I can't say that Ron Howard is a favorite director of mine. Nor is his name cited very often when Cinophiles list the best in the business. I always considered him to be a commercial filmmaker. His projects are skillfully made and they make money. People enjoy them. I don't see an overlying personality behind the films he has directed. He's like Robert Wise in that regard.

I don't mean that as an insult. The world needs artists like Ron Howard. He's an amazing man, who has had one of the most astonishingly successful careers in show business.

Howard did two television roles in his youth that are not merely iconic. Opie Taylor of The Andy Griffith Show, and Richie Cunningham from Happy Days are part of our collective consciousness. People like me from the TV generation of the sixties and seventies literally grew up with Ron Howard. Those two roles are, to some of us, more important than many family members.

Then there is Clint Howard. He's been the butt of many jokes. Yes, he's a little bit funny looking, but Clint has as many childhood roles as Ron. More, in fact. He starred in Gentle Ben, a show about a domesticated bear. While Gentle Ben was no Andy Griffith, it was very popular in its day. Clint did dozens of walk-on roles in shows and movies. It's debatable which of the two was the better actor.

Poor Clint has taken some questionable roles in his career. Despite their love for one another, he had to walk in his stellar brother's shadow. I can't say that I've ever seen him do a poor job in any role I've seen. Regardless of the merits of some of the productions. He's taken a lot of crap, and yes, I've made some Clint Howard jokes too.

I'm partial to Clint's portrayal of Eaglebauer in Rock 'n' Roll High School.

One good thing to come of the pandemic is people had time to write. Ron and Clint have co-written their memoirs, in a lovely book called The Boys. It's a joyous, funny, warm, sometimes sad, but deeply touching look at their family and their work.

As much as anything else, The Boys is a big thank you to Ron and Clint's parents. Both of them, but especially to their father, Rance. Rance Howard had aspirations to be a star, and he had the chops to do it. When it became obvious that his sons were naturals at acting, he stepped back and devoted his life to guiding them.

With love, fairness, ethics, and wit, Rance Howard protected his sons from the vipers who eat children in the business. He may have been a bit old fashioned for the tumultuous sixties, but his influence was enormous in the development of Ron Howard, the actor and director. From his writing it seems like Ron isn't all that much different from wholesome Richie Cunningham.

Clint took some darker roads. He details his struggles with addictions. I think we are all enlightened enough to reserve judgement on people with substance abuse problems. Especially to those who have found sobriety, like Clint Howard.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Boys, and I think anyone with even the slightest interest in the history of television will find it engrossing. Of course I particularly liked the parts where Ron discusses how Roger Corman helped launch his directorial career. Grand Theft Auto is, needless to say, my favorite of his movies. I'm a drive-in guy to the end.

On top of all that, The Boys has the best cover photo I've seen since Harlan Ellison's The City on the Edge of Forever.

Written by Mark Sieber

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