A few hours ago, Ron Howard took to his Twitter page to celebrate the anniversary of his first date with his lovely wife.
“On this day, 1970 my wife Cheryl & I had our 1st date,” the former “Andy Griffith” star wrote. “This is a picture of us on our way to the prom in ’72. She made that dress btw. Cheryl’s been the love of my life ever since. If you wanna know more about our high school romance I wrote all about it in http://hc.com/theboys.”
“Today we are celebrating with these kinds of socks we ordered and a trip to our local take-out pizza place,” he wrote as the caption below. “We’ll be driving in the same ’70 VW Bug I picked Cheryl up in 5 decades ago. It runs great. So do we,” the former “Happy Days” star concluded.
The Oscar-winning director met his wife when he was just a junior at John Burroughs High School in Burbank, Calif, and admitted there was an instant connection. “I met her, and there was never anybody else.”
The pair have been married since June 7, 1975, and they share four children; daughter Bryce Dallas Howard, twins Jocelyn Carlyle and Paige Howard, and son Reed Cross.
Howard Gushes About His Wife, Cheryl
From the beginning of their marriage, Cheryl Howard has been a supportive force in her husband’s endeavors. It was even reported that she put “her husband’s movie projects (and later, the rearing of their children) ahead of her personal career goals.”
Her husband, who was equally supportive of her strides as she was of his, described his heartthrob as “a strong, creative woman, highly opinionated, and I wouldn’t change a thing.” He also added that “she’s unbelievably supportive and always has been. Our compatibility has endured through all kinds of experiences.”
Howard explained to the Television Academy Foundation that his wife featured as “a good luck charm in all of his movies.”
“She’s actually been in everything I’ve ever done, including the Super 8 days,” he said, referring to his very early years as aspiring director when his equipment consisted of a Super 8mm motion picture camera.
“We met in high school and at a certain point, I became very superstitious about making sure that she appears, that’s she’s at least identifiable in one frame,” he added. “They don’t have to be big cameos, but she’s gotta be in there.”
Secret To Their Long-standing Marriage
In a 2019 interview with People, the director opened up about the secret behind his enduring marriage.
“People say, ‘How’d you do it?’ There’s no technique. There’s no tactic other than communication is really important. You have to learn to communicate and have difficult conversations in constructive ways,” explained Howard.
“Beyond that, there’s an element of luck because people either grow together or they don’t and I don’t think you can force that.”
He also recalled their first kiss. The former “Happy Days” star reported that he was too shy to lock lips with his girlfriend, even after several dates. Matters came to a head after they attended their high school’s homecoming dance. Cheryl announced that she had lost her purse and they had to return to the school to find it.
They didn’t find the purse, but they were alone for a long time. “We found ourselves standing alone in front of the high school,” Ron wrote. “I went for it. I kissed her on the lips. Cheryl did not pull away. In fact, she welcomed the kiss.”
Cheryl’s purse was on Ron’s seat when they returned to his car. She later admitted that she didn’t lose her purse; she “didn’t want the date to end.”
Ron’s New Book
Last month, Howard and his brother, Clint, launched a memoir that gave an insight into their journey growing up as child actors. It also gave an up-close and personal peek into how they survived their childhoods in Hollywood.
The brothers wrote each portion of the chapters in turns, trying to dissect and come to terms with their formative years.
They dedicated the memoir to their parents, Rance Howard and Jean Howard, who deserved all the credit for helping them find their way around stardom.
Who Is Ron Howard?
Ron Howard was born in March 1954, on Duncan, Oklahoma. He came into national prominence when he began his career as as a child actor. Some of his movie crredits include him playing the role of Opie in “The Andy Griffith Show,” and then as the teenage Richie Cunningham in “Happy Days.”
In his later life, he starred in “The American Graffiti,” and some seasons of the television series, “The Cheyenne Show.”
Howard went on to increase his sucessful pace in the movie industry as a film director. He is credited directing hit movies like; “Cocoon,” “Apollo 13,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “Parenthood,” “Splash” and “The Da Vinci Code.”
His recent films as a director are “Hillbilly Elegy” and the upcoming “Thirteen Lives.”
