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Ron Howard and his wife want to share the love as they celebrate 50 years of marriage.
The Academy Award-winning director recently revealed that to celebrate their anniversary, he and his wife, Cheryl Howard, donated a Victorian-style love seat to a Los Angeles-area park where they used to go on dates.
“I got the idea of an old-fashioned sort of love seat where couples could sit and talk and smooch a little bit,” he told People magazine in a recent interview. The “Apollo 13” director said he had at first considered a traditional bench.
The bronze “kissing chair” is located at Johnny Carson Park. It has an estimated value of $88,440, according to the City of Burbank.
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Ron Howard recently revealed that to celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary, he and his wife, Cheryl Howard, donated a love seat to a Los Angeles-area park where they used to go on dates. (David M. Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage)
The 71-year-old met his wife when he was in high school and the young couple “hung out and dated and necked” at the park, he said.
Howard said that recently his younger brother, actor Clint Howard, went by the park.
“My brother drove by not long ago, snapped a picture with his iPhone. It was a couple kissing in the kissing chair. He said, ‘Hey, it’s working.’”
“I got the idea of an old-fashioned sort of love seat where couples could sit and talk and smooch a little bit.”
In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Clint Howard had high praise for Ron – who is also up for his first acting Emmy this year – and his wife.
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Ron Howard and his wife, Cheryl Howard, embrace during the dedication of the “kissing chair” at Johnny Carson Park in June. (Burbank Councilmember Zizette Mullins/Instagram)
“Ron didn’t have a lot of baubles,” Clint told Fox News Digital about his brother’s life growing up as a child star on “The Andy Griffith Show” and later as a teen star on “Happy Days.”
He continued, “Ron was extremely pointed about what his vision for himself was and what he needed to do to accomplish his goals. That being said, he also ran into Cheryl, his wife. I mean, Ron and Cheryl met when they were juniors in high school, and they’ve been best friends, and they run a family together, and they have run their lives together, and I have the utmost respect for Cheryl.”
Ron Howard with future wife Cheryl in 1974, a year before they married. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
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Howard married Cheryl on June 7, 1975, when he was 21 years old.
“I was just so sure,” he told People magazine in the interview.
His “Happy Days” co-star Henry Winkler was his best man, and Winkler told People that he remembers he caught the garter.
Howard celebrated his anniversary in June, sharing a photo on Instagram of the two of them embracing for a selfie in front of a beach sunset, writing, “Grateful for 50 amazing years and the family and experiences it has yielded. what an adventure down river through calm soothing waters and some tricky rapids as well. Our key….love and respect each other enough to just keep paddling. Thank God for you, Cheryl.”
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He hashtagged the post #GoldenAnniversary.
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The couple share four children: “Jurassic World” star Bryce Dallas Howard, 44, twins Jocelyn and Paige Howard, 40, and Reed Howard, 38.
Howard told People that he and Cheryl had a “small, very modest wedding.”
“It was important to Cheryl’s dad that he pay for it, so therefore to Cheryl it was important to not let it get out of hand, and we sent out invitations to 300 people, and Cheryl kept saying, ‘That’s huge,’ and my mom kept saying, ‘Oh, they won’t all show, they won’t all show up. And that church was chock-a-block full.”
Ron Howard with his family after receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015. (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
He added that everyone from “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Happy Days” were there.
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“It was a great day,” he continued. “We had no reception. My mom and dad had kind of small champagne punch reception back at their house. And so the whole thing was super modest, but you know what? By God, it worked.”