The Mrs. and I watched “The Conversation” tonight for the first time, and were blown away by all the familiar faces that appeared in it, such as Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Terri Garr, and Robert Duvall.
But we also noted what appeared to be an appearance by Ron Howard, as the driver of the car that was racing with Gene Hackman and his fellow snoops. No lines were spoken by him, and he wasn’t visible more than 5 seconds, but it sure looked like him.
Googling provides no definitive answers for me, so I turn to you guys for an answer!
I doubt it was him. The film was shot in San Francisco, for one thing, and Howard was shooting films in Spain, LA, Nova Scotia, and New Jersey around that time (and doing major roles). Doesn’t seem likely he’d fly to San Francisco for a cameo.
I dunno, if he can bounce around between Spain, LA, Nova Scotia and NJ, maybe he had a layover in SF at the right time?
It sure looked like him.
But in absence of any other evidence that he was in it, I suppose I’ll have to conclude it probably wasn’t him. It’s the sort of thing I’d expect to be mentioned somewhere halfway prominent on film websites, had it happened.
Cindy Williams and Harrison Ford would’ve just come off American Graffiti, which was filmed in the San Francisco area. Coppolla and Lucas are friends and frequently collaborate in small ways on each others’ films. It makes perfect sense to me that Ron Howard may have dropped by the set and ended up in a tiny cameo role.
Not having actually seen it, that was my gut feeling, given that this is a well-known film, and Ronnie’s pretty well known himself. Guess you don’t have a copy handy to show a screen cap?
