Story highlights Rance Howard was cast in many of his son's movies

He had a regular role in the TV show "Gentle Ben"

(CNN) Longtime film and television actor Rance Howard, father of director Ron Howard, has died, according to a Saturday tweet from Ron Howard's verified account.

"Clint & I have been blessed to be Rance Howard's sons. Today he passed at 89. He stood especially tall 4 his ability to balance ambition w/great personal integrity. A depression-era farm boy, his passion for acting changed the course of our family history. We love & miss U Dad," Ron Howard tweeted.

Details of the death were not immediately available.

Rance Howard was born Harold Engle Beckenholdt on November 17, 1928, in Oklahoma, according to the Internet Movie Database.

He performed in a touring children's theater as a child and, as an adult, toured with Henry Fonda in the stage presentation of "Mister Roberts," according to the Turner Classic Movies archives.

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