Jonathan Taylor Thomas played the son of Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson on ‘Home Improvement’
In the early ’90s, Jonathan Taylor Thomas was a popular child star, starring in movies like “The Lion King,” “Tom and Huck” and “Man of the House” and the sitcom “Home Improvement.”
Although Thomas did several projects as a child, he slowed down in the 2000s, taking a handful of small roles. His last acting credit was in fellow “Home Improvement” star Tim Allen’s show, “Last Man Standing.” He appeared in four episodes from 2013 to 2015.
Last week, the actor was photographed near his home in California, his first public sighting in two years.
Fox News Digital takes a look at where the “Home Improvement” cast is now.
Jonathan Taylor Thomas – Randy Taylor
Thomas played the middle child of Tim and Jill Taylor, played by Allen and Patricia Richardson. His performance was well received, leading to more roles. He notably voiced young Simba in the 1994 Disney smash hit, “The Lion King.”
Thomas stayed with “Home Improvement” from its premiere in 1991 until 1998. He left early in the eighth and final season, with his character moving to Costa Rica in the second episode. In real life, Thomas wanted to focus on his education.
“I’d been going nonstop since I was 8 years old,” he explained to People in 2013. “I wanted to go to school, to travel and have a bit of a break.”
Thomas dipped his toe back into entertainment on his TV dad Tim Allen’s series “Last Man Standing,” appearing in four episodes and directing three between 2013 and 2015.
Tim Allen – Tim Taylor
Tim Allen starred as Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor, the host of a home improvement show, based on some of his stand-up act.
The highly rated sitcom made him a star and led to roles in “The Santa Clause” as Scott Calvin (aka Santa Claus) and “Toy Story” as the voice of Buzz Lightyear. Both films spawned numerous sequels, featuring Allen reprising his beloved roles.
After “Home Improvement” ended in 1999, Allen continued acting in film and television, including the movies “Galaxy Quest,” “The Shaggy Dog” and “Wild Hogs.”
He played a family man again on the ABC comedy “Last Man Standing” from 2011 to 2016, and from 2018 to the show’s end in 2021, when it was picked up by FOX.
Allen has most recently starred in the Disney+ series “The Santa Clauses.” now in its second season. It earned him his second Emmy nomination. His first nomination was for “Home Improvement.”
Patricia Richardson – Jill Taylor
Patricia Richardson played Tim Taylor’s wife Jill for all eight seasons of “Home Improvement,” after beginning her career in Broadway and off-Broadway productions and a series of short-lived sitcoms.
Richardson left the show following the eighth season to spend more time with her three children. At the time, the producers and Allen urged her to stay on for a ninth season, but she refused. Allen rejected a proposal to continue the show without her character, who would have been killed off.
After leaving “Home Improvement,” Richardson starred as Dr. Andy Campbell in the Lifetime medical drama “Strong Medicine,” from 2002 to 2005, and landed a recurring role in the last two seasons of “The West Wing.”
Richardson has also appeared on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “NCIS,” “Blindspot,” “The Blacklist” and “Grey’s Anatomy” and reunited with Allen on his series “Last Man Standing” during the fourth season.
In November 2022, Richardson spoke with Fox News Digital about her time on the show, including sharing some of the fan mail she received.
“The primary thing I saw the most in the mail was, ‘Are you looking through our windows? The things you and Tim fight about are just like our family,’” she recalled.
Zachery Ty Bryan – Brad Taylor
Zachery Ty Bryan played Brad, the oldest son of Tim and Jill Taylor, on “Home Improvement” for the series’ entire run.
After the series ended, he appeared in a variety of television series, including “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Veronica Mars,” and “Burn Notice” and in films like “The Rage: Carrie 2,” “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” and, most recently, “The Guardians of Justice.”
Bryan has faced legal trouble, beginning in 2020 when he was arrested and entered a guilty plea after an altercation with girlfriend Johnnie Faye Cartwright at their apartment in Eugene, Oregon.
In June 2023, Bryan downplayed the incident, telling The Hollywood Reporter it had been “blown out of proportion.”
“We didn’t even really get that physical,” he said. “We got really loud. We were screaming, and because we were in a town home that had [thin walls], everybody could hear.”
In October, Bryan pleaded guilty to felony assault after being arrested in July after authorities were called regarding a physical domestic dispute with an unnamed woman, Fox News Digital confirmed at the time.
Taran Noah Smith – Mark Taylor
Taran Noah Smith played Mark Taylor, the youngest of the Taylor children, on “Home Improvement” all eight seasons.
During his time on the show, he also appeared on “7th Heaven” and “Batman Beyond.” When “Home Improvement” ended, Smith stopped acting entirely.
“It was pretty exciting to leave it behind and do other things,” he told Entertainment Weekly in 2011.
Smith pursued a variety of professions following the show. He created a food company for vegans, became an installation artist for events like Coachella and built energy-efficient water purifiers with his dad that are used overseas by the military.
At 17, Smith married Heidi van Pelt, sparking controversy due to van Pelt being 16 years older. They divorced in 2007.
Smith was also embroiled in a legal battle with his parents when he was 17, suing them for control of his $1.5 million trust fund, claiming they had squandered the money. According to an interview with Headline and Global News in 2016, Smith and his mother became estranged but eventually reconciled.
Smith also faced legal trouble in 2012 when he was reported to have been arrested for an alleged DUI and possession of hashish.
Richard Karn – Al Borland
Richard Karn played Tim Taylor’s co-host and friend Al Borland on “Home Improvement,” who was famous for his catchphrase, “I don’t think so, Tim.”
After the series, Karn took over “Family Feud” hosting duties for four years, from 2002 to 2006, and later hosted Game Show Network’s show “Bingo America.” He also made dozens of appearances in series like “That 70s Show” and “The Bold and the Beautiful” and had a recurring role on Hulu’s “PEN15.”
Karn and Allen reunited for two episodes of “Last Man Standing” in 2013 and co-hosted two different series on History Channel: “Assembly Required,” a competition series in 2020, and the docuseries “More Power” in 2022.
Earl Hindman – Wilson
Earl Hindman played Tim Taylor’s next-door neighbor Wilson, whose face remained obscured by their shared fence as he dispensed advice to the often frazzled Tim.
Prior to his work on the series, Hindman had appeared in films like “The Parallax View,” “Taps” and “Three Men and a Baby” and series like “Ryan’s Hope.”
Following the end of “Home Improvement” in 1999, Hindman appeared in episodes of “Law & Order” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” before his death in 2003 from lung cancer at age 61.
Debbe Dunning – Heidi
Debbe Dunning played Heidi, the “Tool Time girl,” on the show hosted by Tim Taylor on “Home Improvement” from the show’s third season until the series ended in 1999.
Dunning later appeared in projects like “The Misery Brothers” and “Now You Know.” In 2017, she hosted a travel show, “Debbe Dunning’s Dude Ranch Round-Up,” on DirecTV’s The Cowboy Channel.
The California native married volleyball pro Steve Timmons in 1997. They divorced in 2018 and share three children.
