The Cast of ‘Home Improvement’ in 1995.Photo:ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Kids of the ’90s will never forget that unique theme song: whistles, electric guitar and that unmistakableTim Allengrunt.Home Improvementwas a primetime mainstay, running on ABC from 1991 to 1999 with Tim Allen’s Tim Taylor at the helm as host of home seriesTool Time,and child actorsJonathan Taylor Thomas,Zachery Ty Bryanand Taran Noah Smith rising as the series' popularity grew. The show earned three Emmy nominations for outstanding comedy series andAllen often talks about his desireto do a reboot.In the years since it ended, many of its stars have retreated from the spotlight, but the love for the sitcom remains.Here, catch up with the stars ofHome Improvement,then and now.
Kids of the ’90s will never forget that unique theme song: whistles, electric guitar and that unmistakableTim Allengrunt.
Home Improvementwas a primetime mainstay, running on ABC from 1991 to 1999 with Tim Allen’s Tim Taylor at the helm as host of home seriesTool Time,and child actorsJonathan Taylor Thomas,Zachery Ty Bryanand Taran Noah Smith rising as the series' popularity grew. The show earned three Emmy nominations for outstanding comedy series andAllen often talks about his desireto do a reboot.
In the years since it ended, many of its stars have retreated from the spotlight, but the love for the sitcom remains.
Here, catch up with the stars ofHome Improvement,then and now.
01of 09Tim Allen as Tim TaylorTim Allen on ‘Home Improvement’ and now.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via GettyTim Allenwas best known as a comedian when he stepped into the role of Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor onHome Improvement.But the work never stopped coming afterward: the Golden Globe Award winner has starred in theSanta Clausefranchise,Jungle 2 Jungle, Joe Somebody, Wild Hogs, Last Man Standingand perhaps most famously, theToy Storymovies.In a 2020 chat with Kelly Clarkson,he said people on the streetstill ask him to grunt (even cops!) in a nod to Taylor’s trademark.His earlier years weren’t so sunny: after a 1978 arrest for cocaine possession at a Michigan airport,Allen spent two years in jail. He also opened up about his alcohol addictionin a 2019 interview onCBS Sunday Morning.Now, he has been sober for more than 20 years. “It doesn’t happen overnight,” he told Clarkson. “It’s a day to day thing.“Allen’s love forHome Improvementcontinues to run deep: he showed CBS that he kept theTool Timeset and in 2018,toldEThe was “very interested"in bringing the series back.He actually played Taylor againon a 2021 episode ofLast Man Standing,and welcomedHome Improvementcostars to the show during its run.Allen, now 70, is a father to two daughters, one with ex-wife Laura Deibel and one with current wifeJane Hajduk.
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Tim Allen as Tim Taylor
Tim Allen on ‘Home Improvement’ and now.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via Getty
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via Getty
Tim Allenwas best known as a comedian when he stepped into the role of Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor onHome Improvement.But the work never stopped coming afterward: the Golden Globe Award winner has starred in theSanta Clausefranchise,Jungle 2 Jungle, Joe Somebody, Wild Hogs, Last Man Standingand perhaps most famously, theToy Storymovies.
In a 2020 chat with Kelly Clarkson,he said people on the streetstill ask him to grunt (even cops!) in a nod to Taylor’s trademark.
His earlier years weren’t so sunny: after a 1978 arrest for cocaine possession at a Michigan airport,Allen spent two years in jail. He also opened up about his alcohol addictionin a 2019 interview onCBS Sunday Morning.Now, he has been sober for more than 20 years. “It doesn’t happen overnight,” he told Clarkson. “It’s a day to day thing.”
Allen’s love forHome Improvementcontinues to run deep: he showed CBS that he kept theTool Timeset and in 2018,toldEThe was “very interested"in bringing the series back.He actually played Taylor againon a 2021 episode ofLast Man Standing,and welcomedHome Improvementcostars to the show during its run.
Allen, now 70, is a father to two daughters, one with ex-wife Laura Deibel and one with current wifeJane Hajduk.
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Patricia Richardson as Jill Taylor
Patricia Richardson on ‘Home Improvement’ and now.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Paul Archuleta/Getty
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Paul Archuleta/Getty
“I didn’t audition for it. They just came and said, ‘We want you to start tomorrow,’ “Richardson recalled toETin 2020. “I didn’t know anything [about the show]. I’d never heard of [Tim]. Immediately, I loved him. Everything that we dealt with in terms of marriage and family and kids … were just really classic, ongoing deals. [Tim] wanted that show to go on forever.”
Richardson went on to earn four Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe Award nominations for her work. The actress next tackled parts onStrong Medicine, The West Wingand Allen’s latest series,Last Man Standing.She also earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her role inUlee’s Gold.
Richardson, 73, has three grown children with ex-husband Ray Baker.
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Zachery Ty Bryan as Brad Taylor
Zachery Ty Bryan on ‘Home Improvement’ and now.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
“We were like brothers. We either loved or hated each other,” Bryan said of the dynamic. “I remember Disney was really good to us at the time,” he added. “They gave us a full basketball court, a gaming room. We could get a lot of our extra energy out.”
In 2020, Bryan was arrested on a similar charge for allegedly strangling a woman, whom he later confirmed to be his fiancée Johnnie Faye Cartwright. His sentencing included 36 months of “bench probation” and participating in a program called Bridges2Safety.
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Jonathan Taylor Thomas as Randy Taylor
Jonathan Taylor Thomas on ‘Home Improvement’ and now.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock
“I’d been going nonstop since I was 8 years old,”he told PEOPLE in 2013.“I wanted to go to school, to travel and have a bit of a break.”
“I never took the fame too seriously,” Thomas added to PEOPLE in 2013. “It was a great period in my life, but it doesn’t define me. When I think back on the time, I look at it with a wink. I focus on the good moments I had, not that I was on a lot of magazine covers.”
The 42-year-old has managed to keep his personal life under wraps; he was lastpublicly photographed on a walk with his dogs in 2021.
05of 09Taran Noah Smith as Mark TaylorTaran Noah Smith on ‘Home Improvement’ and now.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Stephen Shugerman/ GettyHome Improvementwas pretty much the beginning and finale of Taran Noah Smith’s acting career. Just 7 when the show started, he portrayed youngest Taylor son Mark until the series ended in 1999.Two years later, he sued his parents over the money he made as a minor,alleging they were squandering his trust fund. His parents denied the accusation and at 18,he gained access to the money. He and his mother later cowrote a book about navigating childhood fame:Stardom Happens: Nurturing Your Child in the Entertainment Business.In 2012, Smith was arrested for DUI and drug possession, according to a TMZ report. He was later “sentenced to a 12-hour program for the DUI offense, and a 6-month drug diversion program for the weed charge,“TMZ reported at the time. He was placed on three years probation, as well.A LinkedIn profile for aTaran Smith, 39, lists a current occupation of sea recovery technician at SpaceX. Smith was married as a teen but is now divorced.
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Taran Noah Smith as Mark Taylor
Taran Noah Smith on ‘Home Improvement’ and now.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Stephen Shugerman/ Getty
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Stephen Shugerman/ Getty
Home Improvementwas pretty much the beginning and finale of Taran Noah Smith’s acting career. Just 7 when the show started, he portrayed youngest Taylor son Mark until the series ended in 1999.
Two years later, he sued his parents over the money he made as a minor,alleging they were squandering his trust fund. His parents denied the accusation and at 18,he gained access to the money. He and his mother later cowrote a book about navigating childhood fame:Stardom Happens: Nurturing Your Child in the Entertainment Business.
In 2012, Smith was arrested for DUI and drug possession, according to a TMZ report. He was later “sentenced to a 12-hour program for the DUI offense, and a 6-month drug diversion program for the weed charge,“TMZ reported at the time. He was placed on three years probation, as well.
A LinkedIn profile for aTaran Smith, 39, lists a current occupation of sea recovery technician at SpaceX. Smith was married as a teen but is now divorced.
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Richard Karn as Al Borland
Richard Karn on ‘Home Improvement’ and now.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
He and Allen have remained close through the years and recently reunited for the History Channel home workshop showAssembly Requiredand its follow-up,More Power.
“I wanted to have Richard a part of this because it seemed like a reality extension of whatTool Timereally was, where I add more power to it, I break something, he’d be the reality side of it, and it was a good fit,“Allen explained ofAssembly Requiredat the time. “This [show] is improv for 12 hours a day and I’m out of my mind. It’s just like Al Borland and Tim Taylor.”
Karn, 68, has one grown child with wife Tudi Roche.
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Pamela Anderson as Lisa
Pamela Anderson on ‘Home Improvement’ and now.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Samir Hussein/WireImage
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Samir Hussein/WireImage
In her 2023 memoirLove, Pamela,she alleged that Allen flashed her on the first day of filming as she walked through the hallway.
“He said it was only fair, because he had seen me naked.Now we’re even.I laughed uncomfortably,” she wrote. In a statement toVariety,Allen denied the allegations.
Baywatchtruly launched Anderson info the stratosphere, with roles onV.I.P.andStackedand dozens of movies following. She also appeared in the 2017Baywatchmovie.
Now 56, Anderson has two grown sons with her ex-husbandTommy Lee:Brandon and Dylan.
08of 09Debbe Dunning as Heidi KeppertDebbe Dunning on ‘Home Improvement’ and now.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via GettyAfter grabbing a few bit parts on popular sitcoms, model Debbe Dunning stepped in for Anderson beginning in 1992 as Heidi “theTool Timegirl,” staying through the end of the show’s run. She popped up onBaywatch,too, in addition toSabrina the Teenage WitchandThe Jamie Foxx Show,though has largely stayed out of the spotlight since the early 2000s.Dunning, now 57, has three children with her ex-husband, volleyball player Steve Timmons. Per herInstagram account, she appears at fan events from time to time and is hopeful for thatrumoredHome Improvementreboot.
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Debbe Dunning as Heidi Keppert
Debbe Dunning on ‘Home Improvement’ and now.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
After grabbing a few bit parts on popular sitcoms, model Debbe Dunning stepped in for Anderson beginning in 1992 as Heidi “theTool Timegirl,” staying through the end of the show’s run. She popped up onBaywatch,too, in addition toSabrina the Teenage WitchandThe Jamie Foxx Show,though has largely stayed out of the spotlight since the early 2000s.
Dunning, now 57, has three children with her ex-husband, volleyball player Steve Timmons. Per herInstagram account, she appears at fan events from time to time and is hopeful for thatrumoredHome Improvementreboot.
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Earl Hindman as Wilson Wilson, Jr.
Earl Hindman on ‘Home Improvement’ and in the late 1990s.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
Before joiningHome Improvement,theater actor Earl Hindman was best known for his work as Lt. Bob Reid on the seriesRyan’s Hope, which ran from 1975 to 1989.
Allen later told EWthat “Earl meant the world to me and everyone atHome Improvement.”
source: people.com
