Clinton Engle Howard (born April 20, 1959) is an American actor. He is the second son born to American actors Rance Howard and Jean Speegle Howard, and younger brother of actor and director Ron Howard. His more than 200 acting credits include the lead role in the feature film and television series Gentle Ben, main-cast roles in series The Baileys of Balboa and The Cowboys, supporting roles in feature films such as The Waterboy and Apollo 13, guest appearances in the series My Name Is Earl, and several roles in the Star Trek franchise. He has appeared in many films directed by his brother.
Early life Born in Burbank, California, on April 20, 1959, Clint's parents were actors Rance Howard and Jean Speegle, and his older brother is actor and filmmaker Ron Howard. When actor Dennis Weaver died in 2006, Howard explained that Weaver had introduced his parents to each other in 1947 at the University of Oklahoma.
Career Television
Howard began his career when he was two, appearing in five episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, then starring his older brother Ron. He played Leon, a toddler in a cowboy outfit who wandered around Mayberry and silently offered people a bite of his sandwich, to which they would respond, "No thanks, Leon". Other early notable roles include his appearance on The Virginian as Tommy, the proud owner of a new litter of pups in the episode entitled "Melanie".
In 1963, Howard appeared in the ABC medical drama Breaking Point in the role of four-year-old Mikey in the episode "The Gnu, Now Almost Extinct". He also played little Billy Taft, the nephew of Dr. Richard Kimble, in the season one episode of The Fugitive, "Home is the Hunted" (1964).
Howard's first prominent role was as a regular on the series Gentle Ben (1967–69). He also starred in "The Boy Who Predicted Earthquakes", an episode segment of Rod Serling's Night Gallery, as Herbie, a ten-year-old boy who predicts the near future, and played Billy in the made for television version of John Steinbeck's The Red Pony, with Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara. Howard starred in and co-wrote Cotton Candy, a 1978 made-for-TV movie, with his brother. After the success of the film, Gung Ho as a TV series began with Howard as Googie.
Howard appeared in various Star Trek episodes: In 1966, he appeared as the childlike alien Balok in "The Corbomite Maneuver," produced after the pilot episodes of the original series. He briefly reprised the character in 2006 on Comedy Central's roast of William Shatner. "Past Tense Part II," a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Acquisition," a season one episode of Star Trek: Enterprise "Will You Take My Hand," a season one episode of Star Trek: Discovery "Under the Cloak of War," a season two episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds As a nod to Howard's prominent place in Star Trek culture, he played a part in Star Trek film director J. J. Abrams' series Fringe: in the season one episode "The Road Not Taken", as a man who thinks that he is a son of Sarek of Vulcan.
In 2003, Howard played Johnny Bark on Arrested Development in the season one episode "Key Decisions", which was produced and narrated by his brother Ron. He was seen in an episode of Married... with Children as a creepy janitor. He played a car thief/murderer Tobias Lehigh Nagy in the season four Seinfeld episode "The Trip". Howard played Creepy Rodney in the season one My Name Is Earl episode "Stole a Badge", and he was a guest star in the season three episode of the NBC show Heroes "I Am Sylar".
In 2024, Howard appeared on the CBS soap The Bold and the Beautiful as Tom Starr, a homeless man who turned his life around, only to be murdered.
Film In Howard's film debut The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963) based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Mark Toby and directed by Vincente Minnelli, he played a child party guest standing on a table at his birthday party . His brother, then known as Ronny, starred in the film.
Howard also voiced Roo in Disney's animated shorts Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966) and Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968), which were later incorporated into The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977), and Hathi Jr. in The Jungle Book (1967). He was in Gentle Giant (1968) with Dennis Weaver, and The Wild Country (1970) with his brother and Vera Miles.
Howard has appeared in seventeen films directed by his brother, Ron, including his first directorial effort — a short film called Old Paint — when Clint was ten. He also starred in Ron's first full-length feature, Grand Theft Auto. Other roles in the elder Howard's films include: John Dexter in Cocoon (1985), Paul in Gung Ho (1986), pathologist Ricco in Backdraft (1991), Lou in Parenthood, Flynn in Far and Away (1992), flight controller Seymour Liebergot in Apollo 13 (1995), Ken in EDtv (1999), Whobris in How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), and Harry the referee in Cinderella Man (2005).
Howard played Sheriff Purdy in The Missing (2003), Lloyd Davis in Frost/Nixon (2008), Herbert Trimpy in The Dilemma, and Paul Lucas in the episodes "Spider" and "We Interrupt This Program" of the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, which was produced by Ron.
Howard played Eaglebauer in Rock 'n' Roll High School, Usher in Get Crazy, Paco in The Waterboy, Arthur Lynne in Uwe Boll's Heart of America as well as Salish in 2003's House of The Dead, also by Boll, cellmate Slinky in Tango & Cash, KJZZ disk jockey in That Thing You Do!, Johnson Ritter in the Austin Powers series, another flight controller in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Nipples in Little Nicky (2000), Gregory Tudor in the low budget film Ice Cream Man (1995), Rughead in The Wraith (1986), Stanley Coopersmith in Evilspeak (1981), Kate the Caterer in The Cat in the Hat (2003), Doctor Koplenson in Halloween (2007), and appeared in the romantic comedies, Play the Game and Speed-Dating.
Howard played Sanders in Alabama Moon and Dr. Owen in Nobody Gets Out Alive, which was written and directed by Jason Christopher.
Howard appeared in Solo: A Star Wars Story, which his brother Ron directed.
Personal life Howard has been married three times. After a short courtship, Howard married Ann Marie Lynch in 1988.Ancestry.com. Nevada, U.S., Marriage Index, 1956-2005 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007. He filed for divorce after less than a year of marriage.
Howard's second marriage, in 1995, was to Melanie Sorich. He filed for legal separation in 2015, and their divorce was finalized in 2018.
On July 1, 2020, Howard married Kat C. Cruz, at a private service in Las Vegas. They have a daughter.
Howard was an avid golfer who played 150 rounds a year from 1990 until hip replacements forced him to quit. On September 2, 2000, Howard's mother, Jean, died at the age of 73.
Howard is a Republican. On January 29, 2016, three days before the Iowa caucuses, he endorsed United States Senator Ted Cruz of Texas for the Republican presidential nomination.
On November 25, 2017, Howard's father, Rance, died at the age of 89. In 2021, Ron and Clint together wrote a memoir titled The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1963 The Courtship of Eddie's Father Child Party GuestUncredited 1966 Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree Roo Voice, short film An Eye for an Eye Jo-Hi Quince, Brian's Son 1967 The Jungle Book Hathi Jr.Voice Gentle Giant Mark Wedloe 1968 Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day Roo Voice, short film 1970 The Wild Country Andrew Tanner 1973 Salty Tim Reed 1976 Eat My Dust! George Poole Jr. 1977 The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh RooVoice Grand Theft Auto "Ace" I Never Promised You a Rose Garden Baseball Catcher 1978 Harper Valley PTA Corley 1979 Rock 'n' Roll High School Eaglebauer 1981 Evilspeak Stanley Coopersmith 1982 Night Shift Jefferey 1983 Get Crazy Usher 1984 Splash Wedding Guest 1985 Cocoon John Dexter 1986 Gung Ho Paul The Wraith "Rughead" 1987 End of the Line Les Sullivan 1988 Freeway Ronnie B.O.R.N. Jerry 1989 Parenthood Lou Tango & Cash "Slinky" 1990 Disturbed Brian Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation Ricky Baker 1991 Backdraft Ricco, Medical Examiner The Rocketeer Mark Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker Ricky 1992 Far and Away Flynn 1993 Carnosaur "Slim" Friar Ticks Jarvis Tanner 1994 The Paper Ray Blaisch Leprechaun 2 Tourist Bigfoot: The Unforgettable Encounter Gary Forced to Kill Drifter 1995 Fist of the North Star "Stalin" Ice Cream Man Gregory Tudor Forget Paris The Exterminator Digital Man Dawkins Apollo 13 Sy Liebergot Not Like Us Wede Twisted Love Gardener 1996 Barb Wire Schmitz Unhook the Stars Gus That Thing You Do! KJZZ Disc Jockey Santa with Muscles Hinkley 1997 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery Johnson Ritter (credited as "radar operator") The Protector Hutch aka Body Armor; Conway 1998 Twilight EMS Worker The Dentist 2 "Mr. Toothache" Telling You Customer Uncredited The Waterboy Paco Evasive Action Hector "The Director" Miller 1999 EDtv Ken Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me Johnson Ritter 2000 My Dog Skip Millard The Million Dollar Kid Harvey Little Nicky "Nipples" Ping! Stu How the Grinch Stole Christmas Whobris 2001 Blackwoods Greg A Beautiful Mind Man Yelling Voice; Uncredited 2002 Austin Powers in Goldmember Johnson Ritter Heart of America Artie Lynne 100 Women Mr. Willens 2003 Pauly Shore Is Dead Pauly's Business Manager House of the Dead Salish The Cat in the Hat Kate, The Caterer The Missing Sheriff Purdy 2004 Raising Genius Mr. Goss The Sure Hand of God Clyde Trotter I Am Stamos Himself Short film 2005 River's End Mr. Powell My Big Fat Independent Movie The Mechanic Cinderella Man Referee Planet Ibsen Henrik Ibsen Fun with Dick and Jane INS Agent 2006 Church Ball Gene Jensen The Powder Puff Principle Principal Richard Skelter Short film Curious George Balloon ManVoice How to Eat Fried Worms Uncle Ed Big Bad Wolf Fulton Chaney 2007 Music Within The Clerk Halloween Dr. Koplenson A Plumm Summer Binky The Clown A Christmas Too Many Todd 2008 Foreign Exchange Larry "Long Larry" Frost/Nixon Lloyd Davis Senior Skip Day Lionel Huffer 2009 London Betty The NarratorVoice Play the Game Dick Super Capers Mugger Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Air and Space Mission Control Tech #1 Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey! Farmer DanVoice The Haunted World of El Superbeasto CthulhuVoice Alabama Moon Constable Sanders 2010 Holyman Undercover Roy Sr. Speed-Dating Dom 2011 The Dilemma Herbert Trimpy Blubberella Dr. Wolfgang Mangler BloodRayne: The Third Reich Night Club Cliff 2012 Last Call George The Lords of Salem Carlo Nobody Gets Out Alive Dr. Owen 2013 Assault on Wall Street Chuck Huff Karl Sparks Gordon Eldridge The Profane Exhibit Bob Segment: "Basement" 2014 Bald Nathan Short film Sand Castles Todd Carlson Balls Out Philip 2015 The Funhouse Massacre Taxidermist 2016 Guys and Girls Can't Be Friends Gus 2017 Mad Families "Gravy" 2018 The Church Alexander James / The Spirit Solo: A Star Wars Story Ralakili F**k You All: The Uwe Boll Story Himself Documentary film 2019 Grand-Daddy Day Care Judge Littles Play the Flute Mr. Webber Apple Seed Hughie 3 from Hell Mr. Baggy Britches American Christmas Lee 2020 American Pie Presents: Girls' Rules Joe 2023 The Old Way Eustice 2024 Terrifier 3 "Smokey" 2026BuddyGeorge
Television