Oscar-winning director visits Eastern Kentucky

Legendary actor and director Ron Howard stopped for a bite to eat at the White Flash #2 in Jackson Wednesday.

One waitress got a selfie with him and posted it on Facebook.

She told WYMT he was very nice and most people did not even realize he was in the restaurant.

Howard did not say why he was in town. However, he is directing a movie based on the best-selling book Hillbilly Elegy.

The author, J.D. Vance, spent some time growing up with relatives in Breathitt County.

Howard was also spotted in Vance's hometown of Middletown, Ohio recently.

There is speculation Howard might be looking for places to shoot the movie.

Before becoming a well-known director, Howard, who is 64, played Opie as a child on The Andy Griffith Show and later starred in Happy Days.

He’s directed dozens of movies since the late 1970’s, including Cocoon, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code, Frost/Nixon and Solo: A Star Wars Story.