C. Thomas Howell

Birthday: 7 December 1966, Los Angeles, California, USA

Birth Name: Christopher Thomas Howell

Height: 178 cm

After an eye-catching performance in the teen coming-of-age epic The Outsiders (1983), ex-child rodeo star C. Thomas Howell was one of the most promising young actors in the mid 1980s.Christopher Thomas Howell was born in Los Angeles, California, to Candice (Webb) and Chris Howell, a professional bull rider turned stuntman. He started working in the film industry at the age of seven. In 1981, he was cast as Tyler in Steven Spielberg's E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. Shortly thereafter, he nabbed the lead in Francis Ford Coppola's classic The Outsiders, starring opposite the likes of Diane Lane, Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, and Tom Cruise. It was Howell's gripping performance as the tough, yet vulnerable Ponyboy Curtis that made him a household name virtually overnight. Earmarked as an up-and-coming actor, Howell's career soon skyrocketed with roles in films including the comedy Grandview, U.S.A. (1984), alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, and the violent Cold War invasion drama Red Dawn (1984). His career was not helped by the controversial racial comedy Soul Man (1986), which was not well-received. However, he did meet and fall in love with his co-star from that movie, Rae Dawn Chong, whom he later married.Whilst superstardom has eluded him, there's no doubting that Howell has been in consistent demand with film producers. He has notched up in excess of 90 feature film appearances. including starring roles in Side Out (1990), Gettysburg (1993), Baby Face Nelson (1996), Fatal Affair (1998), Asylum Days (2001) and Hoboken Hollow (2006).He played unpredictable Officer Bill "Dewey" Dudek in the TNT smash drama Series Southland and as the serial killer "The Reaper" on CBS' Criminal Minds. His recent television appearances include The Glades on A&E as well as Torchwood on the Starz Channel. He also appeared in Sony's The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). A budding film director, he has directed a number of films, including The Big Fall, Pure Danger and Edgar Rice Burroughs The Land That Time Forgot.Outside of his acting career, Howell is an accomplished team roper. Known as a friendly and likable person to fans, he lives with his wife Sylvie, and their three children Isabelle, Dashiell and Liam. Hide

[2013, on The Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting (2003)] That was probably a mistake, to be honest. It wa Show more [2013, on The Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting (2003)] That was probably a mistake, to be honest. It was mishandled. There was a time when Rutger was involved as well, so I sort of committed with the understanding that that was what was taking place, but then that didn't happen. It was a bit of a mess. The whole thing was just a real mess, and there was nothing I could do at that point. It probably should've never been made. And thankfully, nobody really even knows it exists. I don't even really call it a sequel. It's not really a sequel. It's almost a completely different movie, really. Hide

[2013] The Hitcher (1986) was a real important film for me as an artist, but more importantly, for m Show more [2013] The Hitcher (1986) was a real important film for me as an artist, but more importantly, for me as a person. I was 17 or 18 when I did that movie, just starting to really understand what it was to be an actor. I'd done some movies prior to that where I really was clueless. I had no idea what I was doing on The Outsiders (1983), I had no idea what I was doing in a lot of those movies I did, whether it was Secret Admirer (1985) or Tank (1984) or Grandview, U.S.A. (1984) or A Tiger's Tale (1987). I was just sort of handed a gift at a young age, and I really only knew enough to get into a world of trouble at that point. The Hitcher kind of was a pinnacle for me, because of Rutger Hauer, who's an amazing actor; Jennifer Jason Leigh, who's an award-winning actress and still the most committed actor I've ever worked with to this day; and Jeffrey DeMunn, an incredible guy who has trained more in theater and done some great roles. I was working with these people, who really gave me an opportunity to sit down with each one of them and discuss the craft and how to build a character and how to make choices. At that point, I hadn't really done that. I was just going through the motions, playing these roles of young teenage boys, where the choices are made just by showing up. I mean, you're a young teenage boy, you're playing a young teenage boy. There isn't a whole lot of thinking that goes into that. But The Hitcher was my first step toward adult roles, and the experience of that film is what really made me want to do it for life. It was a time when I was trying to figure out who I was as a human being, as an artist. You're judged so harshly at that point in your life, not only by yourself, but also by your peers. It's a difficult time. Being a teenager really sucks. It's a hard time of life, and I'm about to have two of 'em. I've got one kid who's now 20, but I've got a 16-year-old boy, and I've got a boy who's 12 and just about to step into his teens. I recall my teen years, and I remember that as being the hardest time of my life. You just care so much about what other people think, and it's painful. The Hitcher, for me, was my first step out of that area and into becoming an adult, and I'm so thankful for that role. That experience is one of my favorite experiences in my career, and it's also one of my favorite films. Hide

C. Thomas Howell's FILMOGRAPHY

All as Actor (270) as Director (1)

The Wrong Path

Animal Kingdom - Season 4

Bosch - Season 1

Dead Mans Gun - Season 2

Bosch - Season 5

Castle - Season 1

Dirty Dealing 3D

Rescuing Madison

Moonlighting - Season 5

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox

Revolution - Season 1

Hawaii Five-0 - Season 10

Payback

Ray Donovan - Season 6

Ordinary Miracles

Girlfriends Guide to Divorce - Season 1

Blue Bloods - Season 9

Grimm - Season 5

The Amazing Spider-man

A Question of Faith

MacGyver - Season 2 (2016)

Animal Kingdom - Season 3

Castle - Season 5

I Am Patrick Swayze

ER - Season 10

The Blacklist - Season 8

C. Thomas Howell'S roles

Barry Landes

Daniel Stinger

Tyler

Paul, Paul Belmont

Jim Halsey

The Reaper

Officer Dewey Dudek

Will Magnus

Weston Steward

Earl Fagen