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Ron Howard, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker is one of his generation's most popular directors. From the critically acclaimed dramas A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13 to the hit comedies Parenthood and Splash, he has created some of Hollywood's most memorable films. He recently earned an Oscar for Best Director for A Beautiful Mind, which also won awards for Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress. The film garnered four Golden Globes as well, including the award for Best Motion Picture Drama, and Howard won Best Director of the Year from the Directors Guild of America. Howard and producer Brian Grazer received the first annual Awareness Award from the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign for their work on the film.

Howard's skill as a director has long been recognized. In 1995, he received his first Best Director of the Year award from the DGA for Apollo 13. The true-life drama also garnered nine Academy Award nominations, winning Oscars for Best Film Editing and Best Sound. It also received Best Cast and Best Supporting Actor awards from the Screen Actor's Guild. Many of Howard's past films have also received Academy Award nods, including the popular hits Backdraft, Parenthood and Cocoon, the last of which took home two Oscars. Howard has served as an executive producer as well on a number of award-winning films and television shows, such as the HBO mini-series From the Earth to the Moon.

Howard's portfolio includes some of the most popular films of the past 20 years. In 1991, Howard created the acclaimed drama Backdraft starring Robert DeNiro, Kurt Russell and William Baldwin. He followed it with the historical epic Far and Away starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Howard directed Mel Gibson, Rene Russo, Gary Sinise and Delroy Lindo in the 1996 suspense thriller Ransom. Howard worked with Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Ed Harris, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise and Kathleen Quinlan on Apollo 13, which was re-released recently in the IMAX format. Howard's other films include the blockbuster How the Grinch Stole Christmas starring Jim Carrey, Parenthood starring Steve Martin, Willow and Night Shift starring Henry Winkler, Michael Keaton and Shelley Long.

Howard and long-time producing partner Brian Grazer first collaborated on the hit comedies Night Shift and Splash. The pair co-founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 to create independently produced feature films. The company has since produced a variety of popular feature films, including the hits Nutty Professor, Nutty Professor II, Bowfinger, The Paper, Inventing the Abbotts and Liar, Liar. Howard made his directorial debut in 1978 with the comedy Grand Theft Auto.

He began his career in film, though, as an actor. He first appeared in The Journey and The Music Man, then as 'Opie' on the long-running television series The Andy Griffith Show. During the 1970s, Howard starred in the popular series Happy Days and drew favorable reviews for his performances in American Graffiti and The Shootist.

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