After an eye-catching performance in the teen coming-of-age epic Outsider: Rebellen ohne Grund (1983), ex-child rodeo star C. Thomas Howell was a promising young actor in the mid-1980s.
Christopher Thomas Howell was born in Los Angeles 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. - Der Außerirdische (1982). Shortly thereafter, he nabbed the lead in Francis Ford Coppola's classic Outsider: Rebellen ohne Grund (1983). Earmarked as an up-and-coming actor, his career soon skyrocketed with roles in films including the comedy Speedway Trio (1984), alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, and the violent Cold War invasion drama Die rote Flut (1984). His career was not helped by the controversial racial comedy Soulman (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. He has notched up in excess of 90 feature film appearances. including starring roles in Atemloser Sommer (1990), Gettysburg (1993), Baby Face Nelson (1996), Der Preis der Begierde (1998), Asylum Days - Der Killer in dir (2001) and Die Horror Farm von Hoboken Hollow (2006).
He played unpredictable Officer Bill "Dewey" Dudek in the TNT drama series Southland (2009) and as the sadistic serial killer "The Reaper" on CBS's Criminal Minds (2005). More recent television appearances include The Glades (2010) (A&E) and Torchwood (2006) (Starz Channel). He appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) (Sony). A budding film director, he has directed a number of films, including The Big Fall (1997), Pure Danger (1996), Caprona - Das vergessene Land 2 (2009), and The day the earth stood still 2 - Der Tag an dem die Erde stillstand 2 (2008).
Outside his acting career, Howell was an accomplished team roper and later, as 'Tommy Howell', a singer-songwriter.
