FrameThrower · Actors · Tom Bower
Tom Bower
10 films · 707 frames · top-billed in 1 · 1986–2013
Born 3 January 1938 · Denver, Colorado, USA · died 30 May 2024
Ralph Thomas Bower was an American actor who appeared in a wide variety of television and film roles from 1973 to 2023. On television, he played physician Curtis Willard (husband of Mary-Ellen) on The Waltons (1975 - 1978). Bower also appeared in numerous series in guest roles, including Hill Street Blues, The X-Files, The West Wing, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. In film, he had prominent supporting roles in notable films such as River's Edge (1986), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Die Hard 2 (1990), Nixon (1995), Pollock (2000), The Hills Have Eyes (2006), Appaloosa (2008), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), The Killer Inside Me (2010), and El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019). Bower was also an award-winning stage actor.
How their films are shot
Measured across 707 frames from the 10 films we hold. This is the look of the work Tom takes, not a claim about any single frame — we index the cast of a film, never the people in a shot.
Across the 10 films we hold, 50% of their frames are day, 47% natural — the look of the work Tom takes.
Time of day
Lighting
Shot size
Camera angle
Mood
Films in the library
Every poster opens that film — stills, cinematography notes and colour palette.
Pollock
2000 · Dan Miller
Out of the Furnace
2013 · Dan Dugan
I Melt With You
2011 · Captain Bob
The Killer Inside Me
2010 · Sheriff Bob Maples
Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans
2009 · Pat McDonagh
Breaking Bad
2008 · Lou
The Hills Have Eyes
2006 · Gas Station Attendant
Against the Wall
1994 · Ed
River’s Edge
1986 · Bennett
Raising Cain
· Sgt, Cully
Often with
Shared films in this library, not a full filmography.
A reference database for filmmakers
FrameThrower is a fully machine-searchable film database and visual reference library — all 707 frames from Tom Bower's 10 films, and 5,000+ films besides, indexed frame by frame and readable by AI. Search it in plain language, from a reference image, or by colour; call it from an API, an MCP server or an SDK. It's the reference layer for making the next movie.