C. Thomas Howell
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.
Personal info
Gender
Male
Birthday
1966-12-07
Place of birth
Los Angeles, California, USA
Images
Cast
The Outsiders
1983
7.21
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
1982
7.51
Net Games
2003
4.80
Red Dawn
1984
6.29
Hidalgo
2004
6.88
Fatal Affair
1999
6.00
A Killer Within
2004
5.03
The Land That Time Forgot
2009
3.60
Tank
1984
5.70
Big Game
2008
3.90
Acting on Impulse
1993
3.80
The Hillside Strangler
2004
4.90
Secret Admirer
1985
6.80
My B.F.F.
2016
0.00
Far Out Man
1990
5.30
Soul Man
1986
5.32
The Hitcher
1986
6.96
Toxic
2008
4.20
That Night
1992
6.40
Glass Trap
2005
3.31
H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds
2005
5.29
The Poseidon Adventure
2005
5.10
Killer Bees
2002
3.83
The Grind
2009
3.53
WillFull
2002
6.50
Sleeping Dogs
1997
3.90
The Return of the Musketeers
1989
6.20
Last Lives
1997
3.00
Hoboken Hollow
2006
3.42
Gods and Generals
2003
6.34
The Day the Earth Stopped
2008
3.60
Fighting Words
2006
0.00
The Terror Experiment
2010
4.19
The Shepherd
1999
3.50
Side Out
1990
5.40
Camel Spiders
2011
4.40
Escape from Alaska
1999
4.20
Payback
1995
5.25
Grandview, U.S.A.
1984
5.80
The Da Vinci Treasure
2006
2.80
A Tiger's Tale
1988
4.43
Restitution
2011
3.50
The Eyes of the Panther
1989
0.00
Ordinary Miracles
2005
6.00
MoniKa
2012
6.07
The Sweeper
1996
4.40
Kid
1990
6.10
A Gunfighter's Pledge
2008
4.30
Dilemma
1997
2.60
Xenophobia
2008
0.00
Lawless: Dead Evidence
2001
6.00
Chilly Christmas
2012
4.69
Hitman's Run
1999
4.90
Dead Fire
1997
3.80
Hourglass
1997
4.75
The Prince and the Surfer
1999
3.38
Home Invasion
2012
5.90
An Amish Murder
2013
5.85
Breaking the Rules
1992
5.15
Teresa's Tattoo
1994
4.90
Askari
2001
1.00
Asylum Days
2001
6.80
Red Team
1999
3.30
Charades
1998
3.50
Suspect Device
1995
6.40
Pure Danger
1996
4.00
Lost on Purpose
2013
4.30
Storm Rider
2013
6.44
Baby Face Nelson
1996
6.70
Cybermaster: Shepherd II
1999
0.00
Treacherous
1993
7.23
Enemy Action
1999
2.00
Sealed with a Kiss
1998
3.00
Nursie
2004
2.50
Burning Down the House
2001
10.00
Don't Pass Me By
2013
4.00
Young Toscanini
1988
5.90
Christmas Belle
2013
5.70
Confessions of a Womanizer
2014
2.90
Curiosity Kills
1990
4.80
The Amazing Spider-Man
2012
6.70
Mad Dogs and Englishmen
1995
4.00
Crimson Point
2022
0.00
Bigfoot Wars
2014
4.00
Dangerous Indiscretion
1995
3.57
Because We're Family
2022
5.00
Dirty Dealing
2018
3.58
Category 5
2014
5.30
House of Fallen
2008
3.14
Old Dads
2023
6.22
Mia's Father
2009
8.00
Jailbait
1993
3.00
Borrowed Moments
2015
3.80
Woodlawn
2015
6.90
Wedding Day
2012
4.00
Laws of Deception
1997
3.50
Rivers 9
2015
5.60
The Big Fall
1997
5.60
The Jailhouse
2009
4.00
LBJ
2017
6.39
Ride
2024
8.20
Spirit Riders
2015
6.40
Hot Boyz
2000
4.40
Crimson Force
2005
4.40
Blood Lust
2016
4.27
Natural Selection
1994
5.10
Escape
2012
5.20
Rescuing Madison
2014
5.89
Cupid's Arrow
2010
5.80
Attack of the Killer Donuts
2016
4.20
Advance & Retreat
2016
6.40
Matter of Trust
1998
3.50
Magic Hour
2015
4.00
One Mile
0.00
One More Mile
0.00
Cross
2011
4.00
Nickel & Dime
1992
0.00
The Shadow People
2017
4.60
To Protect and Serve
1992
4.80
A Question of Faith
2017
7.30
Fruits De Mer
2014
0.00
Tattle Tale
1993
0.00
Cold Ones
2007
5.00
Disconnected
2017
3.50
Rich Boy, Rich Girl
2018
5.80
Beast Mode
2020
5.40
Urban Country
2018
6.38
Shifting Gears
2018
6.50
Separate Ways
2001
2.70
Detroit Under S.T.R.E.S.S.
2018
0.00
Deadman Standing
2018
5.10
The Rack Pack
2018
3.70
Zolar
2004
1.00
A Magic Christmas
2014
4.90
Mac Daddy's Vegas Adventure
2017
0.00
Dauntless: The Battle of Midway
2019
4.40
The Haunting of Marsten Manor
2007
2.25
The 'E.T.' Journals
2012
10.00
I Am Patrick Swayze
2019
7.00
The Thirst: Blood War
2008
3.33
Gettysburg
1993
6.93
Night of the Wolf
2002
7.00
Control
2019
0.00
Into the Homeland
1987
6.00
The Lost Angel
2005
3.67
Lazarus Rising
2015
3.00
The Wrong Path
2021
4.00
XCU: Extreme Close Up
2001
5.00
Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay
2018
7.10
Reagan
2024
6.21
The Open Door
2024
0.00
A Christmas Eve Miracle
2015
4.30
The Million Dollar Kid
2000
2.00