Unearthed Ron Howard Photo Shows New Dad Life As Daughter Bryce Celebrates His 70th Birthday

He became a household name time and again on national television, won several Academy Awards, was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame, shines bright on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and he’s still not done with the exciting milestones. As March opened, Ron Howard celebrated his 70th birthday and he did so with some help from his daughter Bryce Dallas Howard, who treated fans to some never-before-seen pictures of when Howard was young.

Born on March 1, 1954, actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Ron Howard is a proud father of four, sharing Bryce, Jocelyn, Paige, and Reed with his wife of nearly five decades, Cheryl Alley. Howard has been in the spotlight thanks to his performance as Opie Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show, not to mention Happy Days where he played the well-meaning Richie Cunningham, American Graffiti, and more. Today, Bryce continues to follow in dad’s footsteps – and she’s bringing up the past in other very fun ways too.

Bryce Dallas Howard shares pictures of a young Ron Howard to celebrate his 70th birthday

On March 1, Bryce took to Instagram to share a tribute post dedicated to dad Howard, featuring a throwback photo of them both.. “Happy 70th birthday Daddio,” she captioned the post. “I love you SOOOOOOO MUCH!!!”

RELATED: Ron Howard Shares Precious Photo From His ‘Andy Griffith’ Opie Days

Her descriptive text goes on to not only describe the image but to date it for inquisitive fans. “A polaroid photo of a smiling Ron Howard and 1-year-old BDH who gleefully sits on his shoulders,” the description reads. “They wear matching gray t-shirts – one with ‘BRYCE’ and one with ‘DAD’ on the front in block red letters.”

Bryce being one in that photo means it was taken around 1982, making Ron Howard around 28 years old, or rather young, in pictures like that.

Howard was showered in birthday bliss on his special day, as indicated by his own celebratory posts on Instagram. The Willow director shared a video of some delicious-looking desserts in a post he captioned, “Thanks for the birthday wishes.” The care package was accompanied by a note declaring them, “Birthday treats for Ron!” A sticker on the package indicates that the one dessert is a salted caramel apple pie of some kind from Four & Twenty Blackbirds in Brooklyn. In the video, Howard also shared that he was “feeling good” as he expressed gratitude to the friends and colleagues who knew just what to send him on his birthday – Howard also assured that some were being shared with “the gang.”

Who is Ron Howard’s wife?

On his own account, Howard shared not pictures of him from young days gone by, but of him, his wife, and their other daughter Paige for what he called a “great night with friends and family.” Bryce actually also received birthday wishes of her own, as she celebrated her own 43rd birthday a day later on March 2.

Her parents have been married since 1975. The two dated for five years before tying the knot at a ceremony held in Burbank, California. Among the beloved guests in attendance that exciting day in June were Howard’s TV dad Andy Griffith as well as Tom Bosley, also known as Papa Howard Cunningham.

Back in 2019, the couple – who were actually high school sweethearts – celebrated their 44th anniversary, which prompted Howard to reflect on the success of their relationship.

“People say, ‘How’d you do it?’ There’s no technique,” he shared. “There’s no tactic, other than communication is really important. 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.” For him, falling in love wasn’t difficult at all, as he recalled, “I met her, and there was never anybody else.”

The flipside took a little more convincing when it came to popping the question. “He proposed three times and she said no two of them,” said Bryce on The Drew Barrymore Show. “Because she was like, ‘I wanna go to school first. I’m not ready to be on your train yet.’ She’s really strong.” Now, both are still each other’s biggest cheerleader, with Cheryl boasting a successful writing career of her own.  She debuted on bookshelves in 2005 with In the Face of Jinn, which follows two sisters taking a trip to India, only for one sister to mysteriously disappear. Cheryl drew inspiration from her martial arts instructor, Ali Nazim, who is from Pakistan.

But that wasn’t the end of her research. “In October and November of 1997, with the help of a retired CIA operative, I traveled to the North West Frontier on the Afghan border and initiated a three and a half week adventure in the company of two ex-military officers of the Pakistan army,” Cheryl shared on her website. “Their job was to guide (and smuggle) me through the tribal areas of the country, exposing me to places where visitors, especially Americans, were officially forbidden.” That wouldn’t be out of place in the Dan Brown novels Howard adapted to the big screen! Some things really are just meant to be.

RELATED: Ron Howard Shares The Moment He Knew He’d Make It As A Director