Here's how Happy Days helped Ron Howard mature
Ron Howard spent most of his life in front of the screen. We watched him grow up from little Opie on The Andy Griffith Show to Richie Cunningham on Happy Days.
He had been acting for a total of 17 years, but he was typically cast as younger characters, which made it hard for him to act his age and prove to people that the little boy who was once Opie and the high school teen who was Richie, was, in fact, a professional actor in his 20s.
According to a 1976 interview with The Sedalia Democrat, Howard said that, although he was still playing a teenager on the hit series, he was happy to have the chance to show a little maturity.
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"The next few years will be a period of transition for me," Howard said. "At least I hope they will be. I can't go on forever playing an 18-year-old. Happy Days is letting me mature somewhat."
The series' creators allowed his character to mature more than ever before by having him face more grown-up challenges. He transitioned from a high school teenager to a college-bound young adult, which reflected Ron Howard's real-life growth as an actor.
There were many moments when it felt like we were growing up with Richie.
However, Howard couldn’t help but look beyond the series. After Happy Days, he wanted to pursue more "grown-up" roles because, after all, he had been playing a kid for most of his career.
Even though he started acting when he was five, his father, Rance Howard, never pushed him. His dad was always careful to remind him that he didn’t have to be an actor if he didn’t want to be.
At first, he quit acting in high school to focus on sports. He devoted himself to basketball and dreamed of a career on the basketball court.
"At the time, I expected to grow to be a six-footer," Howard said. "But I didn't. Maybe that's why I went back to acting."
At the time of this interview, Howard said he wanted to direct, and while we all know how that turned out for him, it was just an idea at the time. He thought it would be something else that would help him mature and help him step away from his typical boy-ish roles.
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