Rance Howard, Ron Howard’s father, dies at 89

Rance Howard, father of Ron Howard and grandfather of Bryce Dallas Howard, died Sunday. He was 89.

“Clint & I have been blessed to be Rance Howard’s sons,” Ron Howard wrote announced on Twitter. “Today he passed at 89. He stood especially tall 4 his ability to balance ambition w/great personal integrity. A depression-era farm boy, his passion for acting changed the course of our family history. We love & miss U Dad.”

The elder Howard appeared in 15 films his son directed, including “Apollo 13,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “Splash,” “Cocoon,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Parenthood” and “Grand Theft Auto,” which they also wrote together.

Like his famous sons Ron and Clint, and his granddaughters Bryce and Paige, Rance was an actor, having appeared in films like “Chinatown,” “Cool Hand Luke,” “Independence Day” and alongside a very young Ron in “The Music Man” and on “The Andy Griffith Show.” During his six-decade career, he also appeared in TV series like “Make Room for Daddy,” “Gunsmoke,” “The Waltons” and “Seinfeld.”

Bryce Dallas Howard posted a special memoriam to her grandfather, tweeting, “My grandfather, the patriarch of our family’s favorite poem, he could recite it from heart. I think I’ll do the same now.” She added the following poem:

Read original story Rance Howard, Ron Howard’s Father, Dies at 89 At TheWrap