Christopher Thomas Howell, known by his stage name C. Thomas Howell, is an American actor
and director. He starred in the films The Outsiders as Ponyboy Curtis and in The Hitcher
as Jim Halsey. He also appeared in Soul Man, Red Dawn, Secret Admirer, Grandview U.S.A.,
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.
Early life Howell was born in Los Angeles, California,
the son of Candice and Christopher N. Howell. He has two sisters, Stacy and Candi, and a
brother, John. His father worked as a stunt coordinator and rodeo performer. As a young
boy, Howell wanted to be a stuntman and was even a child stunt performer. He began acting
at the age of four, when he was cast in the Brian Keith Show episode "The Little People".
When Howell was young, his parents divorced, leaving his mother with both of her sons and
daughter Stacy, and his father took Candi with him. Howell shared his time with each
parent and started his career through his father's job. When he was 12, he became a
rodeo champion at the California Junior Rodeo Association and was named "All-Around Cowboy"
in August 1979. While growing up, he also spent time golfing with his grandfather. Howell
graduated from Saugus High School in 1984. Career
Howell's showbiz debut was acting in the The Brian Keith Show episode "The Little People"
as a little boy whose ears are being checked out by a doctor. When he got older, he tried
stunt acting like his father and worked on commercials for a while. He tried rodeo riding
for a few years. In 1982, He made his film debut as Tyler in Steven Spielberg's E.T.
the Extra-Terrestrial. Afterward, he was cast as the lead role Ponyboy Curtis in Francis
Ford Coppola's The Outsiders, which earned him a Young Artist Award. Following The Outsiders,
he became a teen idol, appearing in teen magazines like Tiger Beat and 16 Magazine, which referred
to him as "Tommy" and "Tom". 1980s
In 1983 he and Outsiders co-star, Patrick Swayze, reunited for Grandview, U.S.A., also
with Jamie Lee Curtis, and Red Dawn, with Charlie Sheen and Lea Thompson. Howell also
had a pivotal role in Tank, with James Garner and Jenilee Harrison. In 1985 he again starred
in the lead role in Secret Admirer, opposite Lori Loughlin and Kelly Preston. Howell was
one of two final actors in the running to play Marty McFly in Back to the Future the
other being Eric Stoltz, who was eventually selected. Michael J. Fox would later go on
to replace Stoltz after filming had begun. In 1986 he played a hitchhiker's target in
the film The Hitcher, another of his successful movies. The sequel was released in 2003. Following
that he starred as a white student who pretends to be black in the poorly received Soul Man,
which currently holds an aggregated score of 14% at Rotten Tomatoes. Howell has since
stated that he does not regret playing the main character in blackface and that Soul
Man was "an important part of [Howell's] life" and "an important film" for racial relations
in America. In 1988 Howell played Arturo Toscanini in the story of the world renown conductor
in Franco Zeffirelli's Il giovane Toscanini with Irma Capece Minutolo and Elizabeth Taylor,
which was one of his very first straight-to-video releases. Howell and Kelly Preston reunited
as lovers in A Tiger's Tale. 1990s
At the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s, Howell appeared in The Return of the
Musketeers and Side Out. In 1993, he starred with Linda Fiorentino and Nancy Allen in the
campy thriller Acting on Impulse. After several straight-to-DVD features and a starring role
in That Night, he achieved success again in the movie Gettysburg, which was popular with
history buffs and history classrooms. He starred as Mike, a motorcycle courier in Mad Dogs
and Englishmen with Elizabeth Hurley. His made-for-television movie credits include
Suspect Device, Sealed with a Kiss and Dead Fire. He starred in Dads, an unsold sitcom
pilot. He also appeared in the short-lived TV series Kindred: The Embraced.
He started an interest in crime-thrillers after starring in Payback and playing gangster
Baby Face Nelson in a film of the same name. He went on to direct and star in the 1996
direct-to-video release, Pure Danger, featuring alongside Teri Ann Linn and prop comic and
bodybuilder, Carrot Top. 2000s
Howell returned to the theater in the 2000s in movies such as Asylum Days, the Gods and
Generals prequel to Gettysburg, and The Hillside Strangler, in which he played serial killer
Kenneth Bianchi. In 2006, Howell starred in Hoboken Hollow. He also became a supporter
of the production company The Asylum, which produced his straight-to-DVD movies.
In 2005, he starred in H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds, one of three 2005 adaptations
of the novel The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. Because of its success, Howell directed
and starred in a straight-to-DVD sequel War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave in 2008, which
was heavily criticized. In 2005, he also reunited with his Secret Admirer co-star Lori Loughlin,
when he had a recurring role on her television show Summerland as Zac Efron's father. After
War of the Worlds, he spent time directing unsuccessful straight to-DVD movies. Also,
in 2008, he directed and starred in The Day the Earth Stopped, a mockbuster intended to
capitalize on The Day the Earth Stood Still. For these reasons, 20th Century Fox have threatened
legal action against The Asylum, but no action has yet been taken. He also appeared as a
doctor in The Poseidon Adventure, an adaptation of the 1972 film of the same name. Coincidentally,
his father's first stunt co-ordination was for the original movie, though uncredited.
He briefly hosted a show on KLSX later that year.
2010s Howell appeared in the 2012 film The Amazing
Spider-Man. Television work
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. Howell later
expressed disappointment in the series, but eventually found it more satisfying.
After Two Marriages, Howell made guest appearances in shows like Moonlighting and The Hitchhiker.
In 2000, Howell played a doctor stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash in Amazon.
He initially turned down a guest role in ER after missing out on a role he wanted, but
his wife signed him up after yet another offer. Following ER, he guest appeared in 24. He
guest starred in five episodes of Criminal Minds on CBS as serial killer George Foyet
/ The Boston Reaper, a recurring villain based on the Zodiac Killer.
Howell has played the role of Officer Bill 'Dewey' Dudek, a wild, loudmouth, but efficient
police officer recovering from alcoholism, in the L.A. police drama Southland since 2009.
He appeared in Seasons 1, 2, 3, and 4 and was promoted to a series regular for Season
5, which began in February 2013. The series was cancelled on May 10, 2013.
In 2011, he guest starred on The Glades and in Torchwood: Miracle Day.
Off-screen Howell has worked with Francis Ford Coppola
many times and in other areas of making motion pictures including writing, producing, and
directing. In 1995, he wrote and directed Hourglass, in which he starred with Sofia
Shinas. The following year, he helped produce The Big Fall and Pure Danger. Howell did not
write or direct another movie until 2004. He and his father co-wrote the made for television
movie Hope Ranch and Howell produced the film as well. The film was a success and Howell
went on to write and produce Blind Injustice the next year. Two years later he produced
The Stolen Moments of September. Personal life
In his single days, Howell shared a place with Darren Dalton, with whom he co-starred
in The Outsiders, Red Dawn, and The Jailhouse. From 1989 to 1990, he was married to actress
Rae Dawn Chong, his Soul Man co-star. He married Sylvie Anderson in 1992. They have three children:
Isabelle, Dashiell, and Liam. His family currently resides in Stevenson Ranch, California.
Filmography Film
Television References
External links C. Thomas Howell at the Internet Movie Database
Official Web site @cthomashowell on Twitter
Review of Baby Face Nelson at Manor on Movies