Ron Howard's Daughter Bryce Dallas Looks Just Like Her Famous Father

Mar 09, 2022

As well as preparing them for life, parents pass on many things to their children, including their looks. But while it's more common for a child to resemble a parent that's the same gender, sometimes the opposite happens and when it does it can be truly heartwarming.

That's the case with Ron Howard — famed Hollywood director and former teen star of "Happy Days" — and his daughter Bryce Dallas Howard, who is the spitting image of her father. What's more, not only do they look alike but Bryce has taken after her father in other ways too.

Ron's career in the spotlight started when he was just a child after his recurring role on "The Andy Griffith Show" established him in Hollywood. Later roles in "Happy Days" and "American Graffiti" cemented his status as an actor, but by his late 20s Ron had figured out his passion lied in directing.

Meanwhile, Bryce has built her own successful career too. Her breakthrough acting role was in M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village" and since then she's also starred in "Spider-Man 3," "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" and the "Jurassic World" franchise.

Bryce followed Ron into the entertainment industry where she earned the respect of Hollywood as an actress, but later on, she followed her father behind the camera too, as she directed her first short film all the way back in 2006. Since then, she's directed multiple short films and in 2019 she released a documentary titled "Dads," which is aptly about fathers. She's also directed episodes of "The Mandalorian" and "The Book of Boba Fett."

The Howard family is a true force in Hollywood and their legacy in the entertainment industry is incredibly iconic. Let's take a look at Ron and Bryce's stories in particular and see just how much they resemble one another. 

Ron is an award-winning Hollywood director of movies such as "A Beautiful Mind," "Apollo 13" and "The Da Vinci Code," and he's also behind the hit comedy series "Arrested Development," but he's often still better known to audiences from his days in front of the camera. The actor-turned-director has worked in Hollywood for decades, and he's even turned it into a family affair.

However, the showbiz bug didn't begin with Ron — his parents were both in the business themselves. His mother Jean Speegle Howard worked as an actress and his father Rance Howard was an actor and director. Rance was known for his work in both film and television where he was an acclaimed character actor that's remembered for his performances in such films as "Cool Hand Luke," "Chinatown," "Apollo 13," "Independence Day," "A Beautiful Mind" and "Cinderella Man." In 1981 he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program for producing "The Time Crystal." 

Rance and Jean married in 1949 and they had two sons, Ron and Clint Howard. Both boys followed their parents' lead and found jobs in the entertainment industry, where both Ron and Clint got their start as infants in the industry. Clint continued to act into adulthood just like Ron and has earned a strong reputation in Hollywood for his work as a character actor. He's appeared in "The Waterboy," "Frost/Nixon" and "My Name Is Earl," among many other films and television series.

However, it was Ron's career that made him a Hollywood icon from very early on. His start on "The Andy Griffith Show" at the age of 5, where he played Opie, put him on the map. As a teenager, he had a role in George Lucas' "American Graffiti," which led to his leading role as Richie in "Happy Days," which ran from 1974 to 1980 and shot him to superstardom. 

But Ron said he always knew his true calling was to work behind the camera as a director, and he once described himself as an actor that dreamed of becoming a director. So although he'd established himself as an actor he didn't stop there and turned his attention to directing. He directed his first film in the late '70s and made sure to work on the craft over the next few years while he also continued to act. He made a few TV movies during this period that helped him learn the craft before his 1982 film "Night Shift" got him noticed as a director.

Ron continued to work on bigger and bigger projects as a director and throughout the '80s he made popular movies including "Splash," "Cocoon," "Willow" and "Parenthood." But by the 1990s, he'd shifted his focus from comedies to drama and in 1995 his film "Apollo 13" earned him widespread acclaim from critics and the industry alike. The film did incredibly well at the box office and was even nominated for nine Academy Awards, however, he missed out on a Best Director nomination. Following that, Ron's name had been cemented and over the next few decades, he worked on such films as "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "A Beautiful Mind," "Frost/Nixon," "The Da Vinci Code" and many more. 

He might have swapped being in front of the camera for a legendary career behind it, but the Hollywood icon is still very well known across all areas of the industry, from acting to directing and even producing. His production company Imagine Entertainment has continued to produce popular films and series including "8 Mile," "Arrested Development," "24" and more. 

While Ron's career in the film industry is very well known, one aspect of his life that isn't as talked about is his personal life, including his 46-year marriage to wife Cheryl Howard, née Alley. The couple first met when they attended John Burroughs High School in Burbank, California, and have been together ever since. The director told People:

"I met her, and there was never anybody else."

He described the "instant connection" that existed between them, and clearly, that's never faded, as the couple is only a few years off from their 50th wedding anniversary, which is an incredible feat. In fact, the couple has been together for that many years already, since Ron revealed on his Instagram in 2020 that his first date with Cheryl took place on Nov. 1, 1970. It went like this:

"We went to see a re-release of Stanley Kramer's 'It's a Mad Mad Mad World' and then got some pizza at now defunct Barnone's in Toluca Lake. Quite a start, Right?"

In an interview with HuffPost, Ron added that he "felt really lucky" when they first met. He said:

"It's crazy — we were teenagers, it shouldn't have worked. We got married young, that shouldn't have worked either, and yet it really and truly has."

Ron admired how Cheryl had been a constant support for him throughout his incredible career. He told People:

"She's unbelievably supportive and always has been. Our compatibility has endured through all kinds of experiences." 

Ron usually honors the couple's wedding anniversary each year, and 2021 was no exception. He shared a sweet photo of them with two balloons that spelled out "46" behind them and stated that they celebrated "quietly but beautifully" in Gold Coast, Australia. 

One of Hollywood's most understated long-term couples, Ron and Cheryl, have raised four children together, including Bryce, 41, twins Paige and Jocelyn Howard, 37, and son Reed Howard, 34. They now have five grandkids as well and together they often come out to support each other at events. But it's not only Bryce that's continued the Howard family tradition of working in the entertainment industry but her sister Paige as well. She works as an actress and has appeared in "Adventureland" and the shows "Medium" and "90210."

However, Bryce's career is only rising and as each year goes on she's taking more and more after her dad. Born on March 2, 1981, Bryce apparently had the acting bug from a young age as well. However, Ron and Cheryl raised Bryce and her siblings in New York State and Connecticut, away from the glare of Hollywood. They also didn't allow them access to television, which meant that their childhood was simple and carefree. But by the age of 7, Bryce was allowed to be an extra in one of her dad's movies.

During her youth, she attended a performing arts camp called Stagedoor Manor alongside Natalie Portman and eventually went on to study acting at the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where she graduated in 2003. She also honed her craft in the theater in New York City. Soon after she graduated she got her major acting break in the film "The Village." She then appeared in "Manderlay" and "Lady in the Water," before she started acting in major Hollywood blockbusters including "Spider-Man: 3," the "Twilight Saga" franchise and the "Jurassic World" franchise. 

But just as she followed her father into acting, Bryce also took after Ron in her passion for directing. She directed her first short film, "Orchids," all the way back in 2006. Over the next decade, she continued making shorts and even directed a music video before she finally set her sights on a long-form project.

Then in 2019, she released a documentary titled "Dads," which even featured Ron in it! The doc was released on Apple TV+ and is a look at modern-day fatherhood. Alongside Bryce's reflections of her own dad, the film includes snippets of celebrity fathers and everyday men from all over the world. Some famous faces who appear in the film include Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Will Smith, Judd Apatow, Ken Jeong, Hasan Minhaj and Kenan Thompson. While she promoted the documentary, Bryce posted a lovely photo of her and Ron to her Instagram account and captioned it:

"Some of you might recall I shared a while back that I was directing a documentary called Dads. Well oh my goodness, it has turned out to be such a magical and meaningful adventure!"

Bryce's close relationship with Ron is no secret, so we can only imagine how meaningful it was to work with her father on the project, and for her long-form directorial debut no less! In a speech she gave in 2015, the actress-turned-director spoke very highly of her father. As reported by Vulture, she said:

"My dad is the most sensitive, patient, and inclusive father on planet Earth. I literally have no ammunition for a tell-all. Nothing. He included me in everything."  

In the same speech, Bryce spoke about how she was privy to Ron's filmmaking process even as a child, as she was given odd jobs on set and was allowed to watch the day's shots with him. She then gave an anecdote about when her father made "Apollo 13." She said:

"In the summer before eighth grade, my dad started production on Apollo 13 and I got a promotion: my first walkie-talkie. I was a 13-year-old PA. It was a very big deal ... I fell in love with movie-making that summer."

She went on to explain that while the film was nominated for nine Oscars, Ron wasn't nominated for Best Director, which she took very personally as a then-14-year-old. However, he was not only nominated for a Director's Guild of America Award for the film, he actually won. Bryce explained:

"He never expected to win — none of us did. I know along with everyone else there, it was profound for him to receive that level of recognition from his peers. So for me, March 2, 1996, was truly the most kick-a** night of my life. I want to sincerely thank the DGA for not only acknowledging my dad’s name, but for giving me the best 15th-birthday present a girl could hope for."

In her speech, Bryce said, "My father was my hero, and he still is." It's clear there is such a close bond between Ron and Bryce, not only as a father and a daughter but as two actors-turned-directors too.

But beyond their family bond and shared career interests, Bryce is a total clone of her dad and actually resembles a female version of him from his "Happy Days" era! Their closeness makes the fact that she is a dead ringer of her beloved father even more heartwarming. 

How sweet it is to know that not only do Ron Howard and Bryce Dallas Howard look alike but their relationship and fondness for each other are as close as can be! What are your thoughts on their close relationship? Do you think she looks like a female version of Richie from "Happy Days"? Let us know, then be sure to pass this on to any fans of the Howard family's work you know!