Bryce Dallas Howard biography

Synopsis

Family Background

Actress. Born March 2, 1981, in Los Angeles, California. Bryce Dallas Howard is the oldest of four children born to movie director Ron Howard and his wife, actress Cheryl. Like her three younger siblings, Howard's middle name comes from the city where she was conceived.

From an early age, Howard, who attended the renowned Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts camp in the Catskills region of New York state with close friend Natalie Portman, knew from an early age she wanted to be an actress. Exposure helped, and Howard is no stranger to the showbiz profession. She is the third generation of her family to act. Her grandparents, Rance and Jean Speegle Howard, both took to the stage. So did her father Ron, who was cast in his first movie when he was just 18 months old. Her uncle Clint, Ron Howard's brother, is an actor as well, and she is also the goddaughter of Henry Winkler, who co-starred with her father in the ABC sitcom, Happy Days.

The Howard Legacy

Just as Ron Howard's parents were careful in keeping his childhood years as normal as possible, Bryce's parents were also cautious about their children getting too close to the Hollywood limelight too soon. As a result, Bryce Howard and her siblings grew up far from Hollywood's glare, in Greenwich, Connecticut. Still, as the daughter of one of the more respected directors, the business was hard to escape completely. As an actress, Bryce was thankful for the exposure because she learned from her father what it took to navigate the film world life. "I think it's an advantage because we've seen the ups and downs of this business," she told PBS' Charlie Rose in 2006. "And that if you keep working very, very hard ultimately you can technically succeed, you can find happiness in this business."

But carrying the Howard name still offered up some burdens, and as she began to think more seriously about her career, Bryce considered dropping it completely. Just one problem: She felt it sounded too much like an adult film star's name. So, with the Howard name still a part of her acting identity, she applied and was accepted to the Tisch School of Arts at New York University, where she earned a BFA in drama in 2003.

Career Highlights

By that time, though, Howard had already put together a decent resume, one that included several Broadway productions as well as an appearance with her mom in 1995 in the film, Apollo 13, a movie directed by her father.

A year after graduating NYU, Howard's film career rolled impressively forward, first in a supporting role as Heather in Book of Love, and then as a young blind girl in the M. Night Shyamalan thriller, The Village.