Who Is Ron Howard’s Wife? All About Cheryl Howard

Ron Howard and Cheryl Howard have an enduring love.

Ron’s long and famous career began in 1959, when he got the role The Andy Griffith Show at only 5 years old. He continued to act Happy days in the late 70s before moving on to behind-the-scenes directing work. Since then he has directed a number of award-winning films including A beautiful mind, Apollo 13 and Brđanin ElegMr.

Through it all, the child actor-turned-director had the support of his wife, Cheryl, whom he met in high school and married in 1975.

“I met her and there was never anyone else,” Ron told PEOPLE in 2019 shortly after they celebrated their 44th anniversary. “She is an amazing support and always has been. Our compatibility has survived through various experiences.”

During their decades-long relationship, Ron and Cheryl raised four children: daughters Bryce Dallas, Jocelyn Carlyle and Paige Carlyle, and son Reed Cross. Cheryl also appeared several times in her husband’s films.

So who is Ron Howard’s wife? Here’s everything you need to know about Cheryl Howard.

She is a published author

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2005, Cheryl’s debut novel, In the Face of the Giant, published by St. Martin’s Press. The story follows two American sisters as they travel to India on business, only for one sister to mysteriously disappear. The second sister’s search for her leads to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Cheryl found inspiration for her novel in conversations with her friend and martial arts instructor, Ali Nazim, who is from Pakistan.

She traveled to the Middle East to conduct research for the book, writing on her website: “In October and November 1997, with the help of a retired CIA operative, I traveled to the Northwest Frontier on the Afghan border and embarked on a three and a half week adventure in accompanied by two ex-military officers of the Pakistan Army. Their job was to guide (and smuggle) me through the country’s tribal areas, exposing me to places where visitors, especially Americans, were officially forbidden.”

She was inspired by her adventurer father

Born in Glendale, California, in December 1953, Cheryl, along with her two sisters, was raised by her parents, Charles and Vivian Alley. Her father was a “chemical and aerospace engineer, amateur astronomer and archer.”

As Cheryl wrote on her website, he was also “the first white man to survive the summit of Mount Fuji in winter, and at the time of his death was said to be the oldest competitive aerobatic pilot in the world.”

She said her adventurous dad encouraged her to be interested in “travel and the exotic.”

“I’ve flown planes, soloed on my 16th birthday, shot guns since I was five and kept all kinds of wild animals in my home, monkeys, anteaters, skunks, the proverbial zoo,” she continued.

He has two university degrees

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The published author has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in screenwriting. On her website, she wrote that they were brought together by Ron’s “passion for the story.”

“Although Ronny doesn’t share my enthusiasm for the Middle East and Central Asia (he was a little nervous when he first learned of my desire to travel there), he has always supported my need to come up with a story,” she added. “I only started writing when I was 22, and English has never been my strong point. But, my dear, I love a good yarn. Especially if I’m just a little more aware of the world around me afterwards.”

She and Ron are high school sweethearts

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Ron and Cheryl met while attending John Burroughs High School in Burbank, California. In November 2020, Ron took to Instagram to mark the 50th anniversary of their first date.

“November 1st 1970 Cheryl and I went on our first date,” he captioned a photo of himself wearing socks with Cheryl’s face on them. “We went to see the Stanley Kramer reissue It’s a crazy crazy crazy world and then grabbed pizza at the now defunct Barnone’s in Toluca Lake. Good start, isn’t it?”

Ron also shared their plans to celebrate the day: “We’ll be driving around in the same ’70 VW Beetle I picked Cheryl up in 5 decades ago. It runs great. So do we.”

Ron proposed to her three times

In February 2024, Bryce, the couple’s eldest daughter, appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show and revealed that Ron proposed to Cheryl not once, but three times before she said yes.

“Even though they had an amazing relationship in high school and everything, he proposed three times and she said no twice,” Bryce said, laughing, “Because she said, ‘I want to go to school first. I’m not ready yet to be in your train.’ She’s really strong.”

She and Ron were married in 1975

After dating for five years, Ron and Cheryl were married on June 7, 1975 in Burbank, California. Their wedding was attended by Ron’s celebrity co-stars, including his TV dads Andy Griffith and Tom Bosley.

After their 44th anniversary, Ron told PEOPLE that “communication” is the secret to their lasting marriage.

“People say, ‘How did you do that?’ There is no technique,” he said. “There are no tactics, except that communication is very important. You have to learn to communicate and have difficult conversations in a constructive way. Also, there is an element of luck because people either grow together or they don’t, and I don’t think you can force that.”

She recorded episodic roles in Ron’s movies and TV shows

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Cheryl made several cameos in Ron’s projects. She even played herself in a TV show Arrested developmentwhich Ron executive produced and narrated.

In an interview with the Television Academy, Ron called Cheryl his “lucky charm”, citing this as the reason he cast her in every film he worked on.

“At a certain point I became very superstitious about making sure that she appeared, that she was identifiable in at least one shot,” he said. “They don’t have to be big cameos, but she has to be in there.”

She and Ron have four children

Paige Howard’s Instagram

The Howards have four children together: daughter Bryce, twins Paige and Jocelyn, and son Reed.

Ron and Cheryl’s two children have followed in their father’s footsteps and embarked on careers in the entertainment industry. Bryce is known for his roles in films such as Jurassic World and Help and TV shows like Black mirror. She also directed a documentary film dadwhich featured Ron as well as episodes The Mandalorian and The Boba Fett book.

Paige made her film debut in 2009 Adventureland and has since starred in several other films and series, including movies Employer and Collection.

Reed is a professional golfer who shares golf tips on his website and YouTube channel. He also invented a practice aid for golfers who tend to swing off the ball, according to Golf.com.

Jocelyn is a very private person and not much is known about her, however, she has appeared with her family members at several public events.

In 2018, all four of Howard’s children appeared in the series as themselves Arrested development with their moms and dads.

She and Ron have six grandchildren

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Ron and Cheryl are also the proud grandparents of six children. Their eldest daughter, Bryce, shares two children with her husband, Seth Gabel: a son, Theodore, and a daughter, Beatrice.

Reed and his wife Ashley have a daughter named Aspen Leigh, and the golfer often shares moments from their family of three on Instagram.

In April 2020, Bryce announced the birth of her niece, Elodie Vivian—Ron and Cheryl’s sixth grandchild— Twitter. “Howard’s sixth grandchild was born and I’m already thinking about dressing her up as Baby Yoda,” she wrote, referring to her show The Mandalorian. “Welcome to the Howard family, Elodie Vivian. Theodore Norman, Beatrice Jean, Quinn Everett, Sawyer William and Aspen Leigh welcome you home.”

Paige married actor and artist Tim Abou-Nasr in May 2022, but the couple has no children yet. Although Jocelyn has no social media and is very reclusive, it can be assumed that her children are Quinn, Sawyer and Elodie.

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Source: HIS Education