Before his career as an Oscar-winning director, Ron Howard made a name for himself as a child actor. One of his first roles was Sheriff Andy Taylor’s (Andy Griffith) son, Opie, on The Andy Griffith Show, which ran from 1960 to 1968. Howard was six when the show’s first season premiered.
ReMind magazine reported that Howard discussed his time on The Andy Griffith Show during an August 2025 interview with People Magazine. After looking at a picture of his young self and Griffith, Howard said he couldn’t watch himself on television when he began filming the series, for one specific reason.
“At the point that I did this show, I don’t think I’d ever seen myself on TV, because usually my bedtime was before the shows went on,” said Howard, who acted in The Twilight Zone and Dennis the Menace before filming The Andy Griffith Show.
He clarified that he was eventually able to watch the series.
“I began to be allowed to stay up and watch The Andy Griffith Show, which I think came on at 8:30 or something like that,” said Howard to the publication.
He also said he didn’t fully understand how impactful The Andy Griffith Show was until he was older.
“It wasn’t until much later that I began to understand the impact the show had on audiences,” said the 71-year-old.
Ron Howard Spoke About His Father’s Influence on ‘The Andy Griffith Show’
Howard spoke about how his late father, fellow actor Rance Howard, helped create Andy and Opie’s positive dynamic on The Andy Griffith Show in a 2007 interview with Emmy TV Legends. Howard said that Rance advised Griffith to have Opie respect and look up to his on-screen father. He explained that many children characters on television in the 1960s weren’t all that kind to their parents.
“My dad apparently said ‘What would happen if Opie knew that Andy was smarter than him? How about if Opie actually respected his dad? Instead of the sitcom kids that were always making their dad look bad,’” said Howard during the 2007 interview.
Howard said that Griffith eventually took his father’s advice.
“Opie did have a lot of respect for his father,” said the director.
