Ron Howard celebrates 50 years since his first date with wife Cheryl: 'Quite a start'

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Entertainment Headline Video 11/2 - AM Shift (1)

Entertainment Headline Video 11/2 - AM Shift (1)

Ron Howard and his wife Cheryl are celebrating going on their first date 50 years ago. 

The Oscar-winning director, 66, showed off the adorable gifts the couple got for each other in a post on social media on Sunday. 

"Nov 1 1970 Cheryl & I went on our 1st date," Howard reflected. "We went to see a re-release of Stanley Kramer’s 'It’s a Mad Mad Mad World' and then got some pizza at now defunct Barnone’s in Toluca Lake. Quite a start, right?

"Today we are celebrating with these kind of socks we ordered (Cheryl’s w/ my mug got held up) and a trip to our local take-out pizza place," he wrote as the caption below the socks depicted Cheryl's face. "We’ll be driving in the same ‘70 VW Bug I picked Cheryl up in 5 decades ago. It runs great. So do we."

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Ron and Cheryl married on June 7, 1975, after five years of dating. They have four children together: daughters Bryce Dallas Howard, twins Jocelyn Carlyle and Paige Howard, and son Reed Cross, and five grandchildren. 

Back in 2019, the "Happy Days" star told People magazine that he felt an instant "connection" when he met his future wife in high school.

“I met her, and there was never anybody else," he described.

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Howard said of their long marriage, "People say, ‘How’d you do it?’ There’s no technique. There’s no tactic other than communication is really important. You have to learn to communicate and have difficult conversations in constructive ways."

Director Ron Howard, left, and wife Cheryl Howard married in 1975.  (David Livingston/Getty Images)

He added, "Beyond that, there’s an element of luck because people either grow together or they don’t and I don’t think you can force that."

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The filmmaker gushed about much Cheryl has supported his work. 

“She’s unbelievably supportive and always has been,” he said. “Our compatibility has endured through all kinds of experiences.”