Opening Doors To Good Ideas

 

Today marks the birth of two great entertainer/writers – actor and director Ron Howard and Bandleader/musician Glen Miller.

Howard, 67, is a native Oklahoman who started his career as the child star on the Andy Griffin Show and went on to do hits like Music Man and American Graffiti and the wildly popular TV show Happy Days before moving into his real passion – and some might argue ultimate success – directing.  A multiple Academy Award director, he continues to turn out hit after hit and said his love for directing gets him going each day and, luckily for the rest of us, “creating” new worlds for us to explore and enjoy on the big screen.

Miller, who died in World War II while traveling to entertain U.S. troops on the European Front, was born in Iowa in 1904 and grew up in Nebraska, Missouri and Colorado.  For a time he thought about a professional football career (he was a star in Colorado).  But writing and performing music drew him away from sports and ultimately into history.  he created such famous songs as Tuxedo Junction, Moonlight Serenade, Chattanooga Choo Choo and, of course, the song everyone hears when they listen to the “Big Band Sound,” In The Mood.

Miller was branching into movies at the time of his death and probably would have succeeded had he survived the war.  He was good friends with Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, and people said he reminded them of actor Jimmy Stewart, who was about his age.  Ironically, it was Stewart who played the title role in the 1950s movie, The Glen Miller Story.

 

Glen Miller & Ron Howard             

 

“I love leaving the door open to good ideas,” Howard said about the creative process.  “I love the collaborative swirl. I get charged by problem-solving, usually under some kind of stress - the sun is going down, and we have eight minutes, and we have to solve it. Great things come out of it.”

 

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