Emerging from a Washington upbringing, Thompson studied business at Central Washington University while acting in campus productions, later earning an MFA from UC Irvine and refining his craft. His screen debut was a minor thug in The Terminator (1984), followed by the villainous Night Slasher in Cobra (1986) and a named part on the Fox horror series Werewolf (1987-88). He became a familiar face i…
