Actor Rance Howard Dies at 89, Son and Director Ron Howard Confirms

Rance Howard died at age 89. Public Domain

Actor Rance Howard died at the age of 89, according to his son, director Ron Howard.

“Clint & I have been blessed to be Rance Howard’s sons. Today he passed at 89,” Ron Howard tweeted Saturday, Nov. 25. “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.”

Rance started acting at age 20 as part of a touring theater company, even acting alongside Henry Fonda in the play “Mister Roberts,” People reported. He played in major films like “Cool Hand Luke,” “Psycho,” “Apollo 13,” and “Cinderella Man.”

“He’s had a 65-year career where he has never broken out as a movie star,” Bryce Dallas Howard, the daughter of Ron Howard, said of her grandfather.

“He’s never made the money that people dream of, and yet he’s carved out this incredibly unique and remarkable and beautiful career of a character actor. He’s an example of that stick-to-it-ness and what that adds up to in a life,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.

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