The book that made Ron Howard become a director
Even though his first taste of success came through his on-camera efforts, Ron Howard always harboured dreams of stepping behind it to establish himself as a filmmaker.
Beginning his acting career when he was literally a baby, Howard was a well-known name and experienced actor by the time he’d reached the end of his 20s, after following up his breakthrough role on The Andy Griffith Show with a key supporting part in the massively popular Happy Days.
It was never his true calling, though, with the course of his career shifting forever when he made his feature-length directorial debut on 1977’s Grand Theft Auto under the watchful eye of Roger Corman, which released shortly after Howard had turned 33 years old. From there, he was off to the races.
Proving himself capable of weaving between genres at will, Howard’s eclectic filmography includes the comedy Splash, fantasy Willow, biographical drama Apollo 13, fiery blockbuster Backdraft, the Robert Langdon trilogy with Tom Hanks, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Mel Gibson revenge thriller Ransom, and racing story Rush to name just a few, with his professional peak coming when A Beautiful Mind scooped a pair of Academy Awards for ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’.
Howard has never been constrained by genre or tone, which also applied to one of his greatest cinematic influences. In fact, as much as he’d always entertained the notion of becoming a director in his own right, it was a book penned by his hero that crystallised those beliefs.
“I had read Frank Capra’s autobiography, The Name Above the Title, which galvanized my passion to overcome all obstacles and become a filmmaker,” Howard told A.Frame. “I was probably 17 when I read this book, and I’d been making short films and telling anyone who would listen that I wanted to be a director.”
Despite already informing those around him that he was planning to direct, it was Capra’s autobiography that didn’t just deepen his appreciation of the It’s A Wonderful Life architect but convinced him this was the avenue to follow. “But, finishing that book, I not only began to be a student of Capra,” he continued. “But I really threw down the gauntlet and said, ‘I don’t hope to be a director. By God, I am going to be a filmmaker.'”
He accomplished his objective, and Howard would even host the 1997 documentary Frank Capra’s American Dream, a retrospective that featured countless collaborators, contemporaries, colleagues, and peers discussing the influence the legendary three-time Oscar winner had on them. Ever since he was a teenager reading The Name Above the Title for the very first time, Howard had been firmly among that number.
