C Thomas Howell

C Thomas Howell married his ‘Soul Man’ co-star, Rae Dawn Chong, on July 11, 1989. They divorced in 1990.

He is married to Sylvie Anderson since July 25, 1992, and the couple has three children, Isabelle, Dashiell, and Liam.

In 2000, he was on trial for allegedly accidentally hitting a skateboarder but the case was dismissed.

Christopher Thomas Howell was born on December 7, 1966, in Van Nuys, California, USA, to Chris N Howell and Candice Howell, He has a brother John Howell and two sisters, Stacy and Candi.

His parents divorced when Howell was very young. He was raised by his mother primarily but also spent a large amount of his childhood with his father. He was inspired by his father who was a professional bull rider who later became a stunt coordinator.

Howell entered the entertainment industry through his father’s connections and started acting at the young age of four. He was first seen in an episode of ‘The Brian Keith Show’. He also became a bull rider and at the age of 12, won the ‘California Junior Rodeo Association’ championship.

He spent a lot of his childhood with his grandfather who took him for golfing. He got his nickname ‘CT’ from the initials of his actual name there. Howell went to ‘Saugus High School’ and later studied at ‘The National Conservatory for Drama Arts’.

C Thomas Howell made his acting debut in the episode ‘The Little People’ of ‘The Brian Keith Show’. In 1982, he made his movie debut in the Steven Spielberg classic ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’. The movie was the biggest blockbuster of the year.

There was no denying his talent and Howell was soon cast as Ponyboy Curtis in the coming-of-age movie ‘The Outsiders’ (1983). Starring alongside the likes of Tom Cruise, Diane Lane, and Patrick Swayze, he not only held his ground but became a teen heartthrob.

In 1984, C Thomas Howell went on to star in some of his best movies including, ‘Grandview, U.S.A.’, ‘Tank’, and ‘Red Dawn’. His performances were praised by critics and audiences alike.

In 1985, he appeared in the movie ‘Secret Admirer’. The movie was well received and the next year, Howell was cast in the lead role of Jim Halsey in the thriller ‘The Hitcher’.

1986 turned out to be the beginning of the end of Howell’s rise to superstardom. The reason was simply; the movie ‘Soul Man’. He played a white student who took tanning pills to appear African-American to get a scholarship. The racist tone was severely criticized by everyone worldwide.

C Thomas Howell landed his first major role on the TV show ‘Two Marriages’ in the episode ‘Relativity’ in 1983. In the next few years, he made several appearances in shows like ‘Nightmare Classics’ (1989) and ‘Kindred: The Embraced’ (1996).

He was also cast in a number of TV movies including ‘Acting on Impulse’ (1993), ‘Suspect Device’ (1995), and ‘Sealed with a Kiss’ (1998).

Howell landed his first lead recurring role on the TV series ‘Amazon’ (1999–2000) where he played Dr. Alex Kennedy. He continued his success on shows like ‘Summerland’ (2004-2005), ‘ER’ (2005), and ‘24’ (2006).

From 2009 to 2013, he had the recurring role of the Boston Reaper in ‘Criminal Minds’ (2009–2013) and of Bill “Dewey” Dudek in the crime drama ‘Southland’. Howell also made appearances on episodes of popular TV shows like ‘Sons of Anarchy’ and ‘Blue Bloods’, in 2013.

In the next few years, the actor was seen in recurring roles on TV series like ‘Grimm’ (2014), ‘Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce’ (2014–2015), and ‘Stitchers’ (2015–2017), all of which were incredibly well received by viewers.