Tom Sawyer

Thomas Sawyer (/ˈsɔːjər/) is the title character of the Mark Twain novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). He appears in three other novels by Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), Tom Sawyer Abroad (1894), and Tom Sawyer, Detective (1896).

This article is about the literary character. For the book, see The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. For other uses, see Tom Sawyer (disambiguation).
Tom Sawyer
1876 illustration by True Williams
First appearanceThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Last appearanceTom Sawyer, Detective
Created byMark Twain
In-universe information
FamilyAunt Polly (aunt)
Sally Phelps (aunt)
Mary (cousin)
Sid (younger half-brother)

Sawyer also appears in at least three unfinished Twain works, Huck and Tom Among the Indians, Schoolhouse Hill, and Tom Sawyer's Conspiracy. While all three uncompleted works were posthumously published, only Tom Sawyer's Conspiracy has a complete plot, as Twain abandoned the other two works after finishing only a few chapters. It is set in the 1840s in the Mississippi.

Inspiration

The fictional character's name may have been derived from a jolly and flamboyant chief named Tom Sawyer, with whom Twain was acquainted in San Francisco, California, while Twain was employed as a reporter at The San Francisco Call.[1][2] Twain used to listen to Sawyer tell stories of his youth, "Sam, he would listen to these pranks of mine with great interest and he'd occasionally take 'em down in his notebook. One day he says to me: 'I am going to put you between the covers of a book some of these days, Tom.' 'Go ahead, Sam,' I said, 'but don't disgrace my name.'"[2] Twain himself said the character sprang from three people, later identified as: John B. Briggs (who died in 1907), William Bowen (who died in 1893) and Twain;[2] however Twain later changed his story saying Sawyer was fully formed solely from his imagination, but as Robert Graysmith says, "The great appropriator liked to pretend his characters sprang fully grown from his fertile mind."[2]

Portrayals

Actors who have portrayed Tom Sawyer in films and TV:

Name Date Notes
Jack Pickford1917Film, Tom Sawyer
Gordon Griffith1920Film, Huckleberry Finn
Jackie Coogan1930, 1931Films, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn
Tommy Kelly1938Film, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Billy Cook1938Film, Tom Sawyer, Detective
Michael Miller1944Film, The Adventures of Mark Twain
Robert Hyatt1955Film, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
John Sharpe1956TV musical, Tom Sawyer
Kevin Schultz1968TV series, The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Roland Demongeot1968Romanian/French/German TV series Les Aventures de Tom Sawyer/Tom Sawyers und Huckleberry Finns Abenteuer
Johnny Whitaker1973Film, Tom Sawyer
Don Most1975Film, Huckleberry Finn
Sam Snyders1979TV series, Huckleberry Finn and His Friends
Patrick Creadon1981TV film, Rascals and Robbers: The Secret Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
Fyodor Stukov1981Soviet three-episode TV miniseries, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
Chris Ritchie1985Film, The Adventures of Mark Twain
Eugene Oakes1986TV series, American Playhouse Series 5: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn parts I, II, III and IV
Raphael Sbarge1990TV film, Back to Hannibal: The Return of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
Jonathan Taylor Thomas1995Film, Tom and Huck
Rhett Akins2000Voice, animated musical film, Tom Sawyer
Grey Griffin2003Voice, animated TV series, The Fairly OddParents
Shane West2003Film, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Louis Hofmann2011, 2012Film, Tom Sawyer (de), Die Abenteuer des Huck Finn (de}
Joel Courtney2014Film, Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn
Adam Nee2015Film, Band of Robbers
Jeremy Shada20153DS game Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.
Reilly Jacob2016TV series Once Upon a Time

References
  1. "Biography of Tom Sawyer - 1900". Sfmuseum.net. 1996-09-01. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
  2. Robert Graysmith (October 2012). "The Adventures of the Real Tommy". Smithsonian. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
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