Rance Howard

Rance Howard (Harold Rance Beckenholdt; November 17, 1928 – November 25, 2017) was an American actor. He acted in movies and on television. He was the father of actor and filmmaker Ron Howard and actor Clint Howard. He was the grandfather of the actress Bryce Dallas Howard.

Howard in December 2007

Howard was born in Duncan, Oklahoma. He studied at the University of Oklahoma. He changed his name to "Rance Howard" when he became an actor.^[1]

Howard's career began in 1956. He appeared in many movies such as Cool Hand Luke (1967), Chinatown (1974), Ed Wood (1994), Independence Day (1996), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Cinderella Man (2005), Frost/Nixon (2008), and in The Lone Ranger (2013).

Howard was married to Jean Speegle from 1949 until her death in 2000. In 2001, he married Judy Howard. She died in January 2017.

Howard died on November 25, 2017 in Los Angeles, California of heart failure complicated by the West Nile virus at the age of 89.^[2]