Profession: Actor, Director, Producer

The guy behind the successful, Oscar winning movie, A Beautiful Mind, Ron Howard has been into cinema and art all his life, but never graduated from college as he chose to drop out of School of Cinematic Arts from the University of Southern California. Howard went on to become one of the most successful directors in Hollywood with a multitude of smash hits among his credits, including Splash, Cocoon, Willow, Backdraft, Far and Away, The Paper, Ransom, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Cinderella Man.

Hall of fame

Taking his parents’ path, with mother Jean Speegle Howard being an actress and father, Rance Howard who was a director, writer and an actor, Ron Howard started out his career by taking up small roles, his first role being the film The Journey, June Allyson’s CBS series The DuPont Show with June Allyson, Twilight Zone and other small roles on the television.

In 1960, he was cat as Opie taylor in hit show The Andy Griffith Show, in which he portrayed the son of the title character for all eight seasons of the show. This show was filmed in a house that was rented by his parents on the block south of the Desilu Studios, the place where Ron was tutored. The Andy Griffith Show made him familiar with the audience and gave him the much needed name and fame.

Howard made his directorial debut with the 1977 comedy Grand Theft Auto which was an instant hit with the audience, and led him to carve his niche in Hollywood as a promising director. He then took up directing seriously and went on to direct Happy Days in 1980 after which came a series of blockbuster movies that made him one of the best directors that Hollywood has seen. He had his big break in 1982 with the film, Night Shift. His best films include Cocoon, Apollo 13, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and of course A Beautiful Mind in the year 2001. Howard later won the Academy Award for Best Director with A Beautiful Mind. In 2003, Howard was awarded the National Medal of Arts. Another cool thing about him is that a newly discovered asteroid was named after him, Asteroid 12561 Howard.  He also directed The Da Vinci Code in the year 2006, which earned him more than $758 million at the box office. In 2013, Howard was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. He was even reported to corporate with Brian Gazer to bring Friday Night Lights back to the big screen.

He is probably one of the very directors who can boast of directing 8 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Don Ameche, Dianne Wiest, Ed Harris, Kathleen Quinlan, Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Paul Giamatti, and Frank Langella. Ameche and Connelly won Oscars for their performances in one of Howard’s movies.

Let’s get to the money

His directorial talent has surely earned him more than just a few extra bucks. His films have always blown the box office by surprises and more and more money. Here’s list of the estimated total gross of his big flicks:

Angels & Demons- $133,375,846

Rush- $26,947,62

The Da Vinci Code- $217,536,138

A Beautiful Mind- $10,000,000

The Dilemma- $10,000,000

Cinderella Man- $61,649,911

Backdraft- $77,868,585

Apollo 13- $172,071,312

Cocoon- $76,113,124

Parenthood-$100,047,830

$10 million: The Dilemma (Howard’s fee for directing Vince Vaughn comedy)
$2.5 million: The Dilemma (joint fee for producing)
$2.5 million: Cowboys & Aliens (joint fee for producing)

Apart from his directorial ventures, he also happens do some business of his own. He owes his fortune to smart stock investments, substantial property holdings, lucrative endorsement deals with Cover Girl cosmetics. He also owns several restaurants (the Fat Howard Burger chain) in Washington, a Football Team (The Duncan Angels), has launched his own brand of Vodka (Pure Wonderhoward – US), and is tackling the juniors market with a top-selling perfume (With Love from Ron) and a fashion line called ‘Ron Howard Seduction.’ He started two production companies – Major H Productions (which ran until 1985) and then, in 1985, Howard started in 1986 as executive producer with producer Brian Grazer. Presently, he is the co-chairman of Imagine Entertainment, a film and TV production company responsible for such work as Friday Night Lights, 8 Mile and the popular Arrested Development. Though it has a mere 40 employees it turned a whopping revenue of $3.8 million in the fiscal year ending September 2008. Also, the word is around that business partners, Brain Grazer and Ron Howard want to set up a marketing consultancy and digital studio to help companies market their brands.

With all this wealth to his, he hardly seems overwhelmed, for he once said that this is all a number game and advised people not get emotionally involved in these things. Now, that’s one heck of a statement.

Personal Life: I keep to myself

Howard married his high-school sweetheart and they have four children,  two who are actors. His personal life may not be all fun, but here’s a fun fact to read: all of Howard’s four children are named after the places they were conceived: Bryce Dallas in Dallas, Texas, Paige Carlyle and Jocelyn Carlyle at the Hotel Carlyle in New York City, and Reed Cross after a specific road, according to Bryce Dallas Howard. His younger brother is none other than the talented, Clint Howard.

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Introduction

Joanne Rowling, known to the world as J.K Rowling is a common name in the list of the best fantasy writers the world has ever witnessed. Her famous fantasy series The Harry Potter made her a common name throughout the globe. According to The Sunday Times Rich List writer’s earnings have been estimated at $798 million. The Potter books have earned appreciation from people worldwide and are equally famous among the kids as well as the adults. They made J.K Rowing a star overnight. The books were later made into movies which became the highest-grossing film series. Today Harry Potter is a global brand with a worth of $15 billion!

BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE

J.K Rowling was born on 31 July, 1965 in Yate, England to Peter James Rowling and Anne Rowling. Her father worked as a Rolls-Royce aircraft engineer. In her childhood days, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories which she often read out to her younger sister Dianne, who was born when Rowling was only 23 months old. Rowling and her family early lives went in rags. Their family found it hard to make both their ends meet. Moreover, her mother suffered with illness and a bad relationship with her father as they had stopped talking to each other.

EDUCATION

As a child, Rowling loved English subject which later inspired her to pen down some fantasy stories. She attended St. Michael’s Primary School when she was four.  She then went to Wyedean School and Cottage. She also wrote the entrance exam for Oxford University but was not taken into the university. She then completed her BA in French and Classics from the University of Exeter. After completing her graduation, she stayed in Paris for a couple of days where she expanded her studies. She then moved to London, where she did various jobs which included working as a secretary where she was supposed to send the rejection slips.

MARITAL LIFE

She was married to Jorge Arantes, a Portuguese journalist on October 16, 1992. She gave birth to a child whom she called Jessica Isabel. She separated from her husband within 13 months of their marriage. She struggled with single parenthood, poverty and depression.

HARRY POTTER- Her bestselling book series

In the summer of 1990, she was going from Manchester to London on a train where she conceived the idea of The Harry Potter. However, it took her seven years to actually pen down her idea. Harry is a boy who soon realizes his potentials as a wizard who has magic in his blood. His parents were murdered by Lord Voldemart who is the evil wizard when he was very young. He is raised by his uncle. He then seeks admission in Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. Rowling says that the character Albus Dumbledore (headmaster of Hogwarts) is inspired from her headmaster at the St Micahel’s Alfred Dunn. She also says that Hermione is a caricature of her own personality. Various sequels of the book have been released which have been a big hit all over the globe.

The first edition of the book was released in June 1997 by Bloomsburry. The book was titled as Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s stone. Initially the book was printed in 1000 copies out of which 500 were distributed to the libraries. The book won its first award after five months, a Nestlé’s Smarties Book Prize. In February, the novel bagged The British  Book Award for Children’s Book of the Year.

Soon after a year, i.e., July 1998 Rowling released its sequel, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets which again won The Smarties award. Following it the third sequel, Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban was released in December 1999. The book won the Smarties award once again making J.K. Rowling as the first author to win the award three consecutive times.

She, however, withdrew her fourth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire from The Smarties contest to allow other writers earn an equal and fair opportunity of bagging the prize. Goblet of Fire was released simultaneously in the US and UK in July 2000. The book sold around 372,775 copies in the UK on the very first day. And some three million copies in US within 48 hours. This broke all the records worldwide.

In 2003, Rowling released the fifth edition, Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix and in July 2005 the sixth sequel, Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince was released. Once again the book smashed all the records as around nine million copies of the book were sold within the first 24 hours. This book was awarded with the British Book of the Year award in 2006.

The last and the most awaited book of the Harry series was released on December 21^st, 2006. This book became the fastest selling book of all time with 11 million copies sold on the first day in the UK and US. The book was later made into a movie which was produced by Rowling herself.

HER INSPIRATON

Rowling, in an interview to Oprah Winfrey said that the force behind her books’ success was no one else than her mother who died with multiple sclerosis.

NAME, FAME, MONEY AND ASSETS

The Harry Potter series made her the highest earning woman by 2000. She earned more than $29 million. In 2001 she earned some $34 million. Her earnings are believed to have crossed the $100 million boundary.

Besides the Smarties and The British Book of the Year, she was awarded with The Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen.

She is one of the richest female in the world who owns a property worth in billions. She owns a 19th Century mansion, Kilichassie House situated near the River Tay Banks. She also owns Tasmania Mansion in Perth worth 10.7 million U.S. dollars and a Church cottage located in Tutshill. Her total asset is around 576 million pound sterling.

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