Editing C. Thomas Howell (section)

{{Short description|American actor (born 1966)}}
{{for|the rugby league footballer of the 1890s and 1900s|Tommy Howell}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = C. Thomas Howell
| image              = C. Thomas Howell 2013 (cropped).jpg
| caption            = Howell at the 2013 [[Peabody Awards]]
| birth_name         = Christopher Thomas Howell
| birth_date         = {{birth date and age|1966|12|7}}
| birth_place        = [[Los Angeles, California]], U.S.
| other_names        = Tommy Howell<br />Tom Howell
| occupation         = {{hlist|Actor|director}}
| years_active       = 1972–present
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Rae Dawn Chong]]|1989|1990|reason=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Sylvie Anderson|1992|2016|reason=divorced}}{{marriage|Brandi Howell|2023}}
| children          = 4, 3 (with Sylvia) 1 (with 
Brooke Langton)| relatives         = [[Tommy Chong]] (former father-in-law)
}}}}

'''Christopher Thomas Howell''' (born December 7, 1966),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/c-thomas-howell-p33566|title=C. Thomas Howell|work=[[AllMovie]]|access-date=June 17, 2018}}</ref> also known professionally as '''C. Thomas Howell''', is an American actor and director. After making his film debut with a supporting role in ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]'' (1982), Howell had his breakout with a lead role as [[Ponyboy Curtis]] in the coming-of-age film ''[[The Outsiders (film)|The Outsiders]]'' (1983).

Following his breakout, Howell had starring roles in the films ''[[Tank (film)|Tank]]'' (1984), ''[[Grandview, U.S.A.]]'' (1984), [[Red Dawn|''Red Dawn'']] (1984), ''[[Secret Admirer (film)|Secret Admirer]]'' (1985), and ''[[The Hitcher (1986 film)|The Hitcher]]'' (1986). His lead role in the commercially successful yet controversial film ''[[Soul Man (film)|Soul Man]]'' (1986) damaged his status as a leading man in Hollywood.

In the 1990s, Howell starred in the films ''[[Side Out]]'' (1990), ''[[That Night]]'' (1992), and ''[[Gettysburg (1993 film)|Gettysburg]]'' (1993), and had main roles as Detective Frank Kohanek on the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] horror television series ''[[Kindred: The Embraced]]'' (1996) and Dr. Alex Kennedy on the syndicated series ''[[Amazon (1999 TV series)|Amazon]]'' (1999–2000). He portrayed [[Baby Face Nelson]] in the biographical film ''[[Baby Face Nelson (1995 film)|Baby Face Nelson]]'' (1995). In the 2000s, Howell starred in the film ''[[Gods and Generals (film)|Gods and Generals]]'' (2003) and had a recurring, later main, role as Bill "Dewey" Dudek on the [[NBC]] and [[TNT (American TV network)|TNT]] crime drama series ''[[Southland (TV series)|Southland]]'' (2009–2013). He had a supporting role in the film ''[[Hidalgo (film)|Hidalgo]]'' (2004).

In the 2010s, Howell starred in the films ''[[Woodlawn (film)|Woodlawn]]'' (2015) and ''[[A Question of Faith]]'' (2017), and had a supporting role in the superhero film ''[[The Amazing Spider-Man (film)|The Amazing Spider-Man]]'' (2012). He had voice roles in the superhero animated films ''[[Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox]]'' (2013), ''[[Justice League: Gods and Monsters]]'' (2015), and ''[[Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay]]'' (2018). Howell also portrayed [[Walter Jenkins]] in the political drama film ''[[LBJ (2016 film)|LBJ]]'' (2016). In the 2020s, Howell had a main role as Hagerty on the [[Netflix]] series ''[[Obliterated]]'' (2023) and portrayed [[Caspar Weinberger]] in the biographical film ''[[Reagan (2024 film)|Reagan]]'' (2024).