Ron Howard Explains How Paul McCartney Helped Him Make Peace with His "Happy Days "and "Andy Griffith Show" Past (Exclusive) Liz McNeil, Victoria EdelOctober 7, 2025 at 2:57 AM 1 David M.
- - Ron Howard Explains How Paul McCartney Helped Him Make Peace with His "Happy Days "and "Andy Griffith Show" Past (Exclusive)
Liz McNeil, Victoria EdelOctober 7, 2025 at 2:57 AM
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Paul McCartney (left) and Ron Howard in 2016 -
Ron Howard tells PEOPLE how he and Paul McCartney connected and helped give him new perspective on his acting career
Howard starred on two hit TV shows, The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days, before he became a director
The two-time Oscar winner has since helmed over 30 projects, but says fans calling him Opie or Richie doesn't bother him anymore
Ron Howard had a successful career as an actor before he became a director, but it was the Beatles' Paul McCartney who helped him find acceptance of his past.
Howard, 71, began his career in Hollywood as a child star, famously playing Opie on The Andy Griffith Show. That show ran for eight years. Howard began the show at age 6, and was 14 when it ended.
He continued to act widely, including in 1973's American Graffiti. Then in 1974, he began starring as Richie Cunningham on Happy Days. He then left the show after 7 seasons in 1980 to focus on his directing dreams. He quickly found success with movies like 1982's Night Shift, 1984's Splash and 1985's Cocoon. In total, he's helmed over 30 movies, both feature films and documentaries, and has won two Oscars, both for 2001's A Beautiful Mind.
But it was interviewing McCartney, 83, for his 2016 documentary The Beatles: Eight Days a Week that helped give him a new perspective on his years on The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days.
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Ron Howard as Opie in 'The Andy Griffith Show'
"I interviewed Sir Paul and Ringo [Starr] a couple of times each, and then did some publicity with them and got to know them a bit and really appreciated both. Ringo for his sense of humor and just absolutely blunt honesty. And with Paul, this real love of his medium of choice, which is music," Howard says. ". . . They have a lot of wisdom about the world around them, a lot of kind of humility about what they experienced and what it meant to them, and yet an appetite for life that is rich."
When doing promo for the movie, Howard remembers, "I said [to McCartney], 'Well, I really appreciate how much you opened up. I think you said some things in this documentary that you hadn't particularly said before, and I really appreciate your openness.' "
McCartney explained the transformation he'd had when it came to considering his work as a member of the Beatles. "He said, 'A couple of years ago, I finally realized that I've done enough with the rest of my life that I didn't have to be guarded about talking about The Beatles. I could embrace that. It wasn't taking anything away from my life after the Beatles. And it was a real turning point for me. And now I can look at it more openly,' " Howard says.
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Ron Howard on 'Happy Days' in 1974
That resonated deeply for the former child star. "In my own way, I recognize that I feel that way about talking about my acting career and my childhood," Howard, who directed the new thriller Eden, says. "I think I've been a director far longer than I was an actor now, and been rewarded for it in ways that mean a lot to me. And it's liberating. So now people want to call me Opie, want to call me Richie, that's a nickname that I feel a lot of affection for in a way that I didn't feel in the past."
He adds that he's "not comparing" his TV career with the Beatles, but "there is something about being really known and recognized for something that happens to you early in your career and then going on and continuing to be creatively ambitious and try to achieve."
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Ron Howard with his two Oscars in 2002
"You want recognition for that which is recent as well, and making that a priority at a certain point, and then arriving at a place where you can sort of look holistically at the journey and appreciate fans or the media's interest in any and all facets," he says.
This summer, Howard also celebrated the 30th anniversary of Apollo 13, a blockbuster drama about the space mission of the same name. It starred Tom Hanks, the late Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Kevin Bacon and Ed Harris. Howard's parents Rance and Jean Speegle Howard both appeared in the movie, as did his brother Clint. It was nominated for 9 Oscars, winning 2, and has made over $355 million at the box office.
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