As the popular coming-of-age film The Outsiders celebrates its 40th birthday, many of its cast members have had very successful careers.
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the film featured a cast of future stars including Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Ralph Macchio and the late Patrick Swayze.
The 1983 crime thriller, based on the 1967 novel by SE Hinton, follows two rival gangs separated by socioeconomic status, the poor Greasers and the upper-class Socs, who clash.
Starring Thomas Howell as the protagonist Curtis Ponyboy, the film did well at the box office, grossing $33.7 million and garnering a cult following that launched the Brat Pack genre.
After that, some of the stars launched huge careers for themselves – becoming the faces of big franchises and even earning stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
But some of them didn’t have such an easy road to success as they had to deal with everything from alcoholism, sex tape controversy and very tumultuous love lives.
So what have the stars been up to since then? Here Web takes a look at what the Greasers have been up to in the four decades since The Outsiders was released.
Throwback: Fan-favorite coming-of-age movie The Outsiders celebrates its 40 (Howell and Tom Cruise)
Stars: The film, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, featured a host of future stars including Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Thomas C. Howell, Patrick Swayze and Tom Cruise (LR)
History: He may be one of Hollywood’s highest paid stars, but prior to his breakthrough role 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 may be one of Hollywood’s highest-paid stars, but before his breakthrough role in The Outsider’s, Tom was struggling to escape the scars of a dysfunctional childhood.
Prior to producing Francis Ford Coppola, he landed a role in the weepie Endless Love, playing second fiddle to star Brooke Shields.
Tom had also secured a supporting role in 1981’s Taps, but was keen to further his career as an action hero.
Luckily, after his performance as Steve Randle in The Outsiders, he landed a starring role in his first blockbuster, the 1983 teen sex comedy Risky Business, opposite Rebecca De Mornay.
After a two-year hiatus, the actor made his first Top Gun movie in 1986 – the highest-grossing film of the year – and the rest is history as he continues his role as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell today.
He received his Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe for Best Actor after his performance 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.
Following Top Gun, Tom enjoyed great success in critically acclaimed and commercially successful films, eventually starring in the Mission: Impossible franchise, as well as The Mummy, Jack Reacher and War of the Worlds.
The actor has had a rocky love life and has been married three times, first to Mimi Rogers from 1987 to 1990, then to Nicole Kidman from 1990 to 2001 and finally to Katie Holmes from 2006 to 2012.
Tom and Katie’s divorce was one of the most high-profile breakups showbiz has ever seen. Tom famously declared his love for Kate while jumping onto a sofa during an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show.
The couple married in a Scientologist ceremony in Italy in 2006, just months after welcoming their daughter Suri, but things slowly fell apart, with sources claiming Katie feels intimidated by the church and its influence.
Tom credits the Church of Scientology with curing his dyslexia and is viewed as a “deity” within the group, and lower-ranking members are reportedly encouraged to watch the actor’s films multiple times.
The aftermath of Tom and Katie’s bitter split has seen Suri, now 16, becoming estranged from her father and the actress gaining “sole custody” of their daughter following the divorce.
Career: Like Tom, Rob only had a few credits to his name before starring as the character Sodapop, becoming a Hollywood leading man before battling 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 the character Sodapop.
On the film’s opening night, Rob found 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 taking a different approach with this movie,’ or ‘This movie is too long,’ or even ‘Shit,'” he joked.
He then starred in another 80’s classic, St. Elmo’s Fire opposite Demi Moore, a prominent film in the brat pack genre that made him one of Hollywood’s leading stars.
Rob’s career has not been without rough patches as he has struggled with issues including alcoholism and a sex tape scandal.
In 1989, at the age of 25, he became embroiled in a sextape scandal that threatened his booming 1989 career.
At the time he was an A-list leading man, appearing in 10 films from 1983 to 1988, but the tape took him to the edge of Hollywood and pushed him to rock bottom.
The racy video saw him in bed with a 16-year-old girl he met at a nightclub in Atlanta, Georgia. He claimed she was unaware she was a minor.
Although the girl was of legal age at the time, she was not old enough to be filmed and Lowe was sued by her mother.
In an interview with PEOPLE, he said his rock bottom came at age 26 when he decided to get sober, something that was “damn hard” but served as another experience in his life that he ” grateful” is .
“Up until I was 26, I invested all my time in my career. From the age of 26 I invested in myself; my spiritual, my recovery, my marriage, my family.’
He entered rehab that year and has since celebrated 32 years of sobriety, adding: “A lot of it was, excuse me, pretty darn hard. And no one has a perfect life…but I’m thankful for everything.”
After meeting on the set of Bad Influence in 1983, he reconnected with now-wife Sheryl Berkoff months after leaving rehab.
From 1999 to 2006, he starred in the popular NBC drama The West Wing as Sam Seaborn, which earned him an Emmy nomination and two Golden Globe nominations.
Today, Rob is a father to sons Matthew, 28, and Jake Owen, 26, with wife Sheryl, and stars in 9-1-1: Lone Star as Owen Strand, has two podcasts and a one-man stage show.
Screen star: The late Patrick Swayze, now known for his performances in Dirty Dancing and Ghost, started his career as a dancer for the Disney Theatrical Group before starring in The Outsiders (pictured right in 2006).
Patrick Swayze as Darrel Curtis
Patrick Swayze, now famous for his performances in Dirty Dancing and Ghost, began his career as a dancer for the Disney Theatrical Group.
Swayze studied ballet, acting and gymnastics while at school and moved to New York in 1972 to pursue formal dance training at Harkness Ballet and Joffrey Ballet Schools.
After starring in a small television series and a Broadway show, he is best known for his role on The Outsiders as Darrel Curtis, the older brother of Rob Lowe’s character.
However, his breakthrough role came 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 take the role, fearing the low-budget film would flop, but it became a smash hit, becoming the first film to sell a million copies on video.
He said the film, famous for the line “No one puts baby in a corner,” became a “phenomenon” that drove his life “insane.”
The actor later starred in Ghost, in which he played a murdered man trying to communicate with his fiancée through a medium played by Whoopi Goldberg.
In 1991, he starred alongside Keanu Reeves in the action hit Point Break, in which he played the leader of a gang of bank-robbing surfers, which led to him being named People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive of the Year.
Other hits included Donnie Darko and King Solomon’s Mines, and in 1997 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Off the screen, he was an avid conservationist, drawn by his time in Africa to shed a light on “man’s greed and absolute reluctance to act 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 suffered a miscarriage.
In 2008, Patrick announced that he was battling pancreatic cancer, but continued to work during his treatment, even filming US drama series The Beast.
Patrick died in 2009 at the age of 57. He leaves behind his wife Lisa, who was at his bedside when he died.
Brat Pack: The son of Martin Sheen (real name Ramón Estévez) and older brother of Charlie Sheen, Emilio has acting in his blood, he later starred in The Mighty Ducks (pictured right in The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers in 2021 )
Emilio Estevez as Two-Bit Matthews
Emilio, son of Martin Sheen (real name Ramón Estévez) and older brother of Charlie Sheen, has acting in his blood.
Film legend Martin is said to have spotted Emilio’s acting talent when he saw him perform in a 1980 high school play, blaming his film debt alongside his father in Custody Of Strangers.
His father, who is already friends with Misfit director Francis Ford Coppola, landed Emilio the role of Mickey Mouse-loving character Two-Bit Matthews.
After his role in The Outsiders, Emilio was known as “the leader” of the Brat Pack, starring in the cult classics Repo Man, The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo’s Fire.
He then tried his hand at directing, writing the comedy Men At Work with his younger brother Charlie.
Emilio also got the lead role in the sports comedy The Mighty Ducks, which secured his future as an actor.
Outside of his career, Emilio dated Tom’s future wife Mimi Rogers in the early ’80s and had two children with model Carey Salley.
He faced controversy when his relationship with Carey overlapped with his engagement to fellow Brat Packer Demi Moore.
“Emilio and I had just sent out our wedding invitations when a friend told me she’d seen him with someone else in LA,” she wrote in her 2019 memoir.
He denied it, of course, but I found it hard to trust him: During a two-week breakup a month ago, he had slept with an ‘ex’ girlfriend, lied about it and then was 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 Up The Academy in 1980 and appeared on the ABC series Eight Is Enough, but it was The Outsider that helped him gain recognition (pictured at right this month)
Ralph Macchio as Johnny Cade
Ralph made his acting debut in Up The Academy in 1980 and appeared on the ABC series Eight Is Enough, but it was The Outsider that helped him gain recognition.
He played the dynamic character Johnny Cade in the classic, with Karate Kid casting director Bonnie Timmerman admitting to Sports Illustrated, “I brought Ralph because I remembered the work he did with Francis Coppola.”
In 1984, at the age of 22, he landed the lead role of Daniel LaRusso in the critically acclaimed film series.
The story of The Karate Kid follows Daniel as he learns the martial arts to defend himself and compete against his thugs in a tournament.
Directed by the late John G. Avildsen – the Oscar-winning director of Rocky.
Ralph played Daniel for three episodes – 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 focused on kung fu was released in 2010 and has a similar plot but different characters.
Cobra Kai is a sequel series that began in 2018 and takes place three decades after the original films. It features some of the original cast including Ralph and William.
Last year, the Chinese remake of the 2010 film Karate Kid was announced for 2022.
After The Karate Kid, he was unemployed for years before starring in a number of television 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 have two children together, a daughter Julia and a son named Daniel.
Journey: Made his acting debut in 1979’s Over the Edge before starring in My Bodyguard and Little Darlings, becoming a teenage icon and then moving on to directing (pictured right in 2019)
Matt Dillon as Dallas Winston
He made his acting debut in 1979’s Over the Edge before starring in My Bodyguard and Little Darlings and becoming a teenage icon.
He was then cast in three adaptations of SE Hinton’s novels, appearing in 1982’s Tex before finally being cast as Dallas Winston in The Outsiders. Shortly thereafter, he appeared in Rumble Fish.
“My family had no background in show business. But once 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.
“A lot of 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’s starred in dozens of films, including the gruesome 2018 flick The House That Jack.
The star insisted he was “glad” he took part in Lars von Trier’s controversial film and said he was “okay” with the negative reaction.
Matt switched from acting to directing, releasing his first film City of Ghosts in 2002 and more recently a documentary about the story of Cuban scat musician Francisco Fellove.
A big fan of Francisco’s music, Matt and his pal Joey Altruda flew to Mexico City in the late ’90s to meet the singer and document the recording of his latest album, Fellove & Joey.
The musician passed away in 2013, so Matt decided to use his catalog of old recordings to create a documentary about him and express his influence on the Cuban and Mexican music scene.
Last year he received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work on feature films at the Locarno Film Festival.
Outside of his career, Matt was in a relationship with Cameron Diaz for three years from 1995 to 1998.
He has been in a relationship with choreographer Roberta Mastromichele since 2014. He has no children.
Switching: Finally, the film’s lead, Tommy, started his career hoping to be a stuntman and is now a musician (pictured right in February)
C. Thomas Howell as Ponyboy
Finally, the film’s lead, Tommy, started his career with hopes of becoming a stuntman, like his father, a rodeo performer.
Tommy’s first screen appearance was a small role in the cult classic ET the Extra-Terrestrial before he was cast as a pony boy in The Outsiders at the age of 15.
He told AV Club: “What an amazing thing to be a part of and cut your teeth. I’m so proud to have played Ponyboy Curtis and worked with Francis Ford Coppola and shared that with the assembled cast.
He has worked with the film director on many other productions and also rejoined his co-star Patrick in Red Dawn.
In 1986, the actor sparked controversy after appearing in blackface for his role in Soul Man alongside future wife Rae Dawn Chong.
Despite backlash, his co-star Rae told Today: “I think it’s a great film. I don’t feel anything negative about it. I think it’s absolutely adorable and super funny.”
The actor has since appeared in series such as Criminal Minds, The Walking Dead and Animal Kingdom, as well as the upcoming Netflix action comedy drama series Obliterated.
The actor has recently taken a different path and made his music debut, with his debut album American Storyteller being released last month.
He told Smashing Interviews about his music, “It was called Americana. It was called land. It was called Southern Rock. It was called mountain music. A lot of things were mentioned. My album will be out on February 3rd. I have a lullaby on it called Ponygirl.’
Outside of his showbiz career, he dated actress Kyle Richards in the early ’80s. After their separation, he married his first wife and co-star Rae Dawn Chong in 1989, but they divorced after a year.
He remarried Sylvie Anderson in 1992, they divorced in 2016 and they share three children.