Howard was cast in one of the lead roles in the influential coming-of-age film American Graffiti (1973), and became a household name for playing Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days (1974–1980).

In 1980, Howard left Happy Days to focus on directing, producing, and sometimes writing a variety of films and television series.

[4][5] Howard also directed other historical dramas such as Apollo 13 (1995), Cinderella Man (2005), Rush (2013), In the Heart of the Sea (2015), and Thirteen Lives (2022).

Howard has gained recognition for directing numerous documentary films such as The Beatles: Eight Days a Week (2016), Pavarotti (2019), and We Feed People (2022).

[13][14] Howard was tutored at Desilu Studios in his younger years but continued his schooling at Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary and David Starr Jordan Junior High in Burbank, California when not working in television, eventually graduating from Burbank's John Burroughs High School.

Credited as "Ronny Howard", he portrayed the son of the main character (played by Andy Griffith) for all eight seasons of the show.

Beginning in 1974, he played the likable "buttoned-down" boy, in contrast to Henry Winkler's "greaser" Arthur "Fonzie"/"The Fonz" Fonzarelli.

It featured the story of two teenagers, Mike (Howard) and Karen (Robie Lester), who get trapped inside the Haunted Mansion.

[24] In 1976, Howard starred alongside John Wayne and Lauren Bacall in Don Siegel's The Shootist, the story of a Western gunfighter dying of cancer.

Before leaving Happy Days in 1980, Howard made his directing debut with the 1977 low-budget comedy/action film Grand Theft Auto, based on a script he co-wrote with his father, Rance.

[3] His big directorial break came in 1982, with Night Shift, featuring Michael Keaton, Shelley Long, and Howard's Happy Days co-star Henry Winkler.

[3] Following Night Shift, Howard directed a number of major films, including the fantasy romantic comedy Splash (1984) starring Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, Eugene Levy, and John Candy.

He also directed the science fiction comedy drama Cocoon (1985) starring Don Ameche, Hume Cronyn, Wilford Brimley, and Brian Dennehy.

In 1988, he reunited with George Lucas on the high fantasy adventure film Willow starring Val Kilmer and Warwick Davis.

Howard's final work as a director for the 1980s was the family comedy film Parenthood (1989) starring an ensemble cast that includes Steve Martin, Tom Hulce, Rick Moranis, Martha Plimpton, Joaquin Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, Jason Robards, Mary Steenburgen, and Dianne Wiest.

[29][30][31][32] The film stars Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton as the three astronauts members of the Apollo 13 flight crew, with supporting performances from Gary Sinise, Ed Harris, and Kathleen Quinlan.

In 2005, Howard directed the biographical sports drama Cinderella Man based on the true story of heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock played by Russell Crowe.

The film also starred Renée Zellweger as his wife Mae Braddock, and Paul Giamatti as his trainer Joe Gould.

Its consensus states, "With grittiness and an evocative sense of time and place, Cinderella Man is a powerful underdog story.

The series began with The Da Vinci Code (2006) with Tom Hanks as Langdon, featuring performances by Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, and Alfred Molina.

In 2016, Inferno was released with Hanks continuing the role with performances by Felicity Jones, Irrfan Khan, and Omar Sy.

[35] The film is based on the taped conversations known as the Frost/Nixon interviews between former United States President Richard Nixon and British talk show host David Frost.

The film also featured performances from Mathew Macfadyen, Sam Rockwell, Rebecca Hall, Oliver Platt, Toby Jones, and Kevin Bacon.

It was written by Peter Morgan and starred Chris Hemsworth as Hunt, Daniel Brühl as Lauda, and Olivia Wilde as Suzy Miller.

In 2015, Howard directed the film In the Heart of the Sea about the sinking of the American whaling ship Essex in 1820, an event that inspired Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick.

The film featured performances by Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland, Ben Whishaw, and Brendan Gleeson.

Howard officially replaced directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller on June 22, 2017; they were let go from their position two days earlier, reportedly due to their refusal to compromise with Lucasfilm over the direction of the film; reportedly the directors encouraged significant improvisations by the actors, which was believed by some at Lucasfilm to be "shifting the story off-course".

In 2022, Netflix acquired from Paramount Pictures The Shrinking of Treehorn, which will mark Howard's first time directing an animated feature.

Imagine has produced several films including Friday Night Lights, 8 Mile, and Inside Deep Throat, as well as the television series 24, Felicity, The PJs, and Arrested Development which Howard also narrated and later appeared in as himself.