Actor. Born Harold Engle Beckenholdt, he was a character actor who was known for his roles on both television and film during a career that span seven decades. He was also the father of both actor and director Ron Howard and actor Clint Howard. He got his start in acting as a child in a children's touring theater company. After attending the University of Oklahoma, he toured with Henry Fonda in a stage presentation of "Mister Roberts". He would make his film debut in the 1956 motion picture "Frontier Woman". He would go on in his career to appear in such films as "The Music Man" (1962), "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" (1963), "Village of the Giants" (1965), "Cool Hand Luke" (1967), "Chinatown" (1974), "Smokey Bites the Dust" (1981), "Splash" (1984), "Cocoon" (1985), "Gung Ho" (1986), "Parenthood" (1989), "Ed Wood" (1994), "Apollo 13" (1995), "Psycho" (1998), "A Beautiful Mind" (2001), and "Nebraska" (2013). He made his first television appearance on the series "Kraft Theatre" in 1956. He would go on to appear in such television series as "The Andy Griffith Show", "That Girl", "Gentle Ben", "Bonanza", "Gunsmoke", "The Waltons", "Happy Days", "Here's Boomer", "Baywatch", "Seinfeld", "Married with Children", "Babylon 5", "Clueless", and "Bones". He also wrote and produced for various television productions during his career. He was honored with several awards through the years for his work in both the acting and production side.
Actor. Born Harold Engle Beckenholdt, he was a character actor who was known for his roles on both television and film during a career that span seven decades. He was also the father of both actor and director Ron Howard and actor Clint Howard. He got his start in acting as a child in a children's touring theater company. After attending the University of Oklahoma, he toured with Henry Fonda in a stage presentation of "Mister Roberts". He would make his film debut in the 1956 motion picture "Frontier Woman". He would go on in his career to appear in such films as "The Music Man" (1962), "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" (1963), "Village of the Giants" (1965), "Cool Hand Luke" (1967), "Chinatown" (1974), "Smokey Bites the Dust" (1981), "Splash" (1984), "Cocoon" (1985), "Gung Ho" (1986), "Parenthood" (1989), "Ed Wood" (1994), "Apollo 13" (1995), "Psycho" (1998), "A Beautiful Mind" (2001), and "Nebraska" (2013). He made his first television appearance on the series "Kraft Theatre" in 1956. He would go on to appear in such television series as "The Andy Griffith Show", "That Girl", "Gentle Ben", "Bonanza", "Gunsmoke", "The Waltons", "Happy Days", "Here's Boomer", "Baywatch", "Seinfeld", "Married with Children", "Babylon 5", "Clueless", and "Bones". He also wrote and produced for various television productions during his career. He was honored with several awards through the years for his work in both the acting and production side.
Bio by: Mr. Badger Hawkeye
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A tenacious dreamer whose love of family and acting made so much possible
We are forever grateful
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