Taylor Thomas starred alongside Tim Allen in one of the most popular sitcoms of the 1990s and voiced young Simba in Disney’s animal spin on Hamlet – but has rarely been seen in 20 years
Now, at 43, Thomas still keeps things low-key, rarely making public appearances. According to Page Six, his last public sighting was in 2023, when he went to a local convenience store to buy a coffee. It was a rare glimpse of the former heartthrob who has remained a mystery to fans for years.
As for his personal life? True to form, Thomas has kept those details firmly under wraps. Not one to engage with tabloid culture, there’s no word on whether he’s in a relationship or has children.
So, who exactly is Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and what has he been up to since his screen days?
Jonathan Taylor Thomas started acting when he was 10
Thomas first captured the hearts of TV audiences in 1991 when he joined the Home Improvement cast, aged just 10. Playing Randy Taylor, the middle son of Tim Allen’s character Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor, Thomas became a household name. Per his IMDB profile, he also lent his voice to young Simba in Disney’s The Lion King in 1994.
He stepped back from the spotlight in the late 1990s
Thomas left Home Improvement before the end of its final season to focus on his education. He attended Harvard University and spent the third year of his degree at the University of St Andrew’s in Scotland. He later did a degree at Columbia University. And while he made a few TV appearances in the early noughties, his presence was nothing like what it had been. In a 2013 interview with People, he explained that his departure from Hollywood was driven by his desire to do other things. “I’d been going nonstop since I was eight years old,” he said. “I wanted to go to school, to travel, and have a bit of a break.”
He reunited with his TV dad in 2013
Though he left acting behind in the early 2000s, Thomas briefly returned to TV between 2013 and 2015 on Last Man Standing, reuniting with his Home Improvement co-star Tim Allen. He appeared in four episodes and directed three.
