# Henry Thomas

Henry Jackson Thomas (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and had the lead role of Elliott Taylor in the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), for which he won a Young Artist Award and received Golden Globe Award, BAFTA Award, and Saturn Award nominations. Thomas also had roles in other films, including Cloak & Dagger (1984), Valmont (1989), Fire in the Sky (1993), Legends of the Fall (1994), Suicide Kings (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) (which earned him a Saturn Award) and its follow-up series The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020). In 2021, he had a main role in Flanagan's horror series Midnight Mass, and, in 2023, he starred as one of the Usher siblings in The Fall of the House of Usher (2023), also by Flanagan.

## Early life

Thomas was born in San Antonio, Texas. He attended East Central High School and Blinn College.
During a 2018 interview with Lorraine Kelly, he commented on his strong connections to Wales, confirming that "Both my mother and father's family come from Wales - north and south". In the same interview, he also stated that he was a fan of Swansea City A.F.C..

## Career
### Acting

Thomas struggled with the popularity he gained in the months following the 1982 release of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. In November 2019, Thomas reprised his role as Elliott for an Xfinity & Sky UK 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. 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 on May 10, 2004. They had a daughter. The couple were divorced in 2007. Thomas also has two children with his third wife Annalee Fery, and in 2014 moved to Wilsonville, Oregon. Thomas and Fery separated during an unspecified point in time. He is currently dating actress India Eisley.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1981 | Raggedy Man | Harry | |
| 1982 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Elliott | |
| 1984 | Misunderstood | Andrew | |
| 1984 | Cloak & Dagger | Davey Osborne | |
| 1985 | Frog Dreaming | Cody | |
| 1988 | Murder One | Billy Isaacs | |
| 1989 | Valmont | Raphael Danceny | |
| 1993 | Fire in the Sky | Greg Hayes | |
| 1994 | Curse of the Starving Class | Wesley Tate | |
| 1994 | Legends of the Fall | Samuel Ludlow | |
| 1997 | Niagara, Niagara | Seth | |
| 1997 | Suicide Kings | Avery Chasten | |
| 1997 | Bombshell | Buck Hogan | |
| 1999 | Fever | Nick Parker | |
| 2000 | The House That Screamed | Jack Gillton | Direct-to-video |
| 2000 | A Good Baby | Raymond Toker | |
| 2000 | All the Pretty Horses | Lacey Rawlins | |
| 2001 | The Quickie | Alex | |
| 2002 | Dead in the Water | Jeff | |
| 2002 | I'm with Lucy | Barry | |
| 2002 | Gangs of New York | Johnny Sirocco | |
| 2003 | I Capture the Castle | Simon Cotton | |
| 2003 | 11:14 | Jack | |
| 2003 | Honey Baby | Tom Brackett | |
| 2003 | Briar Patch | Edgar MacBeth | |
| 2004 | Dead Birds | William | |
| 2006 | The Hard Easy | Paul Weston | |
| 2007 | The Last Sin Eater | Man of God | |
| 2007 | Suffering Man's Charity | Eric Rykell | |
| 2008 | Red Velvet | Aaron | |
| 2010 | Dear John | Tim | |
| 2011 | The Last Ride | Hank Williams Sr. | |
| 2013 | Big Sur | Philip Whalen | |
| 2016 | Ouija: Origin of Evil | Father Tom Hogan | |
| 2017 | Gerald's Game | Tom Burlingame | |
| 2019 | The Great Alaskan Race | Thompson | |
| 2019 | Doctor Sleep | The Bartender / Jack Torrance | |
| 2019 | A Holiday Reunion | Elliott | Short film |
| 2021 | To All the Boys: Always and Forever | Mr. Kavinski | |
| 2022 | Sam & Kate | Ron | |
| 2022 | Crawlspace | Robert Mitchell | |
| 2023 | Pet Sematary: Bloodlines | Dan Crandall | |
| 2024 | The Curse of the Necklace | Frank Davis | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1990 | Psycho IV: The Beginning | Young Norman Bates | Television film |
| 1992 | A Taste for Killing | Cary Sloan | Television film |
| 1995 | Indictment: The McMartin Trial | Ray Buckey | Television film |
| 1996 | Riders of the Purple Sage | Bern Venters | Television film |
| 1998 | Moby Dick | Ishmael | Miniseries |
| 1999 | Happy Face Murders | Dylan McCarthy | Television film |
| 2005 | Masters of Horror | Jamie | Episode: "Chocolate" |
| 2006 | Stephen King's Desperation | Peter Jackson | Television film |
| 2006 | Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King | Robert Fornoy | Episode: "The End of the Whole Mess" |
| 2007–08 | Without a Trace | Franklin Romar | 2 episodes |
| 2009 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Jeremy Kent | Episode: "If I Had a Hammer" |
| 2011 | The Mentalist | Thomas Lisbon | Episode: "Where in the World is Carmine O'Brien?" |
| 2013–14 | Betrayal | T.J. Karsten | 13 episodes |
| 2015 | Sons of Liberty | John Adams | Miniseries |
| 2016 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Sean Roberts | Episode: "Making a Rapist" |
| 2017 | Better Things | Robin | 4 episodes |
| 2018 | The Haunting of Hill House | Young Hugh Crain | Series regular |
| 2018 | Girl in the Bunker | Vinson Filyaw | Television film |
| 2020 | FBI: Most Wanted | Dr. Justin Brock | Episode: "Dopesick" |
| 2020 | Stargirl | Charles McNider / Doctor Mid-Nite, Voice of Chuck | Recurring role |
| 2020 | The Haunting of Bly Manor | Henry Wingrave | Series regular |
| 2021 | Midnight Mass | Ed Flynn | Series regular |
| 2021 | Just Beyond | Crazy Chris | Episode: "Parents are from Mars, Kids are from Venus" |
| 2022 | The Midnight Club | Freedom Jack | Episode: "Road to Nowhere" |
| 2023 | The Fall of the House of Usher | Frederick Usher | Series regular |

## Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations for acting :
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 1981 | 3rd Youth in Film Awards | Best Young Motion Picture Actor | Raggedy Man | Nominated |
| 1982 | 4th Youth in Film Awards | Best Young Motion Picture Actor | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Won |
| 1983 | 40th Golden Globe Awards | New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture – Male | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Nominated |
| 1983 | 36th British Academy Film Awards | Most Outstanding Newcomer to Leading Film Roles | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Nominated |
| 1983 | 10th Saturn Awards | Best Actor | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Nominated |
| 1984 | 6th Youth in Film Awards | Best Young Actor in a Motion Picture: Musical, Comedy, Adventure or Drama | Cloak & Dagger | Nominated |
| 1996 | 53rd Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film | Indictment: The McMartin Trial | Nominated |
| 2006 | 6th DVD Exclusive Awards | Best Actor in a DVD Premiere Movie | 11:14 | Nominated |
| 2019 | 45th Saturn Awards | Best Actor in Streaming Presentation | The Haunting of Hill House | Won |
| 2025 | 52nd Saturn Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series | The Fall of the House of Usher | Nominated |

### Other honors

* VH1'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.