Rance Howard, who saw his children (and grandchildren) enter showbusiness, and still leaves behind his own impressive performing legacy, has died. He was 89.
Born in Oklahoma in 1928, Harold Rance Beckenholdt studied at the state university before heading to New York with acting ambitions. He landed a job with a children's touring company and soon began scoring other roles, including a run with Henry Fonda in the touring production of a play called Mister Roberts. That in turn led to movie and TV work, with Rance and son Ron – then 2 – making their film debut together in Frontier Woman.
While the elder Howard was known more for his extensive TV credits (he's been everything from The X-Files, ER and Babylon 5 to Quantum Leap and The Waltons), he enjoyed a successful run in the cinema popping up occasionally in his son's work (including Cocoon, Angels And Demons, and A Beautiful Mind) and finding plenty of other jobs between 1962 and right now, with a couple of films still awaiting release.
Ron Howard paid tribute on twitter the day his father died.
Howard is survived by Ron and brother Clint and granddaughters Bryce Dallas Howard and Paige Howard.