Ron Howard: His Best Directed Movies

Born March 1, 1954, Ron Howard would first rise to fame playing the part of "Opie Taylor" on The Andy Griffith show. Howard followed this role up with parts in the musical The Music Man and as "Richie Cunningham" on Happy Days. While a talented actor, Howard would begin to focus his career on directing and producing starting in the 1980s. 

Some of Howard's first directing successes would come with the comedies Night Shift (1982) and Splash (1984). The latter, starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah was a huge success and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. 

Another great Ron Howard comedy is 1985s cocoon starring Steve Guttenberg, Don Ameche, and Jessica Tandy. The Sci-fi comedy would win two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor and Best Visual Effects. 

While his early successes were all comedies, Ron Howard would start to show off his diversity by the end of the 1980s with successful films like the fantasy drama Willow (1988) and the thriller Backdraft (1991). The latter, starring Kurt Russell, would receive three Oscar nominations!

Returning to comedy in 1994, Ron Howard blew audiences away and had them laughing with The Paper. Along with a great cast including Glenn Close and Michael Keaton, Howard had Randy Newman write and perform the music for the film, with "Make Up Your Mind" going on to recieve an Oscar nomination!

1995 would bring Ron Howard even more recognition after directing the historical drama Apollo 13. Again starring Tom Hanks, the film was warmly received by both fans and critics, performing extremely well at the box office and Academy Awards. 

One of Ron Howard's most critically acclaimed films, A Beautiful Mind, would win not just one but four Academy Awards, with Howard winning his first Oscar for Best Director. Based on the real-life story of mathematician, John Nash, the film was incredibly done and worthy of the praise it received. 

Ron Howard would follow the success of A Beautiful Mind up with another great biographical drama, Cinderella Man (2005). Starring Russell Crowe and Renée Zellweger, the sports film would once again be nominated for a number of Academy Awards. 

Ron Howard is also well known for his directing of the Dan Brown book series turned film series. All three films, The Da Vinci Code (2006), Angels and Demons (2009), and Inferno (2016) were huge successes. The films would mark yet another collaboration between Howard and Tom Hanks. 

Ron Howard would continue to outdo himself in 2008 with the release of the historical drama, Frost/Nixon. Following the historic events of the 1972 Watergate scandal, Frost/Nixon would garner five Oscar nominations, including one for Best Director!