Who Is Ron Howard's Wife, Cheryl Howard?

Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard is the director behind a number of iconic films, like "A Beautiful Mind," "Cinderella Man," "Frost/Nixon," and "Solo: A Star Wars Story," to name a few. The 67-year-old got his start as an actor on shows like "The Twilight Zone" and "The Andy Griffith Show" before transitioning to working behind the camera. To date, he has received a number of accolades for his work, including an Academy Award for Best Director and Best Feature for "A Beautiful Mind."

But what do we know about his partner in crime? For 46 years, Ron has been married to wife Cheryl Howard. Together, they have four children: Bryce Dallas Howard, Paige Howard, Jocelyn Carlyle, and Reed Cross. In a 2019 interview with People, Ron shared that he met his wife in high school in Burbank, California. He's quoted as saying, "I met her, and there was never anybody else." Ron also credited their marital success to "communication."

What else do we know about the couple and what they have to say about marriage?

In his 2019 interview with People, Ron Howard said of marriage, "People say, 'How'd you do it?' There's no technique. There's no tactic other than communication is really important." He went on to explain, "You have to learn to communicate and have difficult conversations in constructive ways. Beyond that, there's an element of luck because people either grow together or they don't and I don't think you can force that." Ron added that his wife Cheryl Howard is "incredibly supportive" and the two are very compatible. 

According to her website, Cheryl was born in Glendale, California, and received her B.A. in psychology and a Masters of Fine Arts in screenwriting. She has two sisters and was raised with a "slew" of animals. Cheryl wrote on her site, "I didn't start writing until the age of 22 and English was never my strong point. But I do, dearly, love a good yarn. Especially, if afterwards, I'm just a little more aware of the world around me." She added that when it comes to her husband, it was his "passion for story" that brought them together.

Coincidentally, Ron has also forayed into writing books. The director and his brother, Clint Howard, collaborated on a book called, "The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family." 

In 2005, Cheryl Howard released the book, "In the Face of Jinn." The book follows two American sisters who travel to India on a silk-buying trip. When one sister goes missing, the other searches Afghanistan and Pakistan to find her. Cheryl's website reveals that she grew up "captivated by traditional cultures of the Middle East and Central Asia." 

During her years living in Connecticut, Cheryl met a man named Ali Nazim, and their friendship evolved into lengthy discussions about "his beloved Pakistan." Cheryl wrote, "It made sense, during my discussions with my friend, Ali, that I became intrigued with the dynamics of his country and recognized it as a foreign and mysterious part of the world worthy of some fresh literary exploration." She also explained a bit about how the story came together, saying, "But it was not until the research began in earnest that the dimension of the story in terms of both character and action began to take shape."

According to Amazon, Kirkus' review of the book called the novel "an impressive first by a Hollywood insider."