C. Thomas Howell

Personal context

Summary

C. Thomas Howell is an actor and director best known for The Outsiders, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Red Dawn, The Hitcher, and Southland. His work ranges from coming-of-age dramas and thrillers to crime television and historical films. Soul Man, in which he played a white student who darkens his skin to claim a scholarship, remains a prominent controversy in his career; Howell said the filmmakers thought they were making a movie with a good message about a social issue, while acknowledging that it could not be made the same way today. No public record of his political campaigning, DEI roles, or sustained advocacy on identity causes is evident.