David Farrington Thornton (born June 12, 1953) is an American actor. He has appeared in John Q, Home Alone 3 as Earl Unger, Law & Order, The Notebook, and The Other Woman, among other roles. He is the husband of singer songwriter Cyndi Lauper.

Personal life
Thornton was born in Cheraw, South Carolina. He is the son of Robert Donald Thornton (1917-2006), an international authority on the Scottish poet Robert Burns, who taught English at Harvard University among other institutions, and Grace Ellen, née Baker. He graduated from Hamilton College and Yale Drama School and studied at Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio.

Thornton met singer Cyndi Lauper on the set of the film Off and Running. They married in November 1991 and have a son, Declyn Wallace Thornton (b. 1997).

In 2005, the New York Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Thornton in Thornton v. Baron, which is considered a landmark decision in the New York real estate industry, specifically dealing with rent stabilization in New York.