Occupation Actor, musician Education Blinn College Role Actor | Name Henry Thomas Years active 1981–present Children Hazel Thomas | |
![]() | ||
Full Name Henry Jackson Thomas, Jr. Born September 9, 1971 (age 53) ( 1971-09-09 ) San Antonio, Texas, U.S. Spouse Marie Zielcke (m. 2004–2007), Kelley Hill (m. 2000–2002) Parents Carolyn L. Thomas, Henry Jackson Thomas Movies and TV shows ET the Extra‑Terrestrial, Legends of the Fall, Dear John, Gangs of New York, Betrayal Similar People Robert MacNaughton, Dee Wallace, Drew Barry, Peter Coyote, Marie Zielcke |
Henry thomas interview dear john
Henry Jackson Thomas, Jr. (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor and musician. He made his breakout role for Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Contents
- Henry thomas interview dear john
- Henry Thomas audition fr ET Ok kid you got the job
- Personal life
- Acting career
- Music
- Other honors
- References

Henry Thomas audition för E.T. "Ok kid, you got the job".
Personal life

Thomas was born an only child in San Antonio, Texas, the son of Carolyn L. (née Davis), a homemaker, and Henry Jackson Thomas, a hydraulic machinist. He attended East Central High School in San Antonio and Blinn College in Brenham.
Acting career

Thomas said that he decided he wanted to become an actor at age 8, after watching a PBS special on acting and realizing he had found his calling.

After landing a part at an open audition in a San Antonio, Texas hotel, Thomas made his film debut in Raggedy Man (1981). At age nine, Thomas auditioned for the lead role in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). He won the part by giving a genuinely tearful performance, during which he drew upon his real-life trauma of having seen his pet dog being killed by a neighbor’s dog. The film’s success exceeded expectations, and Thomas was troubled by the sometimes extreme reaction of the public.

Thomas returned to Texas and starred in Cloak & Dagger, while attending school. He returned to film in the late 1980s and early 1990s and began to prove himself in adult roles, most notably as the younger version of Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates character in Psycho IV: The Beginning. Thomas dropped out of Texas's Blinn College (where he studied philosophy and history) after one year to act full-time.
His most prominent adult role to date was as Samuel Ludlow in Legends of the Fall (1994). He played Johnny Sirocco in Martin Scorsese's historical fiction film Gangs of New York (2002). He is currently both an actor and musician and starred in the 2011 film The Last Ride (2011) as musician Hank Williams Sr. In the ABC series Betrayal, he plays T.J. Karsten.
Music
Thomas wrote songs, sang, and played guitar for the San Antonio, Texas band The Blue Heelers (named for the breed of dog) from the mid to late 1990s. Although the band was never signed to a record label, its self-produced album Twister was warmly received and enjoyed statewide radio play. Moving to Los Angeles in 1998, the band dissolved, but Thomas continued to write and record songs. In 1998, his song "Truckstop Coffee" (recorded with the Blue Heelers) appeared on V2's soundtrack to the film Niagara, Niagara in which Thomas appeared.
In 2003, Thomas worked with Nikki Sudden on the music for Mika Kaurismäki's film Honey Baby, which featured four original songs written and performed by Thomas as the fictitious musician Tom Brackett. An album was in the works, but Sudden died in 2006.