Name	Henry Thomas
Height	5' 11½"
Naionality	American
Date of Birth	9 September 1971
Place of Birth	San Antonio, Texas, USA
Famous for

San Antonio, Texas, native Henry Thomas realized that he wanted to become an actor when he was 5. Three years later, he convinced his mother to take him to a local audition that eventually led to his film debut at age 10 in Raggedy Man (1981), playing Sissy Spacek’s son. The role brought Thomas a Young Artist nomination for Best Young Motion Picture Actor. He made his television movie debut that same year in the NBC comedy-drama special The Steeler and the Pittsburgh Kid, which was based on an award-winning Coke commercial starring football star Joe Greene.

Thomas’ big breakthrough arrived a year later when noted director Steven Spielberg cast him in the starring role of Elliott, the earthly guide, protector, and friend of the little alien in the sci-fi film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), which went on to become one of America’s most popular features. Delivering a bright performance, he won a 1983 Young Artist for Best Young Motion Picture Actor and received a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year, a BAFTA nomination for Outstanding Newcomer and a Saturn nomination for Best Actor.

The young actor continued to star with Gene Hackman in Misunderstood, a 1984 influential drama about reconciliation between a newly widowed father and his alienated young son. His performance earned rave reviews. In Cloak and Dagger (1984), he nabbed a Young Artist nomination for his lead performance opposite Dabney Coleman and Michael Murphy. The Richard Franklin-directed action-thriller marked Thomas’ last Hollywood film for almost a decade. A starring turn in the pleasant Australian adventure Frog Dreaming/The Quest followed in 1986, before he put acting on the backburner for several years.

Returning to the screen, Thomas took on the lead role of Billy Isaacs in the Canadian drama Murder One (1988), but it was his follow-up, Milos Forman’s Valmont (1989), where he appeared with Colin Firth, that proved to be the actor’s most prestigious project since E.T. Subsequently, Thomas portrayed the young Norman Bates in the TV movie sequel Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990), Cary Sloan in a television action-thriller starring Michael Biehn and Jason Bateman, A Taste for Killing (1992), and returned to U.S. films for a supporting role in 1993’s Fire in the Sky, a UFO drama for director Robert Lieberman. This was followed by a more substantial role in the big-budgeted period drama Legends of the Fall (1994), playing one of Anthony Hopkins’ three sons, Greg Hayes.

After receiving acclaim for his portrayal of Ray Buckey, one of the ill-fated defendants, in the HBO docudrama Indictment: The McMartin Trial (1995), in which he picked up a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV, and costarring with Ed Harris and Amy Madigan in the TNT film Riders of the Purple Sage (1996), Thomas could be seen playing an over-obsessive budding moviemaker in the comedy film Hijacking Hollywood (1996), which he followed with imposing performances in the independent films Niagara, Niagara (1997, with Robin Tunney) and The Suicide Kings (1997, opposite Johnny Galecki, Jeremy Sisto and Christopher Walken). The actor also starred in the television remake of Moby Dick (1998), the crime-thriller Fever (1999, with David O’Hara) and the dark Showtime comedy The Happy Face Murders (1999).

In 2000, Thomas enjoyed another career-defining role when he took on the role of Lacey Rawlins, Matt Damon’s best friend, in the Billy Bob Thornton adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses. He won praise for his impressive turn in the movie. After this, the actor acted in movies like The Quickie (2001), Dead in the Water (2002), I’m with Lucy (2002), Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York (2002, with Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Liam Neeson, and Leonardo DiCaprio), Honey Baby (2003), I Capture the Castle (2003), 11:14 (2003), Dead Birds (2004), The Hard Easy (2005), The Deal (2006) and Stephen King’s Desperation (2006, TV). He also appeared in the miniseries “Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King” (2006), as Robert Fornoy.

Recently sharing top billing with Louise Fletcher in the based-on-novel independent film The Last Sin Eater (2007), directed by Michael London Jr., Thomas is scheduled to play the supporting role of Eric in the black comedy Suffering Man’s Charity (2007), directed by and starring Alan Cumming. The film also stars David Boreanaz, Anne Heche and Carrie Fisher.