, beating the odds and putting his past as a child star on the shelf.
Ron Howard used his brother Clint in tons of movies, including Cocoon, Apollo 13, Gung Ho, Backdraft, Parenthood, Far & Away, EDtv, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Frost/Nixon. However, the younger Howard brother’s work expands beyond his brother’s direction and includes Rock n Roll High School, Austin Powers, and two movies with Adam Sandler, The Water Boy and Little Nicky.
What are they covering?
Needless to say, Ron & Clint Howard have a lot of material on Hollywood they could cover. Both the elder & younger Howard brothers decided it would be best to go a different route with their book, focusing on how their family worked with two child stars in it. They told The Hollywood Reporter they began thinking about the book after their dad passed away in 2017, reflecting on their atypical upbringings.
Summing up the book, Ron Howard detailed the book will go through his appearances in the pictures, being bullied offstage for playing Opie, and going into his teenage years playing Richard Cunningham on Happy Days:
“Who grows up on a soundstage hanging out with Andy Griffith and Don Knotts . . . And what are the ways that particular childhood forever informed the choices I would make as a husband, father, and filmmaker? We’re excited to share the story of how our parents pulled this off — raising two show-business kids who had no clue that their lives were out of the ordinary while rooting them in a loving, slightly off-beat family.”
Book details
The book will be published by HarperCollins and will feature a forward by Ron’s daughter, actress & director Bryce Dallas Howard. In addition to Ron’s life on Andy Griffith and Happy Days, his younger brother Clint will touch on his time on Star Trek and his challenges growing up. Both brothers will reflect on the pearls of wisdom their parents taught them on the way.
Ron & Clint Howard’s executive editor Mauro DiPreta, said the book was a touchstone due to the Howard brothers’ time in the American public’s eye.
“As Ron and Clint came of age in the ’60s and ’70s as actors, America grew up with them. More than an exploration of the cultural touchstones of their TV and film work, though, these pages also convey a profound sense of brotherhood and the importance of family, all told with self-deprecating humor and candor that completely wins you over”, he explained.
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Ron & Clint Howard’s book The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family will be out for release on October 12th.
