Ron Howard Talks Telling Stories as a Filmmaker Ahead of Receiving Variety’s Legends and Groundbreakers Award
Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards, Features Editor Though his movies have made billions at the box office and he’s been awarded pretty much every major accolade, from the Oscars to the Emmys to a Grammy, Ron Howard has achieved an honor even more rare: He’s maintained his reputation as one of the nicest guys in the business. It’s why the team behind Fox’s animated hit “The Simpsons” got such a kick out of portraying Howard as the ultimate Hollywood stereotype in his several appearances on the show. Howard would show up, often clad in a baseball cap and bathrobe while sipping a martini — even at a movie premiere or going to a special zoo for famous people. (For the record, Howard knew how his cartoon doppelgänger would be drawn: “I was in on the joke,” he assures Variety.)