John Stockwell (actor)

Stockwell was born in Galveston, Texas, the son of Ellen (Richards) and John S. Samuels III, an attorney.^[4][5] Stockwell's sister is historian Evelyn Welch, and his niece is singer and songwriter Florence Welch.^[6] His father, a Texas lawyer and coal magnate, purchased Salutation in Glen Cove, Long Island.^[7]

While he was in college at Harvard University near Boston, he commuted to New York City to appear on episodes of the soap opera Guiding Light.^[8]

Early in his career, Stockwell was an international model. During this time, he became a friend of pop artist Andy Warhol.^[9] Stockwell's first feature film as an actor came in a small role in 1981's So Fine. His best known roles came in the 1983 comedy film Losin' It as Spider; later that year, in the John Carpenter horror film Christine as Dennis Guilder; and the 1985 comedy film My Science Project as Michael Harlan.^[10] Also in 1985, he appeared in the poorly received City Limits.

He performed in the highly acclaimed 1985 TV mini-series North and South. In 1986, he appeared in Top Gun as Cougar. He made guest appearances on TV shows including The Young Riders and Friday the 13th: The Series.

Stockwell has directed several films, including Cheaters (2000), Crazy/Beautiful (2001), Blue Crush (2002), Into the Blue (2005), Turistas (2006), Heart (2009),^[11] the Gina Carano star-vehicle In the Blood, and the 2016 Kickboxer reboot Kickboxer: Vengeance.^[12]

Stockwell wrote the screenplay for the 2001 film Rock Star.

Stockwell briefly dated actress Bianca Jagger and model Barbara Allen.^[9]

Stockwell is married to Helene Henderson, a chef and caterer.^[13] They have three children.^[14]