C. Thomas Howell
Acting
- Born:
- 1966-12-07
- Place of birth:
- Los Angeles, California, USA
Biography
Christopher Thomas Howell (born December 7, 1966), usually credited as C. Thomas Howell, is an American actor and film director. He starred in the films The Outsiders as Ponyboy Curtis and in The Hitcher as Jim Halsey. He has appeared in Soul Man, Red Dawn, Secret Admirer, Gettysburg, H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds, The Day the Earth Stopped and Gods and Generals. Howell was born in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles to Christopher N. and Candice Howell. He has three siblings. His father worked as a stunt coordinator and rodeo performer. He played the role of the Red Knight in Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King. As a young boy, Howell wanted to be a stuntman and was a child stunt performer. He was also a rodeo star. When Howell was young, his parents divorced. Howell graduated from Saugus High School in 1984. In 1982, Howell made his film debut as Tyler in Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. At the age of 15 in 1981, Howell was cast in Francis Ford Coppola's The Outsiders (1983). Howell played the lead role of Ponyboy Curtis, "the soulful tagalong greaser through whose eyes we see the events of the 1960s-set film unfold." Based on S.E. Hinton's bestselling 1967 novel of the same name,the coming-of-age film went on to become a cult classic. Howell's portrayal of Ponyboy was his breakthrough role, and it earned him a Young Artist Award. In 1984, Howell and his Outsiders co-star Patrick Swayze reunited for Grandview, U.S.A. and Red Dawn. Howell also had a pivotal role in Tank (1984). In 1985, he starred in Secret Admirer. After filming The Outsiders, Howell co-starred in his own television series Two Marriages, which ended after four episodes, but letters of support got it back on air. He later expressed disappointment in the series. Howell was one of two final actors in the running for the lead role of Marty McFly in Back to the Future (1985); the other was Eric Stoltz. Ultimately, Michael J. Fox was cast as Marty after Stoltz was deemed wrong for the part. In 1986, Howell was a hitchhiker's target in the film The Hitcher. He also starred in the sequel, which was released in 2003. In 1986, Howell starred in Soul Man, a film in which Howell appears in Blackface. Rounding out the 1980s , Howell played the young Arturo Toscanini in Franco Zeffirelli's 1988 film Young Toscanini.
Known For
Filmography
One Mile: Chapter Two
One Mile: Chapter One
Where the Wind Blows
Reagan
Ride
The Open Door
Obliterated
Old Dads
Will Trent
1923
Crimson Point
Because We're Family
The Wrong Path
Beast Mode
Dauntless: The Battle of Midway
Creepshow
Control
I Am Patrick Swayze
The Good Cop
Urban Country
Detroit Under S.T.R.E.S.S.
Dirty Dealing
The Rack Pack
Rich Boy, Rich Girl
Deadman Standing
The Terror
Shifting Gears
Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay
Marvel's The Punisher
LBJ
A Question of Faith
SEAL Team
Mac Daddy's Vegas Adventure
Disconnected
The Shadow People
My B.F.F.
Advance & Retreat
MacGyver
Attack of the Killer Donuts
Blood Lust
Magic Hour
A Christmas Eve Miracle
Woodlawn
The Sin Seer
Lazarus Rising
Ties That Bind
Rivers 9
Justice League: Gods and Monsters
Stitchers
Spirit Riders
Borrowed Moments
Bosch
A Magic Christmas
Fruits De Mer
Confessions of a Womanizer
Rescuing Madison
Category 5
Bigfoot Wars
Christmas Belle
Storm Rider
The Kindred Chronicles
Lost on Purpose
The Blacklist
Sleepy Hollow
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox
Don't Pass Me By
An Amish Murder
MoniKa
Chilly Christmas
The E.T. Journals
Revolution
Home Invasion
The Amazing Spider-Man
Wedding Day
Longmire
Escape
Restitution
Grimm
Alphas
Cross
Camel Spiders
The Walking Dead
Blue Bloods
Hawaii Five-0
The Glades
Mutant Vampire Zombies from the 'Hood!
The Terror Experiment
Cupid's Arrow
American Pie Presents: The Book of Love
Celebrity Ghost Stories
The Grind
The Land That Time Forgot
The Jailhouse
Southland
Castle
Secret at Arrow Lake
The Day the Earth Stopped
A Gunfighter's Pledge
Sons of Anarchy
Big Game
Celebracadabra
Toxic
House of Fallen
War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave
Xenophobia
The Thirst: Blood War
The Haunting of Marsten Manor
Cold Ones
Fighting Words
Torchwood
Psych
The Da Vinci Treasure
Hoboken Hollow
The Poseidon Adventure
Criminal Minds
Staying Gold: A Look Back at 'The Outsiders'
Glass Trap
H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds
The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyam
Crimson Force
The Lost Angel
Ordinary Miracles
The Hillside Strangler
A Killer Within
Summerland
Zolar
Nursie
Hidalgo
The Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting
The Hitcher: How Do These Movies Get Made?
Gods and Generals
Net Games
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Killer Bees
WillFull
Night of the Wolf
Askari
Asylum Days
24
XCU: Extreme Close Up
Separate Ways
Burning Down the House
Lawless: Dead Evidence
The District
Son of the Beach
The Million Dollar Kid
Hot Boyz
The Prince and the Surfer
Hitman's Run
Amazon
Twice in a Lifetime
Escape from Alaska
The Glass Jar
Fatal Affair
Red Team
Cybermaster: Shepherd II
Enemy Action
Charades
Matter of Trust
V.I.P.
The Shepherd
Sealed with a Kiss
Last Lives
The Big Fall
Sleeping Dogs
Dead Fire
Laws of Deception
Hourglass
Dilemma
Pure Danger
The Sweeper
Kindred: The Embraced
Baby Face Nelson
Mad Dogs and Englishmen
The Outer Limits
Dangerous Indiscretion
Payback
Suspect Device
ER
Teresa's Tattoo
Natural Selection
Jailbait
Gettysburg
Treacherous
Tattle Tale
Acting on Impulse
To Protect and Serve
Breaking the Rules
That Night
Nickel & Dime
Kid
Curiosity Kills
Far Out Man
Side Out
The Eyes of the Panther
Nightmare Classics
The Return of the Musketeers
Young Toscanini
A Tiger's Tale
Into the Homeland
Soul Man
The Hitcher
Secret Admirer
Moonlighting
Red Dawn
Grandview, U.S.A.
Tank
The Hitchhiker
The Outsiders
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Dreadtown: The Steel Pulse Story
The Greatest Actress in the World
The Horseman