11:32AM, Jan 09, 2009
The freckled former Happy Days star is now a Hollywood big hitter with directing successes including Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man.
Born: 1st March 1954
Where: Duncan, Oklahoma
After becoming an American family favourite as Richie Cunningham in the TV comedy Happy Days, Howard turned to directing and landed an Oscar for A Beautiful Mind.
Other directing highlights include the mermaid fantasy Splash, the sci-fi drama Cocoon, the Steve Martin comedy Parenthood, the space-set thriller Apollo 13 and the biopic Frost/Nixon.
Howard made his first professional appearance aged 18 months on stage with his parents, although his first real part was at five in the Yul Brynner adventure The Journey.
He worked in features during breaks in TV production, and appeared alongside Glenn Ford in The Courtship of Eddie's Father.
A major role in American Graffiti led to Howard's long TV stint as Richie on the popular Fifties sitcom Happy Days, remaining on the show until 1980.
Howard had begun shooting films aged 15 with a Super-8 camera and spent two years in a film programme at the University of Southern California.
To finance his first feature he struck a deal with Roger Corman stating Howard would star in Corman's Eat My Dust! while the director would produce 1977's Grand Theft Auto, which Howard directed, wrote and starred in.
After further honing his film-making skills on several TV projects, Howard made his mark as a director with his second venture, Night Shift.
His third feature, Splash with Daryl Hannah proved a huge hit and Howard enjoyed more success when he directed Don Ameche to a Best Supporting Actor Oscar with Cocoon.
In 1985, Howard and producer Brian Grazer formed their own production company, Imagine Films Entertainment.
In the 1990s, Howard solidified his reputation as a Hollywood director, helming diverse projects including Parenthood, the fire drama Backdraft and Oirish yarn Far and Away.
He reached new heights as director of Apollo 13, with a cast including Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise, Kevin Bacon, and Ed Harris.
The movie, based on real events, earned critical kudos, did well at the box office, and received nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.
After the reality TV satire EDtv, and Dr Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Howard turned his attention to the story of genius mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr in A Beautiful Mind, starring Russell Crowe.
It received eight Academy Award nominations, one of which was Howard's first as Best Director, and took home four Oscars, including Best Picture.
In 2003, he made the Western thriller The Missing with Tommy Lee Jones and Cate Blanchett and the triple Oscar-nominated boxing biopic Cinderella Man with Russell Crowe .
Next up was a lacklustre adaptation of the besteller The Da Vinci Code but Howard was back on song with the stunning big screen version of Peter Morgan's play Frost/Nixon.
