The Untold Truth Of Ron Howard’s Wife

Who is Cheryl Howard, Ron Howard’s wife?

Cheryl Gay Alley was born in Glendale, California USA, on 23 December 1953 – her zodiac sign is Capricorn and she holds American nationality. She is an actress, but who is perhaps better known as the wife of famous American actor, movie director and producer Ron Howard.

She is not to be mistaken for Cheryl Howard, a Canadian rower who was born on 30 January 1953.

Early life and education

Cheryl was raised alongside her two sisters by their father Charles Alley who was a chemical and aerospace engineer, an amateur astronomer and a marksman, and their mother Vivian Schmid, who was a nurse at a local hospital.

Cheryl was physically very active while attending high school, as she played soccer and badminton and was steadily becoming interested in acting. While still attending high school at the age of 16, in 1969 she was invited to star in the short western movie directed by her future husband entitled “Old Paint”, which also starred Bill Conklin and Clint Howard – the story follows a cowboy who is replacing his old paint with new paint, but the short received mixed reviews. In the same year Cheryl appeared in another short film directed by Ron, entitled “Deed of Daring-Do”.

She and Ron agreed that she would focus on her education and pause her acting career, and Cheryl thus matriculated from high school in 1971, and then enrolled at California State University, Northridge from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in geriatric psychology in 1975 – Cheryl also holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in screenwriting, which she obtained in 1977.

Career as an actress

Cheryl came back to acting in 1977 when she made an uncredited appearance as The Reporter in Brown Hat in her husband’s full-length action comedy crime movie “Grand Theft Auto”, which starred Ron, Nancy Morgan and Elizabeth Rogers, and is about a girl who steals her father’s expensive car and goes to Las Vegas to marry the love of her life, while being chased by her parents and a jealous suitor.

In 1980, Cheryl co-produced the drama movie “Skyward” directed by Ron, while she also made an uncredited appearance in the film. 1982 saw her appear as the Girl Kissing Boyfriend in Front of Apartment in the comedy movie “Night Shift”, directed by Ron and starring Henry Winkler, Michael Keaton and Shelley Long – this was Ron’s first successful movie, as it won Michael Keaton a Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor, while Henry Winkler received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical.

Two years later, Cheryl appeared in Ron’s romantic comedy fantasy movie “Splash”, starring Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah and Eugene Levy, and which was very successful as it won two awards and was nominated for nine others, including an Oscar. In 1988, Cheryl portrayed Nelwyn Villager in the action adventure movie “Willow”, and into the new millenium she played the supporting role as Redheaded Barmaid in the 1994 comedy movie “The Paper”, which starred Michael Keaton and Glenn Close.

In 1995, she made an uncredited appearance in the critically acclaimed historical adventure movie “Apollo 13”, starring Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon, and is about NASA planning to return the space shuttle Apollo 13 to Earth safely after it becomes damaged in the outer space.

In 1999, Cheryl played the Party Girl in the comedy movie “EDtv”, and then appeared in the episode “Ron Howard: Hollywood’s Favorite Son” of the documentary series “Biography”. The year 2001 saw her play the Harvard Administrator in the critically acclaimed biographical movie “A Beautiful Mind”, which starred Russell Crowe as John Nash, a genius mathematician suffering from schizophrenia – the film is today ranked #138 best movie of all time, and has won 33 awards and been nominated for 69 others.

In 2005, Cheryl appeared in single episodes of two documentary series – “The View” and “Charlie Rose” – and in 2006, she made an uncredited appearance in the critically acclaimed mystery thriller movie “The Da Vinci Code”.

Three of her latest appearances have been in the action mystery thriller movie “Angels & Demons” in 2009, an episode of the talk show “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” in 2013, and the episode “Emotional Baggage” of the comedy series “Arrested Development” in 2018.

Love life and marriage with Ron

Cheryl and Ron met while they were attending the same high school, and they’ve been together ever since – it is widely believed that they are each other’s first (and only) love. They married on 7 June 1975 in a big ceremony, and in 1981, Cheryl gave birth to their daughter Bryce Dallas, who was followed by Cheryl and Ron’s twin daughters Jocelyn and Paige who were born in 1985, and in 1987 they finally welcomed a son named Reed Howard.

45yrs ago Cheryl & I wed. Our journey’s been one of blessings & lessons experienced together & as individuals. In these heartbreaking times we’ll continue to listen & learn & hope our country will grow, unify, flourish & set a positive example 4 the world #BlackLivesMattters pic.twitter.com/koBnfrYggC

— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) June 7, 2020

On 16 February 2007, Cheryl became a grandmother after her daughter Bryce gave birth to her son.

There have been no controversies surrounding the two’s marriage – as of September 2020, Cheryl is married to Ron (her first marriage) and they have four children and one grandson together.

Hobbies and other interests

Cheryl is keen on spending her free time in nature surrounded by animals and trees, and as a psychologist she often recommends being outdoors and away from overcrowded cities and the noise as good relaxation.

She likes to shoot various weapons – her father began teaching her how to use a shotgun when she was five years old.

Cheryl is a huge lover of animals and has had many pet dogs and cats since she was a teenager, while she has both volunteered and donated money to animal shelters – while still a teenager, Cheryl raised wild animals at her home such as monkeys, anteaters and skunks.

She likes to travel and has been to many American states with her husband, while the two have also vacationed in several European and Asian countries – Cheryl’s dream travel destination is Kyoto in Japan.

She likes to watch movies in her spare time – her favorite actors and actresses are Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise and Angelina Jolie, and some of her favorite movies are “The Terminal”, “The Last Samurai” and “Mr. and Mrs Smith”.

Age and height

Cheryl’s age is 66. She has long brown hair and blue eyes, her height is 5ft 8ins (1.73m) and she weighs around 135lbs (61kgs). As of September 2020, her net worth has been estimated at over $1 million while her husband’s net worth has been estimated at over $200 million.

Who is Ron Howard?

Ronald William Howard was born in Duncan, Oklahoma USA on 1 March 1954 – his zodiac sign is Pisces and he holds American nationality. He gained recognition at a very early age when he guest starred in a single episode of the anthology series “The Twilight Zone”.

Ron was raised alongside his younger brother Clint Howard, in Hollywood, Los Angeles by their father Rance Howard who was an actor, film director and producer, and who died in 2017, and their mother Jean Speegle Howard who was an actress and who died in 2000. Ron practiced acting at Desilu Studios, but soon switched to Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary School – from there, he went to David Star Jordan Junior High School and later switched to John Burroughs High School from which he matriculated in 1972. He then enrolled at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, but quit before graduation.

He appeared in his first movie “The Journey” in 1959 at the age of five, and then went on to appear in a single episode of many series such as “The DuPont Show with June Allyson”, “Dennis the Menace” and “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis” – in 1960, he started portraying Opie Taylor in the comedy series “The Andy Griffith Show” and was shooting for it until 1968. During those eight years, Ron appeared in many other series including “The Eleventh Hour” and “I Spy”.  and movies such as “The Music Man” and “The Courtship of Eddi’s Father”. In 1973, he was cast as Steve Bolander in the coming-of-age comedy movie “American Graffiti”, and was then invited to play Richie Cunningham in the popular and critically acclaimed sitcom “Happy Days”, ultimately in over 170 episodes during the next decade.

In 1977, Ron made his directing debut with the movie “Grand Theft Auto” and has subsequently become one of the best movie directors of all time, after having worked on huge hits such as “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, “Cinderella Man” and “Inferno” among many others. It was announced on 22 June 2017 that the two directors of the movie “Solo: A Star Wars Story” had been replaced by Ron because they refused to compromise with the film and TV production company Lucasfilm – Ron had to reshoot most of the film, and had only three and a half weeks to do so.

Ron is currently directing and producing the upcoming drama movie “Hillbilly Elegy”, he is directing and producing the upcoming documentary movie “Julia”, and has also been producing the scientific documentary series “Breakthrough” since 2015.