Although Rance Howard's solid frame, wind-blown face, and lilting Midwestern voice may not be as easily recognizable as the faces of his sons director-actor Ron Howard and actor Clint Howard, Rance has been seen by TV and movie audiences dozens of times, usually in guest star appearances (often westerns) and more recently in virtually every film directed by son Ron. Rance Howard was born and raised in Oklahoma, a state settled by his earliest American ancestors, whose story was fictionalized in Ron Howard's 1992 movie, "Far and Away." As a child, Rance was in a touring children's theatre, and
