David Howard Thornton (born November 30, 1979) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Art the Clown in the Terrifier film series.
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Early life and education
Thornton grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, and his parents were a NASA engineer and a special education teacher. His parents encouraged him to follow his goal of becoming an actor. As a child he first appeared on stage in a production by the local drama company Fantasy Playhouse Children's Theatre. He graduated from Huntsville's Grissom High School and received a degree in elementary education from the central Alabama liberal arts college the University of Montevallo.
Career
Early work
Thornton was the understudy of actor Stefán Karl Stefánsson when they toured for Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical. Thornton has stated that Stefán Karl was a big influence on his physical comedy and acting style.
Thornton has lent his voice to various characters in film, anime, television and in video games. In 2011, he voiced Malvic, Volran, and Tengo in Two Worlds II: Pirates of the Flying Fortress. He later provided voices in 2013 as Anvil, Dr. Blotter and Baggy Miner in Ride to Hell: Retribution and as Shizoku, Metal Mutt and Toxitoad in Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom. In 2015, he provided additional voices for Miss Hokusai. From 2016 to 2017, he appeared as the Joker in the fan-made Web series Nightwing: Escalation and later went on to appear in Gotham, both projects that included characters by DC Comics.
Terrifier and career assurgency (2016–present)
In 2016, Thornton portrayed Art the Clown in Terrifier, a film that became a cult classic and for which he was nominated for a Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting Actor and was the first feature-length appearance of the character in the Terrifier franchise. In 2022, Thornton reprised the role of Art the Clown in Terrifier 2. Terrifier 2 was well received by critics and a hit at the box office, grossing more than $15 million on a $250,000 budget. Also in 2022, Thornton starred as the titular character in a horror retelling of How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, in The Mean One.
Thornton reprised the role of Art the Clown in the 2023 Peacock series Bupkis and Terrifier 3 in October 2024. He appeared as Player 2 in the 2024 film Stream and as a Mickey Mouse horror pastiche in the 2025 film Screamboat. He is set to appear as Shark Bait Zombie in the upcoming film Night of the Living Dead II. Director Damien Leone is currently writing Terrifier 4 with Thornton expected once again to reprise his role as Art the Clown.
Personal life
In a 2023 interview, Thornton spoke about discovering he is autistic as an adult. On April 18, 2026, Thornton became engaged to his girlfriend Jada Christie Eggen of Sioux Falls, SD after proposing at Huntsville Expo while dressed as Art the Clown.