From huge successes to alcoholism and controversies: As fan favourite coming of age movie The Outsiders turns 40 – a look at what Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe and co-stars are doing now
As fan favourite coming of age movie The Outsiders celebrates its 40th birthday, many of its cast have gone on to forge very successful careers.
The Francis Ford Coppola-directed motion picture featured a lineup of future stars, including Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Ralph Macchio and the late Patrick Swayze.
The 1983 mystery, which was based off of S. E. Hinton’s 1967 novel, follows two rival gangs, divided by their socioeconomic status, the poor greasers and the upper-class Socs as they clash.
Starring Thomas Howell as the protagonist, Curtis Ponyboy, the film performed well at the box office, grossing $33.7 million and went on to gain a cult following, sparking the Brat Pack genre.
Afterwards, some of the stars went on to launch huge careers for themselves – becoming the faces of major franchises and even earning stars on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
But some of them haven’t had such an easy ride to success facing everything from alcoholism, sex tape controversies and very turbulent love lives.
So, what have the stars been up to since? Here, MailOnline takes a look at what the greasers have been doing in the four decades since The Outsiders was released.
Throwback: As fan favourite coming of age movie The Outsiders celebrates its 40th birthday, many of its cast have gone on to forge very successful careers (pictured, the late Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Ralph Macchio, Thomas C. Howell, and Tom Cruise)
Stars: The Francis Ford Coppola-directed motion picture featured a lineup of future stars, including Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Thomas C. Howell, Patrick Swayze, and Tom Cruise (L-R)
History: He might be one of Hollywood’s highest-paid stars but before his break in The Outsider’s Tom was struggling to escape the scars of a dysfunctional childhood (pictured left in The Outsiders and right in 2015)
Tom Cruise as Steve Randle
He might be one of Hollywood’s highest-paid stars but before his break in The Outsider’s Tom was struggling to escape the scars of a dysfunctional childhood.
Prior to the Francis Ford Coppola production he landed a part in the weepie ‘Endless Love,’ in which he played second fiddle to the star Brooke Shields.
Tom had also secured a role in 1981’s Taps in a supporting role, but was desperate to forge his career as an action hero.
Luckily, following his performance as Steve Randle in The Outsiders he landed a leading role in his first blockbuster, the 1983 teen sex comedy Risky Business, in which he co-starred alongside Rebecca De Mornay.
After a two year hiatus, the actor made his first Top Gun movie in 1986 – the highest grossing movie of that year – and the rest has been history, as he continues his role as Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell today.
He earned his Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe for Best Actor after his appearance as veteran Ron Kovic in the biopic Born on the Fourth of July.
The star welcomed his second Golden Globe nomination in 1992 for his role in A Few Good Men.
Tom enjoyed huge success after Top Gun in critically acclaimed and commercially successful films eventually going on to star in the Mission: Impossible franchise, as well as The Mummy, Jack Reacher and War of the Worlds.
The actor has experience a rocky love life, having been married three times, first to Mimi Rogers from 1987 to 1990, then Nicole Kidman from 1990 to 2001 and finally to Katie Holmes from 2006 to 2012.
Tom and Katie’s divorce marked one of the most high profile splits that showbiz has ever seen, with Tom famously declaring his love for Kate while jumping on a sofa during an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show.
The couple, married in 2006 in a Scientologist ceremony in Italy, just months after welcoming their daughter Suri, but things slowly crumbled, with sources claiming Katie felt intimidated by the Church and its influence.
Tom credited the Church of Scientology for curing his dyslexia and is considered a ‘deity’ within the group and lower-ranked members are reportedly encouraged to see the actor’s films multiple times.
The fallout of Tom and Katie’s bitter split has led Suri, who is now 16, to become estranged from her father, with the actress gaining ‘sole custody’ of her daughter in the wake of the divorce.
Career: Like Tom, Rob only had a few credits to his name before starring as character Sodapop, he went on to become a Hollywood leading man before his battle with alcoholism (Pictured left in the film and right this month)
Rob Lowe as Sodapop
Like Tom, Rob only had a few credits to his name before starring in The Outsiders, in which he was cast as character Sodapop.
Upon the films opening night, Rob discovered that most of his scenes had been cut, ‘No one ever said a word to me,’ he told HuffPost of the experience.
‘No “hey, we’re going a different way with the movie” or “the movie’s too long” or even “you suck,” he joked.
He went on to star in another 80s classic, St. Elmo’s Fire alongside Demi Moore, a prominent movie of the Brat Pack genre, making him one of Hollywood’s leading stars.
Rob’s career has not been without its rough patches as he struggled with issues such as alcoholism and a sex videotape scandal.
In 1989 aged 25, he became embroiled in a sex tape scandal in 1989 it threatened his booming career.
At the time he was an a-list leading man, appearing in 10 films from 1983 to 1988, but tape put him on the fringe of Hollywood and pushed him to rock bottom.
The racy tape saw him in bed with a 16-year-old girl he met at a nightclub in Atlanta Georgia, he claimed her didn’t know she was underage.
Though the girl was the age of consent at the time, she was not old enough to be filmed and Lowe was sued by her mother.
He said his lowest point came at age 26 when he decided to get sober, something that was ‘f*****g hard’ but served as another experience in his life that he is ‘grateful for,’ in an interview with PEOPLE.
‘Up until I turned 26, I spent all my time investing in my career. From 26 on, I’ve invested in me; my spiritually, my recovery, my marriage, my family.’
He went to rehab that year and has since celebrated 32 years of sobriety, adding ‘A lot of it has been, excuse me, f*****g hard. And no one has a perfect life… but I’m grateful for all of it.’
After meeting on set of Bad Influence in 1983, he reconnected—with his now wife—Sheryl Berkoff months after leaving rehab.
From 1999 to 2006 he starred in popular NBC drama The West Wing as Sam Seaborn, which landed him one Emmy nomination and two Golden Globe nominations.
Today, Rob is dad to sons Matthew, 28, and Jake Owen, 26, with wife Sheryl, and stars on 9-1-1: Lone Star as Owen Strand, has two podcasts and a one-man stage show.
Screen star: Now famed for his performances in Dirty Dancing and Ghost, the late Patrick Swayze kicked off his career as a dancer for Disney Theatrical Group before starring in The Outsiders (Pictured right in 2006)
Patrick Swayze as Darrel Curtis
Now famed for his performances in Dirty Dancing and Ghost, the late Patrick Swayze kicked off his career as a dancer for Disney Theatrical Group.
Swayze studied ballet, acting and gymnastics whilst at school and in 1972 moved to New York to take formal dance training at the Harkness Ballet and Joffrey ballet schools.
After starring in a minor TV series and a broadway show, he became better known for his role in The Outsiders as Darrel Curtis, the older brother of Rob Lowe’s character.
But his breakthrough role was as Johnny Castle in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing.
The actor received a Golden Globe award nomination for his role and also sang one of the songs on the soundtrack. The ballad She’s Like the Wind, is said to have been inspired by his wife, Lisa Niemi Swayze.
Patrick was warned not to accept the part amid fears that the low-budget movie would flop but it became a massive hit and was the first film to sell one million copies on video.
He said the film, famous for the line ‘Nobody puts Baby in a corner,’ became a ‘phenomenon’ that took his life ‘into insanity’.
The actor went on to star in Ghost, in which he played a murdered man trying to communicate with his fiancee through a psychic played by Whoopi Goldberg.
He also featured alongside Keanu Reeves in action hit Point Break in 1991, in which he played the leader of a band of bank-robbing surfers, leading to him being chosen by People magazine as the year’s ‘Sexiest Man Alive’.
Other hits include Donnie Darko and King Solomon’s Mines and in 1997 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
Off-screen, he was an avid conservationist who was moved by his time in Africa to shine a light on ‘man’s greed and absolute unwillingness to operate according to Mother Nature’s laws,’ he said in 2004.
He married Lisa in 1975, after meeting her in 1970. The couple have no children but she had suffered one miscarriage.
In 2008 Patrick announced he was battling pancreatic cancer but continued to work throughout his treatment and even filmed US drama series, The Beast.
Patrick passed away aged 57 in 2009. He is survived by his wife Lisa who was at his bedside when he died.
Brat Pack: The son of Martin Sheen (legally Ramón Estévez) and the older brother of Charlie Sheen, Emilio has acting in his blood, he went on to star in The Mighty Ducks (Pictured right in The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers in 2021)
Emilio Estevez as Two-Bit Matthews
The son of Martin Sheen (legally Ramón Estévez) and the older brother of Charlie Sheen, Emilio has acting in his blood.
Screen legend Martin is said to have realised Emilios acting talent when he saw him perform in a high school play in 1980, he made his film debt alongside his dad in Custody Of Strangers.
His dad already friends with outsiders director Francis Ford Coppola, Emilio landed the role of Mickey Mouse loving character, Two-Bit Matthews.
Following his role in The Outsiders, Emilio was known as ‘the leader’ of the Brat Pack going on the feature in cult classics, Repo Man, The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo’s Fire.
He went on to try his hand at directing and also wrote the comedy Men At Work with his younger brother Charlie.
Emilio also landed the leading role in sports comedy The Mighty Ducks, which secured his future in acting.
Outside of his career Emilio dated co-star Tom’s future wife Mimi Rogers in the early 80s, going on to have two children with model Carey Salley.
He faced controversy when his relationship with Carey overlapped with his engagement with fellow Brat Packer Demi Moore.
‘Emilio and I had just mailed out the invitations for our wedding when a friend told me she had seen him out with someone else in LA,’ she penned in her 2019 memoir.
‘He denied it, of course, but I was having a hard time trusting him: during a two-week breakup a month before, he’d slept with an “ex” girlfriend, lied about it, and then been forced to tell me the truth when he found out she was pregnant.’
The actor married Paula Abdul in 1992 but they divorced two years later in 1994. He is believed to have been engaged to Sonja Magdevski in 2006, although they split in 2015.
On screen: Ralph made his acting debut in 1980’s Up The Academy and appeared in ABC series Eight Is Enough, but it was The Outsider which helped him gain recognition (Pictured right this month)
Ralph Macchio as Johnny Cade
Ralph made his acting debut in 1980’s Up The Academy and appeared in ABC series Eight Is Enough, but it was The Outsider which helped him gain recognition.
He starred as the dynamic character Johnny Cade in the classic, with Karate Kid casting director Bonnie Timmermann admitting to Sports Illustrated: ‘I brought Ralph in because I remembered the work he did with Francis Coppola.’
In 1984 at the age of 22 he went on to take the leading role of Daniel LaRusso in the critically acclaimed film franchise.
The story of The Karate Kid follows Daniel as he is taught the martial art to help defend himself and compete in a tournament against his bullies.
It was directed by the late John G. Avildsen – the Academy-Award winning director of Rocky.
Ralph played Daniel for three instalments – The Karate Kid (1984), The Karate Kid Part II (1986) and The Karate Kid Part III (1989), but did not reprise the role in The Next Karate Kid (1994).
A remake set in China and focusing on kung-fu was released in 2010, adopting a similar storyline but different characters.
Cobra Kai is a follow-up series which started in 2018 and is set three decades after the original films. It features some of the original cast-members, including Ralph and William.
Last year, the 2022 Chinese remake of the 2010 Karate Kid film was announced.
After Karate Kid he faced years without work before starring in a string to TV series such as HBO’s The Deuce and Ugly Betty.
Ralph was introduced to his wife Phyllis Fierro at the tender age of 15, by his grandmother.
They married in 1987 and share two children, a daughter Julia and a son named Daniel.
Journey: Making his acting debut in 1979 in Over the Edge before starring in My Bodyguard and Little Darlings, becoming a teen icon and then moved on to directing (Pictured right in 2019)
Matt Dillon as Dallas Winston
Making his acting debut in 1979 in Over the Edge before starring in My Bodyguard and Little Darlings, becoming a teen icon.
He was then cast in three adaptations of S. E. Hinton’s novel’s, appearing in 1982’s Tex before eventually being cast as Dallas Winston in The Outsiders. He went on to preform in Rumble Fish shortly after.
‘My family didn’t have a background in show business. But as soon as I started, it just didn’t occur to me that it wouldn’t happen again. It was so natural,’ he explained to Variety in 2022.
‘Many actors would tell you the same thing. I think it’s because we just don’t know what else to do.’
In 2006, he received Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for his critically-acclaimed role in Crash opposite Sandra Bullock.
Since then, he has gone on to star in dozens of films including the gruesome flick The House That Jack built in 2018.
The star insisted he’s ‘glad’ he took part in Lars Von Trier’s controversial film, and said he is ‘OK’ with the negative reaction.
Matt transitioned from acting into directing and in 2002 released his first film, City of Ghosts and more recently a documentary film following the story of Cuban scat musician, Francisco Fellove.
A big fan of Francisco’s music, Matt and his pal Joey Altruda jetted off to Mexico City in the late ’90s to meet the singer and document the recording of his final album, Fellove & Joey.
The musician passed away in 2013, so Matt decided to use his catalogue of old recordings to flesh out a documentary about him and unpack his influence on the Cuban and Mexican music scene.
Last year, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at Locarno Film Festival for his work on motion pictures.
Outside of his career, Matt was in a relationship with Cameron Diaz for three years from 1995 until 1998.
Since 2014 he has been dating choreographer Roberta Mastromichele. He has no children.
Switching it up: Finally, the film’s leading man Tommy started his career with the hopes of becoming a stunt man and is now a musician (Pictured right in February)
C. Thomas Howell as Ponyboy
Finally, the film’s leading man Tommy started his career with the hopes of becoming a stunt man, like his rodeo performer father.
Tommy’s first on screen performance was a small part in cult classic E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial before being cast in The Outsiders as Ponyboy at the age of 15.
He told AV Club: ‘What an amazing thing to be a part of and to cut your teeth on. I’m so proud to have played Ponyboy Curtis and to have worked with Francis Ford Coppola and shared that with the cast that was put together.’
He went on to with with the films director on many other productions and also joined his co-star Patrick again in Red Dawn.
In 1986 the actor ignited controversy after appearing in blackface for his role in Soul Man, alongside his future wife, Rae Dawn Chong.
Despite backlash his co-star Rae told Today: ‘I think it’s a gorgeous film. I don’t feel any sense of anything negative about it. I think it’s absolutely adorable and super funny.’
The actor has since appeared on series such as Criminal Minds, The Walking Dead and Animal Kingdom as well as upcoming Netflix action comedy-drama series Obliterated.
The actor has recently gone on to take a different path, making his music debut, his first album American Storyteller was released last month.
He told Smashing Interviews of his music: ‘It’s been called Americana. It’s been called country. It’s been called Southern rock. It’s been called mountain music. It’s been called a lot of things. My album comes out February 3. I’ve got a lullaby on there called Ponygirl.’
Outside of his showbiz career he dated actress Kyle Richards in the early 80s. After their split he went on to marry his first wife and co-star Rae Dawn Chong in 1989, but they divorced after a year.
He married again to Sylvie Anderson in 1992, they divorced in 2016, and they share three children.
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