
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.
Acting (155 movies)

The Outsiders
1983

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
1982

Net Games
2003

Red Dawn
1984

Hidalgo
2004

Fatal Affair
1999

The Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting
2003

A Killer Within
2004

The Land That Time Forgot
2009

Tank
1984

Big Game
2008

Acting on Impulse
1993

The Hillside Strangler
2004

Secret Admirer
1985

My B.F.F.
2016

Far Out Man
1990

Soul Man
1986

The Hitcher
1986

Toxic
2008

That Night
1992

Glass Trap
2005

H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds
2005

The Poseidon Adventure
2005

Killer Bees
2002

The Grind
2009

WillFull
2002

Sleeping Dogs
1997

The Return of the Musketeers
1989

Last Lives
1997

Hoboken Hollow
2006

Gods and Generals
2003

The Day the Earth Stopped
2008

Fighting Words
2006

War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave
2008

The Terror Experiment
2010

The Shepherd
1998

Side Out
1990

Camel Spiders
2011

Escape from Alaska
1999

Payback
1995

Grandview, U.S.A.
1984

The Da Vinci Treasure
2006

A Tiger's Tale
1988

Restitution
2011

The Eyes of the Panther
1989

Ordinary Miracles
2005

MoniKa
2012

The Sweeper
1996

Kid
1990

A Gunfighter's Pledge
2008

Dilemma
1997

Lawless: Dead Evidence
2001

Chilly Christmas
2012

Hitman's Run
1999

Dead Fire
1997

Hourglass
1997

The Prince and the Surfer
1999

Home Invasion
2012

An Amish Murder
2013

Breaking the Rules
1992

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox
2013

Teresa's Tattoo
1994

Askari
2001

Asylum Days
2001

Red Team
1999

Charades
1998

Suspect Device
1995

Pure Danger
1996

Lost on Purpose
2013

Storm Rider
2013

Baby Face Nelson
1996

Cybermaster: Shepherd II
1999

Treacherous
1993

Enemy Action
1999

Nursie
2004

Don't Pass Me By
2013

Young Toscanini
1988

Christmas Belle
2013

Confessions of a Womanizer
2014

Curiosity Kills
1990

The Amazing Spider-Man
2012

Mad Dogs and Englishmen
1995

Crimson Point
2022

Bigfoot Wars
2014

Dangerous Indiscretion
1995

Because We're Family
2022

Dirty Dealing
2018

Category 5
2014

House of Fallen
2008

Old Dads
2023

Secret at Arrow Lake
2009

Jailbait
1993

Woodlawn
2015

Justice League: Gods and Monsters
2015

Wedding Day
2012

Laws of Deception
1997

Rivers 9
2015

The Big Fall
1997

The Jailhouse
2009

LBJ
2017
Directing (7 movies)
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Hourglass | 1997 | Screenplay |
| Hope Ranch | 2002 | Screenplay |
| Hope Ranch | 2002 | Producer |
| Blind Injustice | 2005 | Producer |
| A Magic Christmas | 2014 | Executive Producer |
| A Christmas Eve Miracle | 2015 | Executive Producer |
