Ron Howard calls wife ‘good luck charm,’ shares secret to 49-year marriage

Ron Howard has been a household name almost as long as the 70 years he’s lived. The Hollywood heavyweight has been going nonstop in film and television, a career he started as a toddler.

In addition to his impressive career, the multiple award winner – who also demonstrates longevity in his personal life – has been married to his wife Cheryl for almost half a century.

Keep reading to learn more about Howard, his decades-long career and marriage!

On March 1, 1954 in Duncan, Oklahoma, Ronald Howard, a future Hollywood legend was born.

Howard was only 18 months old when he appeared in his first film, Frontier Woman, and when he was two, he made his stage debut in The Seven Year Itch.

Soon after the freckle-faced redhead started his celebrity journey with his role on The Andy Griffith Show (1960 to 1968).

In this time, when the little boy played Opie, the son Griffith’s character, Howard had the full support of his parents, who were both in the entertainment industry.

“Remember how we always said, ‘You can do it if you want, but you don’t have to?’ Well if you start this, you can’t quit’,” said Howard, recalling a conversation he had with his parents decades before. “You don’t have to do other parts on other shows, if you don’t want, but you’d have to keep doing this one.”

Explaining that he understood the message his parents were delivering, Howard adds, “I think it was pretty clear at that point that I was enjoying it, and I was good at it.”

Actually, he was great at it, and he was about to reach a level of stratospheric stardom.