Henry Jackson Thomas (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and had a lead role in the film ''

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (or simply ''E.T.'') is a 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, d ...

'' (1982), for which he won a Young Artist Award and received a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

, a BAFTA Award, and

Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...

nominations. Thomas also had roles in '' Cloak & Dagger'' (1984), ''

Fire in the Sky ''Fire in the Sky'' is a 1993 American biopic science fiction mystery film directed by Robert Lieberman and adapted by Tracy Tormé. It is based on Travis Walton's book ''The Walton Experience'', which describes an extraterrestrial abduction ...

'' (1993), ''

Legends of the Fall ''Legends of the Fall'' is a 1994 American epic Western drama film directed by Edward Zwick and starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn, Julia Ormond and Henry Thomas. Based on the 1979 novella of the same title by Jim Harrison, the fil ...

'' (1994), ''

Suicide Kings ''Suicide Kings'' is a 1997 American crime thriller black comedy film directed by Peter O'Fallon and starring Christopher Walken, Denis Leary, Sean Patrick Flanery, Johnny Galecki, Jay Mohr, Jeremy Sisto and Henry Thomas. Based on Don Stanford's sh ...

'' (1997), '' All the Pretty Horses'' (2000), '' Gangs of New York'' (2002), '' 11:14'' (2003), and '' Dear John'' (2010). Thomas was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film for his role in the television film '' Indictment: The McMartin Trial'' (1997). More recently, Thomas collaborated with filmmaker Mike Flanagan, appearing in the films '' Ouija: Origin of Evil'' (2016), '' Gerald's Game'' (2017) and '' Doctor Sleep'' (2019) as well as the television series '' The Haunting of Hill House'' (2018) and its follow-up series '' The Haunting of Bly Manor'' (2020), the former of which earned him a

. In 2021, he had a main role in Flanagan's horror series '' Midnight Mass''.

Early life

Thomas was born in San Antonio, Texas. He attended East Central High School and Blinn College.

Career

Acting

Thomas struggled with the popularity he gained in the months following the release of ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''. In November 2019, Thomas reprised his role as Elliott for an Xfinity &

Sky UK Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...

commercial, in which E.T. returns to visit a now-adult Elliott and his family for the holidays. Since 2016, Thomas has worked frequently with filmmaker Mike Flanagan, appearing in his films '' Ouija: Origin of Evil'', '' Gerald's Game'' and '' Doctor Sleep'', as well as in the Netflix horror series '' The Haunting of Hill House'', which Flanagan created and directed. Thomas also has a role in Flanagan's follow up to ''The Haunting of Hill House'', '' The Haunting of Bly Manor'', and Flanagan's mini-series '' Midnight Mass''. Thomas worked in '' Stargirl'' portraying Doctor Mid-Nite and voicing his A.I. counterpart "Chuck" until the latter role was recast with Alex Collins in season two.

Music

Thomas wrote songs and played guitar for a San Antonio band, The Blue Heelers (named for the breed of dog), in the 1990s. Although the band was not signed to a record label, it self-produced an album, ''Twister''. Thomas continued to write and record songs. In 1998, his song "Truckstop Coffee" (recorded with the Blue Heelers) appeared on V2's soundtrack for ''

Niagara, Niagara ''Niagara, Niagara'' is a 1997 film directed by Bob Gosse, and starring Henry Thomas, Robin Tunney, as well as Michael Parks, John Ventimiglia and Stephen Lang. A dark and tragic romantic tale about young love, drugs, a cross country trip and To ...

''. In 2003, Thomas and Nikki Sudden collaborated on the music for Mika Kaurismäki's film ''Honey Baby'', which featured four original songs written and performed by Thomas as the fictional musician Tom Brackett. An album was in the works, but Sudden died unexpectedly in 2006.

Personal life

Thomas married actress

Marie Zielcke Marie Zielcke (born 3 February 1979 in Cologne) is a German film, television and stage actress. Mika Kaurismäki, who directed Zielcke in the 2000 film ''Highway Society'', introduced her to actor Henry Thomas in Berlin. Zielcke and Thomas had ...

on May 10, 2004. They had a daughter, Hazel. The couple were divorced in 2007. Thomas also has two children with his current wife Annalee, and in 2014 moved to Wilsonville, Oregon. During the "Flanaverse Reunion" panel at 2022's "Season's Screamings" horror festival, Thomas acknowledged that he and actress

Alex Essoe Alexandra Essoe (born March 9, 1992) is a Canadian actress who has appeared predominantly in horror films. Essoe had her first lead role in the 2014 American horror film '' Starry Eyes'', and she had a starring role in the 2017 American horror fil ...

, his costar in Mike Flanagan's Doctor Sleep, have been romantically involved for some time now.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

Other honors

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

's "100 Greatest Kid Stars" * 2005, ranked #4, E!'s "50 Cutest Child Stars All Grown-up" * 2013, inducted into the

Texas Film Hall of Fame The Texas Film Hall of Fame honors Texans who have made a significant contribution to film or filmmaking, as well as non-Texans who have made significant strides in the advancement of the Texan film industry. Classic Texas films are also honored, w ...

References

Bibliography

* Holmstrom, John. ''The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995'', Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, pp. 387–388.

External links

Yahoo! Role Recall:Henry Thomas remembers teary E.T. audition
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Henry American male child actors American male film actors American male television actors Living people Male actors from San Antonio Musicians from San Antonio 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American musicians 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American male musicians People from Wilsonville, Oregon 1971 births