Age: 72
male
Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American filmmaker and actor. Howard first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of The Twilight Zone. He gained national attention for playing young Opie Taylor, the son of Sheriff Andy Taylor (played by Andy Griffith) in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show from 1960 through 1968. During this time, he also appeared in the musical film The Music Man (1962), a critical and commercial success. He was credited as Ronny Howard in his film and television appearances from 1959 to 1973. Howard was cast in one of the lead roles in the coming-of-age film American Graffiti (1973), which received widespread acclaim and became one of the most profitable films in history. The following year, Howard became a household name for playing Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days, a role he would play from 1974 through 1984. Howard continued appearing in films during this time, such as the western film The Shootist (1976) and the comedy film Grand Theft Auto (1977), which also marked his directorial debut. In 1984, Howard left Happy Days to focus on directing, producing and occasionally writing variety films and television series. His films include the science-fiction/fantasy Cocoon (1985), the fantasy Willow (1988), the thriller Backdraft (1991), the historical docudrama Apollo 13 (1995), the Christmas comedy How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), the biographical drama A Beautiful Mind (2001), the biographical sports drama Cinderella Man (2005), the thriller The Da Vinci Code (2006), the historical drama Frost/Nixon (2008), Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), and the documentary Pavarotti (2019). For A Beautiful Mind, Howard won the Academy Award for Best Director and Academy Award for Best Picture. He was nominated again for the same awards for Frost/Nixon. In 2003, Howard was awarded the National Medal of Arts. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2013. Howard has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions in the television and motion pictures industries.
Joe Dirt is the janitor at a Los Angeles radio station. A producer drags him into the studio to talk live on the air with famous disc jockey, shock jock Zander Kelly. Joe tells his life story. As a baby he had a mullet wig installed because the top of his skull had never formed. At age 8, he was left behind by his parents and sister at the Grand Canyon. He does not know his real surname. After growing up in a series of foster homes and travelling on the road as a kid while camping in the woods, Joe arrived in Silvertown, a small town in the Pacific Northwest, where he met the beautiful Brandy and her dog, Charlie, and became a target for jealousy from Robby, the town bully. After Brandy's alcoholic father shoots Charlie dead, Joe decides to try to find his parents. He strikes up a friendship with Kicking Wing, an unsuccessful Native American fireworks salesman. In Indiana, Joe has an encounter with a skin cannibal named Buffalo Bob. This brings him unwanted attention from the media, but helps his search. He travels to Louisiana and works as a high school janitor with "Clem Doore", a former NYC mobster in the Witness Protection Program, with whom he becomes good friends. Joe discovers the address of his old family home and travels to Baton Rouge. Listening to Joe's life story, both Zander and the radio audience initially find him an object of scorn, but Joe's kindness, his optimistic outlook on life, and his good-natured self deprecation win them over. Eventually, Joe lands the janitorial job at the Los Angeles radio station, where he recounts how, after discovering his old home vacant and his parents long gone, he gives up the search and returns to Silvertown to be with Brandy. However, Robby informs him that Brandy found Joe's parents, but instructed Robby not to tell Joe. Robby shows a note from Brandy to prove it. Hearing this, Zander calls Brandy on the phone on air, to find out why Brandy says she wanted to tell Joe in person, but never had the opportunity. Brandy tells Joe his parents were killed the day they were at the Grand Canyon; she pleads with Joe to return to Silvertown. Upset by the news, Joe stays in Los Angeles. Joe is unaware that he has become a media sensation but he quickly discovers his newfound fame. An appearance on TRL with Carson Daly results in a phone call from a woman claiming to be Joe's mother. Joe realizes that she is indeed his mother and finds his parents' current house, where he and the media discover that his parents intentionally abandoned him at the Grand Canyon, and that they reconnected with him in order to take advantage of his newfound publicity to boost their sales of clown figurines. Angry and sad, Joe storms out, cutting ties with his parents. Joe intends to commit suicide, but Brandy appears and says that she only told him his parents were dead to protect him from their greed. She invites Joe to come home with her, saying he "was home all along." Before Joe can come down from the ledge, he suffers a head injury in a freak accident when a policeman tries to prevent him from falling using a rope. Joe wakes up in Brandy's house, surrounded by his friends: Brandy, Kicking Wing (who now owns 30 successful firework stands), Clem (now renamed Gert B. Frobe), and Charlene (another friend who is engaged to Doore). Brandy got Joe a new rastafarian dreadlock wig following his head operation. Brandy has retrieved Joe's Hemi, and she has a new dog that Charlie fathered. Robby drives up and tells Joe that no one wants him in Silvertown, no matter how famous he is. Clem threatens Robby, and Charlene insults Robby's car. They all realize that they are like family to Joe. They ride off, leaving a frustrated Robby in the dust, his windshield broken by the stones thrown up by Joe's car. As they drive away, Zander plays a song for Joe on the radio, and fireworks go off in the sky (with special thanks to Kicking Wing).
