Darren Jack Dalton is an American actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

, screenwriter

Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

, and film producer

Film producer

A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...

.

Acting career

Dalton's career began in 1982 when cast as Randy Anderson by Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...

 during a nationwide talent search for the ground breaking teen ensemble The Outsiders

The Outsiders (film)

The Outsiders is a 1983 American drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, an adaptation of the novel The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. The film was released in March 1983...

.

After The Outsiders Dalton reunited with C. Thomas Howell

C. Thomas Howell

Christopher Thomas "Tommy" Howell , known by his stage name C. Thomas Howell, is an American actor and film director. He starred in the films The Outsiders as Ponyboy Curtis and in The Hitcher as Jim Halsey. He has appeared in The Da Vinci Treasure,Soul Man, Red Dawn, Secret Admirer, Gettysburg, H. G...

 and Patrick Swayze

Patrick Swayze

Patrick Wayne Swayze was an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter. He was best known for his tough-guy roles, as romantic leading men in the hit films Dirty Dancing and Ghost, and as Orry Main in the North and South television miniseries. He was named by People magazine as its "Sexiest...

 in Red Dawn

Red Dawn

Red Dawn is a 1984 American war film directed by John Milius and co-written by Milius and Kevin Reynolds. It stars Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen and Jennifer Grey....

, a story of a group of teenagers fighting Soviet Union troops who've invaded the United States. Dalton portrayed Daryl Bates, the son of the mayor.

After Red Dawn, Dalton's first made-for-television movie was The Brotherhood of Justice as a rebellious teenager, followed by Daddy

Daddy (film)

Daddy is a 2001 Telugu film. The movie stars Chiranjeevi and Simran. It was produced by Allu Aravind on the Geeta Arts banner under the direction of Suresh Krishna. The film was an average performer at the box office...

and the short-lived, but critically acclaimed TV ensemble drama The Best Times. He has also had numerous TV guest appearances on Highway to Heaven, Quantum Leap, Alien Nation and as General Custer on Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman. Shortly after, he returned to theatrical releases, such as Dancing in the Forest and The Wolves.

Turning to screenwriting full time, Dalton did not appear in any other TV shows or movies until 2007's The Stolen Moments of September. After the movie, he fully returned to acting, in War of the Worlds 2, Children of the Hunt, Darkroom (which he also Executive Produced and provided music for), the 3-D zombie thriller Day of the Living and The Day the Earth Stopped which Dalton also wrote and produced, and The Land That Time Forgot, which Dalton adapted from the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel.

Filmography

• The Outsiders
  The Outsiders (film)
  The Outsiders is a 1983 American drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, an adaptation of the novel The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. The film was released in March 1983...
  
  (1983)
• National Lampoon's Joy of Sex
  National Lampoon's Joy of Sex
  National Lampoon's Joy of Sex is a 1984 film directed by Martha Coolidge. It was written by Kathleen Rowell and J.J...
  
  (1984)
• Red Dawn
  Red Dawn
  Red Dawn is a 1984 American war film directed by John Milius and co-written by Milius and Kevin Reynolds. It stars Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen and Jennifer Grey....
  
  (1984)
• The Brotherhood of Justice (1986)
• Daddy
  Daddy (film)
  Daddy is a 2001 Telugu film. The movie stars Chiranjeevi and Simran. It was produced by Allu Aravind on the Geeta Arts banner under the direction of Suresh Krishna. The film was an average performer at the box office...
  
  (1987)
• Dancing in the Forest (1991)
• Montana
  Montana (film)
  Montana is an American crime film released in 1998, directed by Jennifer Leitzes, written by Erich Hoeber and Jon Hoeber, and produced by Sean Cooley, Zane W. Levitt, and Mark Yellen....
  
  (1990)
• To Protect and Serve (1992)
• Scanner Cop
  Scanner Cop
  Scanner Cop is a 1994 Canadian film. It is the fourth film in the Scanners series and the first film in the Scanner Cop series. It was written, produced, and directed by Pierre David.-Plot:...
  
  (1994)
• Hourglass
  Hourglass
  An hourglass measures the passage of a few minutes or an hour of time. It has two connected vertical glass bulbs allowing a regulated trickle of material from the top to the bottom. Once the top bulb is empty, it can be inverted to begin timing again. The name hourglass comes from historically...
  
  (1996)
• Pure Danger (1996)
• Sleeping Dogs
  Sleeping Dogs
  Sleeping Dogs may refer to:* Sleeping Dogs , a New Zealand film by Roger Donaldson* Sleeping Dogs , a novel by Sonya Hartnett* "Sleeping Dogs" a song by Merril Bainbridge...
  
  (1998)
• The Stolen Moments of September (2007)
• Darkroom (2008)
• War of the Worlds 2 (2008)
• The Day the Earth Stopped
  The Day the Earth Stopped
  The Day the Earth Stopped is a 2008 direct-to-DVD science fiction film made by American studio The Asylum, directed by and starring C. Thomas Howell...
  
  (2008)
• Children of the Hunt (2008)