Why Happy Days Star Henry Winkler Is Responsible For Ron Howard's Directing Career

Ron Howard has been enjoying success as a Hollywood director for almost 50 years, though the project most people associate him with is still "Happy Days." The ABC sitcom, which lasted for 11 seasons from 1974 to 1984, was where Howard made his name playing Richie Cunningham. Given the importance of the series to launching Howard's career, it's no surprise it helped him get his start in directing, even if Howard never directed an episode of "Happy Days" itself. The series saw him share the screen with Henry Winkler, who played the Fonz, and whom Howard credits for helping him land his big break as a director.

It was while making "Happy Days" that Howard started directing short films, before eventually getting to direct the low-budget comedy "Grand Theft Auto" for producer Roger Corman. Howard went on to direct a spate of TV movies, before landing his first major studio directing job on 1982's "Night Shift." Winkler starred in the movie. While speaking recently to EW, Howard talked about the importance of Winkler's casting, saying "Henry was always so supportive of that. When Henry said yes to 'Night Shift,' that's what got that movie greenlit."

By swapping Fonzie's "Happy Days" catchphrases and leather jacket for a role as the markedly less cool Chuck Lumley, Howard says Winkler "played a hand in helping my dream ultimately come true, which was to be a studio, Hollywood, feature director." Since "Night Shift," Howard's directing career has continued to flourish.

Howard left "Happy Days" after its seventh season to pursue his directing career. Following the success of "Night Shift," Howard went on to direct comedies "Splash" and "Cocoon," before reteaming with Michael Keaton for 1986's "Gung Ho." Howard first worked with Keaton on "Night Shift," which was the future Batman's first major feature film role.

After his initial run of comedy movies, Howard went on to direct "Willow," a high fantasy adventure movie, in 1988. It starred Warwick Davis, who returned for the short-lived "Willow" Disney+ series in 2022, as well as another Batman-to-be in Val Kilmer. Since then, Howard has directed several revered movies, including "Apollo 13," "A Beautiful Mind," and "Frost/Nixon."

Having previously worked with George Lucas on "Willow," on which Lucas was an executive producer, Howard ventured into Lucas' Star Wars universe in 2018 on the spin-off movie "Solo: A Star Wars Story." Though the movie received a lukewarm reception, it set a family precedent. Howard's daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard, also a successful actor and director, joined the Disney+ Star Wars series "The Mandalorian" as a director in 2019. She has directed episodes for each season of the hit show.

Howard recently played a version of himself in Seth Rogen's Apple TV+ comedy "The Studio." His role in "The Studio" subverted Howard's "nice guy" image, which his role on "Happy Days" has contributed to. A satirical take on Hollywood, "The Studio" featured a much ruder Ron Howard.