Rance Howard

He played "Simpson" on Little House in the episode Quarantine.

Actor Rance Howard, father of director Ron Howard and Clint Howard, died on Saturday. He was 89.

Ron Howard announced his father’s passing on Twitter.

“Clint & I have been blessed to be Rance Howard’s sons,” he wrote. “Today he passed at 89. He stood especially tall [for] his ability to balance ambition [with] great personal integrity. A depression-era farm boy, his passion for acting changed the course of our family history. We love & miss U Dad.”

Howard appeared in several of Ron Howard’s movies, including “Apollo 13,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “Splash,” “Cocoon,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Parenthood” and Howard’s directorial debut, “Grand Theft Auto.”

He is also grandfather to actresses Bryce Dallas Howard and Paige Howard.

Born in Oklahoma, Howard’s acting career spanned several decades. His film credits include “Chinatown” and Alexander Payne’s 2013 drama “Nebraska.” On the small screen, he appeared in several TV shows like “Seinfeld,” “Murder, She Wrote” and Ron Howard’s “Happy Days.”


HOWARD, Rance (Harold Rance Beckenholdt)
Born: 11/17/1928, Oklahoma, U.S.A.
Died:  11/25/2017, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.


Rance Howard’s westerns – actor:
Frontier Woman – 1956 (Prewitt)
Bat Masterson (TV) – 1959 (Fletcher)
Zane Grey Theater (TV) – 1959 (Deputy Shaker)
Death Valley Days (TV) – 1960, 1961 (Gideon, Mace)
An Eye for an Eye – 1966 (Harry)
The Virginian (TV) – 1966 (Luka)
The Monroes (TV) – 1967 (Al)
Old Paint - 1969 (cowboy)
The Wild Country - 1970 (Cleve)
Gunsmoke (TV) – 1970, 1974 (Judge Alan Franklin, Frank Benton)
Here Come the Brides (TV) – 1970 (Goff)
Bonanza (TV) – 1971, 1972 (Sam, Bogardus)
Bloody Trail – 1972 (Jake)
Nichols (TV) – 1972 (Deputy)
The Red Pony – 1973 (Sheriff Bill Smith)
Kung Fu (TV) – 1973 (Sheriff Byrd)
Huckleberry Finn (TV) - 1975 (Pap Finn)
The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe (TV) - 1976
Another Man, Another Chance – 1977 (wagon master)
The Legend of Frank Woods – 1977 (Howard Blacker)
Little House on the Prairie (TV) – 1977 (Simpson)
Far and Away – 1992 (Tomlin)
The Cowboy Way - 1994 (old gentleman)
Savate – 1995 (farmer)
Legend of the Phantom Rider – 2002 (Doc Fisher)
Ghost Rock - 2003 (Cash)
The Long Ride Home – 2003 (old man)
The Missing – 2003 (telegraph operator)
The Alamo – 2004 (Governor Smith)
Miracle at Sage Creek – 2005 (Docotr Babcock)
Ghost Town: The Movie – 2007 (Sheriff Tom Parker)
Shadowheart – 2009 (wedding preacher)
Jonah Hex – 2010 (telegrapher)
Redemption: For Robbing the Dead – 2011 (doctor)
The Lone Ranger – 2013 (engineer)
Rifle - 2018
Timberwolf - 2018 (Byron Meddles)

Clint played Mark on Gentle Ben and Rance played a neighbour Mr. Boomhouser (sp??). I am in the middle of watching series 1 right now. At the same time that Gentle Ben was being filmed with Clint and Rance in the zFlorida Everglades, Ron was filming Andy Griffith in LA, living with his mother. There in a commentary for one of the episodes of GB where Rance and Clint tell how hard it was to get the whole family together on weekends.

RIP. How sad