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C. Thomas Howell

C. Thomas Howell

Acting December 7, 1966 Los Angeles, California, USA
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.

Movies

The Amazing Spider-Man
6.7
Jack's Father
The Amazing Spider-Man
2012
One Mile: Chapter One
7.0
Stanley Dixon
One Mile: Chapter One
2026
One Mile: Chapter Two
6.9
Old CineBeta
Stanley Dixon
One Mile: Chapter Two
2026
Big Game
3.9
Old CineBeta
Sully
Big Game
2008
Fatal Affair
7.3
Old CineBeta
Malcolm 'Mack' Maddox
Fatal Affair
1999
Escape
4.7
Old CineBeta
Paul Jordan
Escape
2012

TV Shows

The Walking Dead
8.1
Old CineBeta
Roy
The Walking Dead
2010
The Walking Dead
8.1
Old CineBeta
Hilltop Resident
The Walking Dead
2010
24
7.8
Old CineBeta
Barry Landes
24
2001
MacGyver
7.3
Old CineBeta
Vasil
MacGyver
2016
Obliterated
7.0
Hagerty
Obliterated
2023

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