David Howard Thornton (born November 30, 1979) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Art the Clown from the ''Terrifier'' franchise, a role in which he appeared in ''

Terrifier ''Terrifier'' is a 2016 American slasher film written, edited, co-produced, and directed by Damien Leone. The film stars Jenna Kanell, Samantha Scaffidi, Catherine Corcoran, and David Howard Thornton. The plot centers on partygoer Tara Heyes ...

'' (2016), ''Mistress Peace Theatre'' (2020), '' Terrifier 2'' (2022), '' Bupkis'' (2023), and '' Terrifier 3'' (2024). He has had other various roles in film, television, and video games, including '' Two Worlds II: Pirates of the Flying Fortress'' (2011), '' Ride to Hell: Retribution'' (2013), '' Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom'' (2013), '' Gotham'' (2017), ''

The Bravest Knight ''The Bravest Knight'' is a Canadian animated television series, produced by Big Bad Boo Studios and a Hulu original, which became the first kids original on the streaming service. The first episodes were added to the streaming service on June ...

'' (2019), ''

The Exigency ''The Exigency'' is a 2019 American independent animated science fiction-action film written, directed, produced, and edited by Cody Vibbart. It features the voices of Tom Haney, Alexis Danner, Warren Halderman, Kayla Vibbart, Dillon Vibbart, ...

'' (2019), ''

Alma's Way ''Alma's Way'' is an animated children's television series from Fred Rogers Productions created and executive produced by former ''Sesame Street'' actress Sonia Manzano and animated by Canadian animation studio Pipeline Studios. The series premi ...

'' (2021), starring as the titular character in ''

The Mean One ''The Mean One'' is a 2022 American Christmas slasher film directed by Steven LaMorte from a screenplay written by Flip and Finn Kobler. It is an unlicensed parody of Dr. Seuss' 1957 children's book ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' and its a ...

'' (2022), and starring as Steamboat Willie in ''

Screamboat ''Screamboat'' is a 2025 American comedy horror film directed by Steven LaMorte. It is a reimagining of Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks's 1928 animated short film, ''Steamboat Willie''. The plot follows a group of New Yorkers who are terrorized by a m ...

'' (2025).

Early and personal life

Thornton grew up in

Huntsville Huntsville is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the 100th-most populous city in the U.S. The Huntsville metropolitan area had an estimated 525,465 ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, where 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 Virgil I. Grissom High School, more commonly referred to as Grissom High School, is a public high school in Huntsville, Alabama, United States with approximately 2000 students in grades 9– 12 from Southeast Huntsville. The school was named a 20 ...

and received a degree in

elementary education Primary education is the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle schools, de ...

from the central Alabama

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on Undergraduate education, undergraduate study in the Liberal arts education, liberal arts of humanities and science. Such colleges aim to impart ...

the

University of Montevallo A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. In a 2023 interview, Thornton spoke about discovering he is

autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

as an adult.

Career

Early work

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 is a Japanese historical manga series written and illustrated by Hinako Sugiura, telling the story of Katsushika Ōi who worked in the shadow of her father Hokusai. It was adapted into an anime film directed by Keiichi Hara, that was releas ...

''. From 2016 to 2017, he appeared as

the Joker The Joker is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson, the character first appeared in the debut issue of the comic book ''Batman (comic book), Batman'' on ...

in the fan-made Web series ''Nightwing: Escalation '' and later went on to appear in '' Gotham'', both projects that included characters by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

''Terrifier'' and career assurgence (2016–present)

In 2016, Thornton portrayed Art the Clown in ''

'', a film that became a

cult classic A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...

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! ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' is a children's Christmas book by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel written in rhymed verse with illustrations by the author. It follows the Grinch, a green cranky, solitary creature who attempts to thwart the pu ...

'', in ''

''. Thornton reprised the role of Art the Clown in the 2023

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

series '' Bupkis'' and '' Terrifier 3'' in October 2024. He appeared as Player 2 in the 2024 film ''

Stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

''. He is set to appear as Shark Bait Zombie in the upcoming film ''Night of the Living Dead II''.Director

Damien Leone Damien Leone (born January 29, 1982)is an American filmmaker, film editor, and special effects artist. He is best known for writing and directing ''All Hallows' Eve (2013 film), All Hallows' Eve'' (2013), ''Terrifier'' (2016), ''Terrifier 2'' (20 ...

is currently writing ''Terrifier 4'' with Thornton expected once again to reprise his role as Art the Clown.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web series

Video games

Music videos

Accolades

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, David Howard 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 1979 births American actors with disabilities American male film actors American male television actors American male video game actors American male voice actors Autistic actors Living people Male actors from Huntsville, Alabama Terrifier (film series)