Maumee – C. Thomas Howell made his way into Maumee, Ohio on Friday, June 6th as a guest appearance for a special presentation of the hit movie The Outsiders.
The Outsiders, a 1983 classic, follows two Greasers from Oklahoma, Ponyboy (C. Thomas Howell) and Johnny (Ralph Macchio), who are on the run after a brawl ends up killing a rival Soc gang member.
The movie is an adaptation to the novel under the same name written by S.E. Hinton. Over the years, it has become a curriculum staple in the middle school and high school teachings. However, it has been banned in a number of states due to its discussion of gangs, drug use, underage drinking, and family dysfunction.
Even with the ban list, the book has stood the test of time and people of all ages still read it today.
Fans were able to meet C.Thomas Howell and fellow cast mate Darren Dalton, who played Soc Randy, a few hours before the show.
Next to them was a booth with merch to purchase and have signed, with a photo after.
When I arrived shortly after 6:30, 30 minutes after the meet and greet began, a steady line was still formed with fans eager to meet them.
Besides his success in The Outsiders, Howell has appeared in over 100 movies and dozens of television shows since his first movie E.T. (Tyler) in 1982. He was most recently on the Netflix show Obliterated (Haggerty).
Howell maintained steady appearances in the acting world, and he also made a wave or two in the music industry.
While in line for the meet and greet, many fans noticed the music playing in the theater, as it was Howell’s music.
Tommy Howell, he goes by with his music, began releasing music in 2022, and he released his debut album in 2023, called American Storyteller.
Besides his album, Howell wrote and performed the title track, “RIDE,” to the theatrical movie Ride. The song has a special guest, Zia Carlock, who plays Tommy’s daughter in the film.
Howell recently released his second album, Damned Good Man, this year, with “RIDE” being on that album as well. He has opened for many famous names, including Lynyrd Skynyrd.
After the movie presentation, Howell and Dalton spoke to the crowd for a question and answer session.
Howell was able to tell stories with the crowd. He spoke about how he was Marty McFly for two weeks; how his partner for the event, Dalton, got the Randy part while he wasn’t even planning on auditioning; how improv can make a better scene than the original script; and more behind the scenes stories and events.
They both were fan interactive, making jokes with them the whole hour-long session. If someone dropped their M&M’s, Howell quickly had a joke for that. People went to the bathroom or were leaving, and they both made light-hearted jokes about that.
It was mentioned that there is a highly-accomplished The Outsiders musical on Broadway, and Howell and Dalton were going to see it a few days after this event.
Near the end of the session, someone asked about the music. Immediately you could tell Howell was happy to answer.
Howell went on to talk about how he only picked up a guitar four years ago. He “discovered it was a seamless transition. Any good storyteller has a certain degree of taste where you go through life. With that, I began writing my own stuff and putting it to music.”
When asked about a possible tour, he said, “It’s on the table. But with the documentary, acting jobs, and then music, I can’t do it all at once.” However, he does consider 2026 as a possibility for doing a small tour after the documentary is released.
It is also important to note that all proceeds from tickets and merch went to a foundation called The Stay Gold Foundation. This foundation allows Howell to travel to schools, have zoom meetings with classes, and send books to schools. They are also working on a scholarship called the Stay Gold Scholarship. The website he mentioned was informative on what their goal is, and for teachers in particular, it discusses where they can help other teachers and keep in touch about how The Outsiders can show the importance of literature, reading and writing.