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Dennis Weaver introduced Ron Howard's parents to each other
Twenty years later, he shared the screen with Clint Howard!
It's always interesting to hear how people met their partners. Alan Alda fell for his wife when they were the only two people who would eat cake off the floor. Vicki Lawrence married the makeup artist who she worked with on The Carol Burnett Show.
However, in the case of Ron Howard's parents, there was an unconventional cupid responsible — deputy Chester Goode himself, Dennis Weaver!
Rance Howard and Jean Frances Speegle were both at University of Oklahoma in 1947. They were in a drama class together, along with another classmate — Dennis Weaver. Weaver, an upperclassman at the time, paired Rance and Jean together for a project in the class, and sparks flew. By 1949, they were married.
In 1967, twenty years after Weaver played matchmaker in university, he starred in a movie called Gentle Giant... along with young Clint Howard, Ron's younger brother, who you may remember as little Leon the cowboy in The Andy Griffith Show! Weaver and Clint Howard returned for the TV series that continued the story, Gentle Ben.
You never know how a small thing like pairing two people up for a class project may cause lifelong changes. Or even give you a future co-star!
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10 Comments
McCloud featured a harrowing scene. Atop a skyscraper, right on the edge, McCloud is
holding on to the bottom of a copter when it suddenly lifts off, tearing off over the city
with McCloud hanging on for dear life. That really was Weaver, with no safety harness,
nothing but his own strength keeping him from plunging to his death.
The stunt man missed his cue to replace Weaver and hook up the harness.
The pilot thought he had the okay to take off, Weaver was still wrapped around
the runners awaiting the stuntman when the copter SUDDENLY roared up and over the
edge of the skyscraper and off into the sky. Weaver must have had the best view in
history of the fabled Manhattan Skyline till the pilot was frantically signaled to return.
When watching a clip of the beginning montage of McCloud, I always wonder what
Weaver was thinking. I know what I would be thinking - "Mommy!"
I met my wife when I took her ID photo at the University of Illinois at Chicago. I photographed several thousand incoming female students over the years, but there was just something about her...
I took one look at her and said to myself, "Some day, I'm going to marry that girl."
And I did!
suggested he come to NYC with him and try acting. Chapman later became a fine character
actor, as did Rance Howard, Dennis Weaver too before he hit TV stardom as a lead actor.
