C. Thomas Howell

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."

Christopher Thomas Howell (born December 7, 1966) is an American actor.

He has starred in the films Soul Man, The Hitcher, Grandview U.S.A., Red Dawn, Secret Admirer, and The Outsiders.

He has also appeared in Gettysburg and Gods and Generals as Thomas Chamberlain; E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial; The Amazing Spider-Man; Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox; and Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay.

Howell was born in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles to Christopher N. and Candice Howell.

He has three siblings, sisters Stacy and Candy, and brother John.

His father worked as a stunt co-ordinator 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.

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.

Howell appeared as a doctor in The Poseidon Adventure, an adaptation of the 1972 film of the same name.

Rounding out the 1980s, Howell played the young Arturo Toscanini in Franco Zeffirelli's 1988 film Giovane Toscanini. The film, about the world-renowned Toscanini's conducting debut, also starred Elizabeth Taylor; however, it never was released in the U.S.

In 1982, Howell made his film debut as Tyler in Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

At the age of 15, Howell was cast in Francis Ford Coppola's The Outsiders (1983).

Howell graduated from Saugus High School in 1984.

Howell made his show business debut in The Brian Keith Show.

When he was older, he acted in commercials.

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 highly controversial film in which Howell appears in Blackface.

In 1993, Howell starred with Linda Fiorentino and Nancy Allen in the campy thriller Acting on Impulse.

He then

achieved success in the film Gettysburg, which was popular with history buffs and history classrooms.

Next, he starred as Mike, a motorcycle courier in the poorly received Mad Dogs and Englishmen (U.S. title: Shameless) with Elizabeth Hurley.

Following this, Howell starred in Payback and then played gangster Baby Face Nelson in the film of the same name.

He directed and starred in the 1996 direct-to-video release Pure Danger, which also featured Teri Ann Linn and comic Carrot Top.

In 2000, Howell played a doctor stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash in the television show Amazon.

In 2004, he played serial killer Kenneth Bianchi in The Hillside Strangler.

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.

Also in 2005, he 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.

Howell directed and starred in a straight-to-DVD sequel War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave in 2008.