who played ponyboy in the outsiders

The character Ponyboy Curtis in the 1983 film "The Outsiders" was played by C. Thomas Howell. Howell was 16 years old at the time of filming and this role was one of his earliest in his acting career. He portrayed Ponyboy, the sensitive and youthful protagonist of the story, which is about the rivalry between two teenage gangs, the Greasers and the Socs