Richard Earl Thomas (born June 13, 1951) is an American actor. He is best known for his leading role as budding author "John-Boy" Walton on the CBS historical drama series The Waltons (1972–1977), for which he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor, in addition to two Golden Globe Award nominations.
Thomas later starred as Bill Denbrough in the television miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's It (1990), played Special Agent Frank Gaad on FX's spy thriller series The Americans (2013–2016), and appeared as Nathan Davis on the Netflix crime drama series Ozark (2022). On stage, Thomas portrayed Atticus Finch in the 2022–2024 national tour of To Kill a Mockingbird and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his work as Elliot Emerson in The Balusters (Broadway, 2026). His feature film credits include Last Summer (1969), You'll Like My Mother (1972), Battle Beyond the Stars (1980), and Wonder Boys (2000).
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Early life and education
Thomas was born on June 13, 1951, in Manhattan, the son of Barbara Fallis and Richard S. Thomas. His parents were dancers with the New York City Ballet and owned the New York School of Ballet.
Thomas has a birthmark on his left cheek. He has stated that this led to his rejection for a role in a television commercial in his youth.
Thomas was educated at two private day schools for boys, first at Allen-Stevenson School, and then at the now-defunct McBurney School, both in his home district of Manhattan, New York City.
He was a student at Columbia College, the undergraduate college of Columbia University, where he majored in Chinese before switching to the English department. After he landed the role in The Waltons, he left Columbia during his junior year to commit to the role full-time in Los Angeles.
Acting career
In 1958, at age seven, Thomas made his Broadway debut in Sunrise at Campobello. In 1959, he appeared in the Hallmark Hall of Fame NBC television presentation of Ibsen's A Doll's House with Julie Harris, Christopher Plummer, and Hume Cronyn. He then began acting in daytime TV, appearing in soap operas such as The Edge of Night (as Ben Schultz, 1961), A Flame in the Wind and As the World Turns (as Tom Hughes, 1966–67) which were broadcast from his native Manhattan. In 1970, he guest starred in NBC's Bonanza ("The Weary Willies").
Thomas's first major film roles were in the auto racing drama Winning (1969) with Paul Newman and the coming-of-age story Last Summer (also 1969) with Bruce Davison, Barbara Hershey, and Catherine Burns.
In 1971 Thomas appeared in The Todd Killings, a psychological thriller released by National General Pictures, directed by Barry Shear, and co-starring Robert F. Lyons, Belinda Montgomery and Barbara Bel Geddes, based on the true crimes of serial killer Charles Schmid. Also in 1971, he starred in Red Sky at Morning, reuniting him with Last Summer co-star Catherine Burns, and played the lead in the independent production Cactus in the Snow.
Beginning in 1972, Thomas became recognized worldwide for his portrayal of John-Boy Walton in the TV series The Waltons, based on the life story of writer Earl Hamner, Jr. He appeared in the original CBS television film The Homecoming: A Christmas Story in 1971, which inspired the commissioning of the otherwise largely recast series, The Waltons, and then played the role of John-Boy Walton continuously in 122 episodes. In March 1977, Thomas left the series and his role was taken over by Robert Wightman. However, Thomas returned to the role in three Waltons TV movies in the 1990s, including A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion in 1993. Thomas won an Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series in 1973.
Thomas played against type as murderer and rapist Kenneth Kinsolving in You'll Like My Mother in 1972 with Patty Duke. He played the lead roles of Private Henry Fleming in the NBC TV movie The Red Badge of Courage in 1974 and Paul Bäumer in the 1979 CBS TV movie on All Quiet on the Western Front.
In other TV films, he played Col. Warner's younger son Jim in Roots: The Next Generations (the 1979 sequel to 1977's Roots), the title role in the biopic Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story in 1983, Will Mossup in CBS's Hobson's Choice in 1983, Henry Durie in The Master of Ballantrae for Hallmark Hall of Fame, Martin Campbell in Final Jeopardy, and the adult Bill Denbrough in the 1990 television mini-series It, adapted from Stephen King's horror novel.
Personal life
Thomas married Alma Gonzales in 1975. In 1976, they had a son. Triplet daughters were born in 1981. Thomas and Gonzales divorced in 1993.
Thomas married Santa Fe art dealer Georgiana Bischoff on November 20, 1994 and their son was born in 1996. Richard adopted Bischoff's two daughters who were from previous marriages. Thomas and Bischoff currently reside in New York.
Thomas is a Kentucky Colonel.
Filmography
Producer
Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story (1983) (executive producer)
What Love Sees (1996) (co-producer)
Summer of Fear (1996) (co-executive producer)
For All Time (2000) (co-executive producer)
Camping with Camus (2000) (producer)
Director
The Waltons (5 episodes; 1975–1977)
