Reed Cross Howard is the youngest child and only son of Ron Howard and his longtime wife, Cheryl Howard. Born on April 12, 1987, Reed grew up in a family deeply connected to movies, acting, directing, and writing. Yet instead of following his famous father into filmmaking, Reed found his own passion on the golf course.
That choice makes his story especially interesting. His sister Bryce Dallas Howard became a major actress and director, while his sister Paige also pursued acting. Reed took another road—competitive golf, instruction, family life, and a much quieter public identity.
Reed Cross Howard Quick Bio
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Reed Cross Howard |
| Date of Birth | April 12, 1987 |
| Age in 2026 | 39 |
| Father | Ron Howard |
| Mother | Cheryl Howard |
| Siblings | Bryce Dallas, Paige Carlyle and Jocelyn Carlyle Howard |
| Family Position | Youngest child and only son |
| Main Career Interest | Golf |
| Education | Heritage Academy; attended Pepperdine University; played golf at USCB |
| Wife | Ashley Howard |
| Child | Aspen Leigh Howard |
| Known For | Ron Howard’s son and his golf career |
| Public Profile | Much quieter than several members of his family |
Who Is Reed Cross Howard?
Reed Cross Howard is one of Ron and Cheryl Howard’s four children.
The couple’s eldest child is Bryce Dallas Howard. They later welcomed twins Paige Carlyle and Jocelyn Carlyle, followed by Reed in 1987. PEOPLE identifies Reed as the youngest of the four and the family’s only son.
Growing up, Reed was surrounded by an extraordinary amount of Hollywood history.
His father had already been famous since childhood.
Ron appeared as Opie Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show before becoming Richie Cunningham on Happy Days. He eventually moved behind the camera and developed into an Academy Award-winning filmmaker.
But Reed did not simply copy his father’s career.
His world became golf.
Reed Cross Howard’s Early Life
Reed was born on April 12, 1987. As of September 2026, he is 39 years old.
Although his father was famous, Reed and his siblings did not spend their childhood living as constant celebrity attractions.
Ron and Cheryl tried to give their children a more grounded upbringing. Recent interviews with Bryce similarly describe Ron as a supportive father who encouraged his children to discover their own paths rather than controlling their choices.
That approach appears to have worked particularly well for Reed.
He had an obvious route into Hollywood if he wanted it.
Instead, he found another passion.
Why Is His Name Reed Cross Howard?
There is a fun family story behind Reed’s middle name.
Ron and Cheryl gave their children middle names connected to places important to their conception stories.
Bryce’s middle name is Dallas.
Twins Paige and Jocelyn share the middle name Carlyle, connected with New York’s Carlyle Hotel.
Reed’s middle name, Cross, reportedly comes from a London street where the family had been living.
Ron has joked about the naming tradition over the years.
It is certainly unusual, but it also means each child’s name carries a small piece of family history.
Who Is Reed Cross Howard’s Mother?
Reed’s mother is Cheryl Howard, born Cheryl Alley.
Cheryl and Ron knew each other when they were teenagers. They went on their first date on November 1, 1970, and married on June 7, 1975. In 2025, they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
Cheryl is also a writer.
But perhaps her biggest influence has been within the Howard family itself.
Ron has frequently credited her with providing stability while he pursued an enormously demanding career.
Together, they raised four children while Ron moved from acting into directing major Hollywood productions.
Reed grew up watching that partnership from close range.
Reed Cross Howard’s Famous Sisters
Reed has three older sisters: Bryce Dallas Howard, Paige Howard and Jocelyn Howard.
Bryce is easily the most famous of the siblings.
She became a successful actress through projects including The Village, The Help and the Jurassic World films. She later expanded into directing, including work within the Star Wars television universe.
Paige Howard also pursued acting and later became a children’s book author. She married Timmy Abou Nasr in 2022, with Ron officiating their ceremony.
Jocelyn, Paige’s twin, has chosen a considerably more private life.
Then there is Reed.
He chose sport.
Reed Cross Howard and Bryce Dallas Howard
Bryce and Reed have a noticeable age difference.
Bryce was born in 1981, making her around six years older than Reed.
Yet public family photographs and social-media posts show a warm relationship among the Howard siblings.
A 2026 family photograph, for example, showed Bryce, Paige, Jocelyn and Reed relaxing together at home rather than posing at a Hollywood premiere.
That image captures something important about the family.
They may have famous careers and recognizable names, but they are still siblings.
Reed’s relationship with Bryce also highlights how differently two children from the same family can develop.
Bryce chose cameras.
Reed chose golf clubs.
Why Reed Cross Howard Chose Golf
Golf became one of Reed’s biggest interests while he was young.
Instead of spending his teenage years trying to secure movie auditions, he spent considerable time developing his game.
Golf demands patience.
One bad shot can ruin a hole.
One moment of frustration can affect the next several shots.
A serious player therefore needs more than physical ability. Concentration, emotional control and repeated practice are essential.
Those demands clearly appealed to Reed.
Eventually, golf became much more than a hobby.
Reed Cross Howard’s Education
Reed attended Heritage Academy before moving into college.
He attended Pepperdine University and later became involved with the golf program at the University of South Carolina Beaufort, commonly called USCB. Published accounts of his college career identify him as part of the school’s early men’s golf program.
This is an important part of Reed’s story.
He wasn’t simply a celebrity son who occasionally played golf at expensive clubs.
He competed seriously.
College golf requires regular training, tournaments, travel and pressure.
Players compete not only against opponents but also against the course and themselves.
For Reed, that competitive environment helped turn a childhood interest into a more serious pursuit.
Reed Cross Howard’s College Golf Career
Reed played competitive golf at USCB.
His college experience gave him an opportunity to develop his game outside his father’s celebrity world.
On a golf course, having Ron Howard as your father does not lower your score.
The ball doesn’t care who your family is.
Neither does the hole.
That may have been part of the appeal.
Golf gave Reed an environment where success depended largely on his own preparation and performance.
His surname might attract attention, but it couldn’t hit the shot for him.
Reed Cross Howard and the U.S. Amateur
One of the more interesting parts of Reed’s golf history is his connection to the U.S. Amateur.
Published accounts of his competitive career report that he qualified for the prestigious tournament at Pinehurst.
The U.S. Amateur has a long history and has featured many players who later became major professional stars.
Simply reaching that level requires serious competitive ability.
It provides useful context when Reed is casually described online as someone who “likes golf.”
His involvement went much further than occasionally playing for fun.
He trained and competed.
Did Reed Cross Howard Become a Professional Golfer?
PEOPLE describes Reed as a professional golfer and notes that he has shared golf-related content, including tutorials and videos, online.
Other accounts say he competed on smaller professional circuits rather than establishing a long-running career on the PGA Tour.
That distinction matters.
Calling someone a professional golfer does not automatically mean they are a PGA Tour star.
Professional golf exists at many levels.
Players compete on developmental tours, regional circuits, mini tours and teaching environments.
Reed’s golf career has included competition, instruction and training-related work rather than the kind of weekly PGA Tour fame associated with players such as Rory McIlroy or Scottie Scheffler.
Reed Cross Howard Became a Golf Instructor
Reed’s interest in golf eventually expanded beyond playing.
He began sharing instructional content designed to help other golfers improve.
That makes sense.
Competitive players spend years studying swing mechanics.
Where is the head?
How are the hips turning?
What is happening with balance?
Where is the clubface at impact?
Tiny changes can dramatically affect the direction of a golf ball.
Teaching allows an experienced player to turn those years of trial and error into something useful for other golfers.
Reed has shared drills and instructional material online, according to PEOPLE’s family profile.
Reed and the Steadhead Golf Training Aid
Reed has also been associated with a golf-training product called Steadhead.
The idea relates to helping golfers understand and control head movement during the swing.
For many players, unwanted movement can make it difficult to consistently return the club to the correct position.
A training device offers immediate feedback.
This part of Reed’s career shows another side of his interest in golf.
He wasn’t thinking only about tournament scores.
He was thinking about how people learn the golf swing.
That combination of sport, teaching and product development gave him a professional direction quite separate from the Howard family’s movie business.
Did Reed Cross Howard Become an Actor?
Not in the traditional sense.
Reed has a screen credit connected with Arrested Development, appearing in 2018. Parade also notes the appearance.
That connection is amusing because Ron Howard has a major relationship with the series as its narrator and executive producer.
But Reed’s appearance should not be turned into claims of a major acting career.
There is an enormous difference between making an occasional television appearance and spending years professionally acting.
Reed’s main public identity has remained connected to golf.
Reed Cross Howard and Ron Howard
Reed and his father have been photographed together many times.
Sometimes it is at a film event.
Other times it is at a basketball game or golf event.
One photograph from 2017 shows Reed and Ron together at the Los Angeles premiere of National Geographic’s Genius.
Another shows them sitting together at a basketball game.
Their similar red hair makes the family resemblance especially easy to see.
Yet their careers could hardly be more different.
Ron spent his life thinking about cameras, actors, scripts and scenes.
Reed spent years thinking about clubs, swings, greens and scores.
Ron Howard Supported Reed’s Different Career
One of the nicest things about Ron Howard’s public comments on his children is his willingness to let them choose different lives.
He has said that some of his happiest moments happen when something works out for one of his children without his involvement.
That attitude matters when discussing Reed.
Ron could have opened Hollywood doors for his son.
Reed had a family network many aspiring actors would dream of having.
But there was no need to force him through those doors.
Golf was Reed’s interest.
His father appears to have respected that.
Who Is Reed Cross Howard’s Wife?
Reed is married to Ashley Howard.
PEOPLE’s profile of Ron Howard’s children identifies Ashley as Reed’s wife.
The couple married in 2015, according to published accounts of Reed’s family life.
Unlike many celebrity-family weddings, theirs did not become a long-running entertainment-media event.
Reed and Ashley have generally kept their relationship relatively private.
That fits Reed’s overall public personality.
He is comfortable appearing in family photographs, but he does not seem interested in turning every personal milestone into celebrity content.
Reed Cross Howard and Ashley’s Marriage
Reed and Ashley have now been married for more than a decade.
Recent reliable family profiles continue to identify Ashley as his wife, with no widely reported divorce announcement.
Their marriage also reflects the strong emphasis on family seen throughout the Howard household.
Ron and Cheryl have been together since their teenage years.
Bryce has built a long marriage with actor Seth Gabel.
Reed appears similarly interested in keeping his family life grounded.
But because he and Ashley are relatively private, readers should be careful with websites claiming to know every detail of their relationship.
Privacy does not mean information is missing.
Sometimes it simply means a couple has chosen not to publish it.
Reed Cross Howard’s Daughter Aspen
Reed and Ashley are parents to a daughter named Aspen Leigh Howard.
PEOPLE identifies Aspen as their daughter.
She was born in 2019, making Reed a first-time father in his early thirties.
Ron was clearly delighted.
Around Reed’s first Father’s Day, Ron publicly celebrated his son becoming a dad and shared a photograph of Reed feeding baby Aspen.
It was a simple picture.
No red carpet.
No movie set.
No golf tournament.
Just a new father taking care of his daughter.
Reed Cross Howard as a Father
Reed has generally protected Aspen from excessive public attention.
She occasionally appears in family-related posts, but her childhood has not been turned into a public entertainment project.
That approach fits Reed’s own upbringing.
His parents allowed their children access to Ron’s work while also trying to prevent Hollywood from defining every part of their childhood.
Now Reed appears to be creating his own version of that balance.
Aspen has an extraordinary family tree.
But she is also simply his daughter.
Aspen Comes From a Remarkable Hollywood Family
Aspen’s grandfather is Ron Howard.
Her aunt is Bryce Dallas Howard.
Her great-grandparents Rance Howard and Jean Speegle Howard were actors.
Her great-uncle Clint Howard has appeared in numerous films and television shows.
Her grandmother Cheryl is a writer.
That is a remarkable amount of entertainment history in one family.
Yet Aspen’s father chose golf.
Perhaps she will eventually become interested in movies.
Perhaps she will play golf.
Or perhaps she will choose something completely different.
If the Howard family pattern continues, she will probably be encouraged to discover that for herself.
Does Reed Cross Howard Have More Children?
Current mainstream family profiles clearly identify Aspen as Reed and Ashley’s daughter.
Some online sources make inconsistent claims about additional children, and one recent Parade profile contains conflicting information in different parts of the article.
For that reason, it is safer not to state additional children as confirmed without stronger evidence.
This is an important rule when writing about celebrity families.
If reliable sources disagree, the uncertainty should be acknowledged.
A biography should not choose whichever answer sounds more interesting.
Reed Cross Howard’s Famous Grandparents
Reed’s Hollywood roots extend beyond his father.
His paternal grandfather, Rance Howard, was an actor with a long list of film and television credits.
His grandmother, Jean Speegle Howard, was also an actress.
Ron frequently involved family members in his productions.
Rance appeared in numerous films, while Jean appeared in Apollo 13, one of Ron’s best-known directing achievements. IMDb also notes Ron’s habit of casting members of his family in his work.
Reed therefore represents the third generation of a family with deep Hollywood connections.
His decision to focus on golf becomes even more unusual when viewed in that context.
Reed Cross Howard’s Uncle Clint Howard
Reed’s uncle is actor Clint Howard, Ron’s younger brother.
Clint began acting as a child and went on to build a remarkably long career as a character actor.
He has appeared in everything from television series to major films.
This means Reed grew up surrounded not only by a famous father but also by grandparents and an uncle connected to entertainment.
Hollywood was not simply Ron’s job.
It was woven through the family tree.
Still, Reed found his own space outside it.
Reed Cross Howard’s Red Hair
There is one Howard family feature Reed definitely inherited.
The red hair.
Ron is famous for it.
Bryce has it.
Reed has it too.
Photographs of Ron and Reed together make the resemblance especially noticeable.
In fact, the red hair is such a recognizable Howard family trait that photographs of the siblings together often produce comments about how strongly they resemble one another.
Reed may have chosen a different career, but there is little hiding which family he belongs to.
Reed Cross Howard’s Net Worth
There is no authoritative public source establishing Reed Cross Howard’s exact personal net worth.
Celebrity websites sometimes publish estimates, but those figures are generally not based on audited financial records.
Reed’s professional activities have included golf, instruction, content and training products.
That tells us something about his work.
It does not tell us the exact amount in his bank account.
His father’s wealth should not simply be counted as Reed’s either.
Adult family members have separate finances.
Therefore, any exact Reed Cross Howard net-worth figure should be treated as an estimate unless reliable financial documentation becomes available.
Is Reed Cross Howard on Social Media?
Reed has used social media to share golf-related content.
PEOPLE specifically notes his online golf videos, tutorials and drills.
That makes his online presence very different from the usual celebrity-child account.
Much of the attention is centered on something he actually does.
Golf.
Technique.
Training.
Occasional family moments.
It gives followers a glimpse of Reed without requiring him to turn his entire private life into content.
Where Is Reed Cross Howard Today?
As of 2026, Reed remains associated publicly with golf and his family.
He is 39 years old, married to Ashley and publicly documented as the father of Aspen. Recent family coverage continues to describe him as Ron Howard’s golfer son rather than an entertainment professional.
His exact everyday routine is not heavily documented.
That is probably intentional.
Reed is famous enough for people to recognize his name.
But he has never seemed interested in living with the same level of attention that surrounds Ron or Bryce.
Why People Search for Reed Cross Howard
Many people discover Reed after learning about Ron Howard’s family.
They already know Ron.
They may recognize Bryce immediately.
Then they discover Ron has four children.
That leads to a natural question:
Who is his son?
The answer is Reed.
And then comes the surprise.
He isn’t a director.
He isn’t a movie star.
He is a golfer.
That difference makes his story memorable.
Reed Cross Howard Found His Own Identity
Being born into a famous family can create unusual expectations.
People may assume you will follow the same profession.
They may compare every achievement with your parent’s achievements.
And if your father has an Oscar-winning directing career stretching across decades, that comparison can become almost impossible.
Reed avoided much of that problem by choosing a completely different field.
Golf gave him his own challenge.
His father could offer encouragement.
His family name could attract curiosity.
But neither could make the ball go into the hole.
That part was Reed’s responsibility.
A Quiet Member of a Very Famous Family
Reed Cross Howard’s life offers a useful reminder that celebrity families are made up of individuals.
Bryce embraced acting and directing.
Paige explored acting and writing.
Jocelyn remained private.
Reed chose golf.
None of those paths needed to be identical.
Ron and Cheryl’s four children grew up with the same famous surname but created very different adult lives.
Reed’s story may be the least Hollywood of them all.
And that is exactly what makes it interesting.
He grew up around cameras but preferred golf courses.
He came from generations of actors but developed an athletic career.
He had access to celebrity but built a relatively private family life with Ashley and Aspen.
Reed Cross Howard may always be introduced as Ron Howard’s only son.
But his life shows that a famous family name does not have to determine the direction someone takes.
Frequently Asked Questions About Reed Cross Howard
Who is Reed Cross Howard?
Reed Cross Howard is the youngest child and only son of filmmaker Ron Howard and writer Cheryl Howard. He is best known professionally for his involvement in golf rather than acting.
When was Reed Cross Howard born?
Reed was born on April 12, 1987.
How old is Reed Cross Howard?
Reed is 39 years old as of September 2026.
Who are Reed Cross Howard’s parents?
His parents are Ron Howard and Cheryl Howard. They married in 1975 and celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2025.
Does Reed Cross Howard have siblings?
Yes. His older sisters are Bryce Dallas Howard, twins Paige Carlyle Howard and Jocelyn Carlyle Howard.
Is Reed Cross Howard a professional golfer?
PEOPLE describes Reed as a professional golfer. His broader golf background includes competitive play and sharing instructional golf content online.
Is Reed Cross Howard married?
Yes. Reed is married to Ashley Howard.
Does Reed Cross Howard have children?
Reed and Ashley have a publicly documented daughter named Aspen Leigh Howard.
Is Reed Cross Howard an actor?
Reed made a limited appearance in Arrested Development in 2018, but he has not built a major acting career. Golf has remained his main public professional interest.
Is Reed Cross Howard related to Bryce Dallas Howard?
Yes. Bryce is Reed’s older sister. Both are children of Ron and Cheryl Howard.
What is Reed Cross Howard’s net worth?
There is no authoritative public financial record confirming Reed’s exact net worth. Online estimates should therefore be treated as estimates rather than verified facts.
Where is Reed Cross Howard now?
Reed maintains a relatively private life centered around golf and family. Current family profiles continue to identify him as married to Ashley and as the father of Aspen.
Reed Cross Howard grew up surrounded by one of Hollywood’s most established filmmaking families, but he never allowed that history to choose his career for him. Instead, he found competition and creativity in golf, built a life with Ashley, became a father to Aspen, and remained close to his famous family without needing to become another Hollywood star.
For more detailed celebrity-family biographies, hidden life stories, and interesting profiles behind famous names, visit Topper Magazine.
