Ron Howard was just sixteen when he first noticed Cheryl Alley at John Burroughs High School in Burbank. It was 1970. She was a year ahead—bright, witty, and a poet at heart. Already known to millions as Opie Taylor from The Andy Griffith Show, Ron worked up the courage one day at lunch to ask if she’d like to go out sometime. Cheryl smiled and said yes—an answer that would shape the rest of his life.
Cheryl wasn’t drawn to fame. She preferred books over cameras, depth over celebrity. That’s what drew Ron to her. Their first date was at The Great American Food & Beverage Company in Los Angeles. Ron picked her up in his beat-up 1970 Volkswagen Bug—with a broken heater. To them, it felt like luxury. They laughed all night, beginning a love that felt easy, honest, and real.
By 1975, Ron had landed his now-iconic role as Richie Cunningham on Happy Days. Fame followed, but Cheryl kept him grounded. That same year, in the most un-Hollywood way possible, he proposed—on his parents’ couch. No big gestures, no headlines. Just love. They were married on June 7, 1975, in a quiet ceremony. Ron would later say it was the best decision of his life.
Their bond only deepened over time. One moment captured it best: in the late ’70s, Cheryl went into labor with their first child. Ron was on set, filming. He left immediately—no hesitation. Years later, he reflected, “Cheryl has always been the real story. She’s what matters.”
As Ron’s directing career soared with Night Shift, Splash, Cocoon, and Apollo 13, Cheryl remained his steady presence. She often traveled with him, journal in hand, quietly observing the world. Her voice emerged too, through writing. Her travel memoir In the Face of Jinn showed that her story was just as rich, thoughtful, and adventurous.
When Ron won the Golden Globe in 2005 for A Beautiful Mind, the first person he thanked was Cheryl—his “partner in everything.” What the audience didn’t know was that Cheryl had slipped a handwritten note into his tux pocket before the ceremony. It read: “No matter what happens tonight, you are already everything to me.” That note still hangs framed in his office today, a reminder of the love that grounds him.
Together, they raised four children, including actress Bryce Dallas Howard. Despite decades of fame and pressure, they carved out time for each other—RV road trips, their favorite diner booth, quiet mornings together. These became their traditions. On their 40th anniversary, Ron posted a photo of them sitting in that same booth with the caption: “Same booth. Same girl. Same heart.”
Their story isn’t perfect—it’s better. It’s real. It’s about choosing love, again and again, even when life is loud. Ron once said, “She sees me the way I wish the world did. And I see her as the miracle that changed my life.”
In a town full of fleeting romances and red-carpet goodbyes, Ron and Cheryl Howard’s love endures—quiet, constant, and unbreakable.
Credit to the rightful author~