Ron Howard recently touched fans by recreating the iconic opening scene of The Andy Griffith Show in a video posted to Instagram. In the clip, the actor and director – now 71 years old – throws rocks across a lake in a setting reminiscent of the legendary “Mayberry Water.” Despite the lack of the familiar whistle, his rock-throwing skills seem to be even more skilled than before.
Starting his acting career at the age of 5, Howard made a deep impression on audiences as Opie – Andy Taylor’s adorable son – for eight years from 1960 to 1968. He then went on to become famous as Richie Cunningham on Happy Days (1974–1984) before embarking on a brilliant new chapter as a director, with works such as Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Frost/Nixon and most recently Thirteen Lives (2022).
When Andy Griffith passed away in 2012, Howard shared some of his fondest memories of his “TV dad.” “He was amazing,” Howard told Entertainment Weekly. “There was a wonderful balance between his love of laughter, his love of comedy, his love of music… and his absolute professionalism every time he stepped on set. If anything, it was his simple but powerful commitment to quality, his unwavering work ethic, his humility.”
Despite a long gap after the series ended, Howard said he and Griffith spoke more in the late entertainer’s later years. Howard also hopes that audiences will remember him not only for The Andy Griffith Show or Matlock, but also for his work on A Face in the Crowd or his What It Was, Was Football comedy clips online. “He loved people,” Howard said. “He loved the eccentric, endearing things about them – something he embraced in his work and in real life.”
Howard has continued his creative streak, recently working on a Pavarotti documentary, and has also revealed that he is developing an animated musical. “That project is still in the very early stages,” he said. “I can’t say much yet, but I’m really excited.”
