Updated 8/1/25
Home Improvement laid out a solid foundation for both houses and addictive entertainment. The premise was both familiar and refreshing; debuting in September 1991, it followed the Taylor family, led by Tim Allen, as the Tool Time host fixed things, broke things, and endured all the typical tribulations of fatherhood. Of course, that meant raising three excitable boys. The biggest handful was, without a doubt, Randall William “Randy” Taylor, whose wits helped him fire off a smart comment. He would ultimately go against the grain set by the other men in his family, and perhaps this was the first hint that his actor, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, would not follow the same path many other young stars would after such a breakout role.
Originally born as Jonathan Taylor Weiss, Thomas was born on September 8, 1981, to Claudine and Stephen Weiss, who later had another son named Joel. He started off in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania but soon the family relocated across the country to California, reportedly after his parents divorced, which allowed his mother to be a big driving force in his life, particularly by supporting whatever path he wanted to take. Like his eventual TV persona, Thomas had an inquisitive mind growing up; while he liked watching Roseanne, he also put on the news to learn about current events. The move west put him on the path to joining the entertainment world he found an early fondness for; his entry into the limelight was through advertisements for Kelloggs, Canon cameras, Burger King, and Mattel. For his first proper acting gig, he wasn’t physically seen; he provided the voice of the titular Spot in The Adventures of Spot for 26 episodes. Then came his dive into live-action, which would carry him into teenage stardom.
A big break and keeping pace
Thomas’ acting career took its time gaining momentum. His on-camera role was that of Greg Brady’s son, Kevin Brady, for two episodes of 1990’s The Bradys. This short-lived series acted as a sequel to The Brady Bunch, this time following the younger cast as adults. Its hour-long format would have been different enough without adding in a more dramatic tone than its predecessor. Each Friday, CBS pitted this series against ABC’s goliath Full House during its TGIF lineup. Add in competition with Family Matters, and The Bradys failed to hold its own. Within the year, Thomas was done with this and onto another two-episode stint, this time as Macaulay Culkin in the Fox sketch comedy In Living Color. That very same quiet year took a turn when, just heading into 10, Thomas was cast as Randy in Home Improvement.
Thomas and this role fit like a lock and key, with America instantly adoring the precocious middle child. VH1 would rank him at #25 in its list of 100 Greatest Kid Stars. But that list might also include the title “greatest student” because Thomas had to balance his academics with a nine-and-a-half-hour workday. That is in addition to a full school day’s worth of homework. All this stress resulted in migraines and he revealed, “I can’t tell you how many shows I’ve done with full-blown migraine headaches.” But Thomas wanted to also be a person, so he tried to set time aside to be with his friends. “The industry is neurotic and weird,” said Thomas in ’96, “and so when I go home and I play basketball with my friends, I’m not Jonathan Taylor Thomas. I’m just Jonathan.”
Heartthrobs and headaches
He was also JTT, the moniker that spread like wildfire as Thomas grew into becoming a teenage heartthrob and a nickname he greatly disliked. This put him on magazine covers and into fans’ hearts, but Thomas would have just settled for a nice paycheck. Indeed, he enjoyed the SUV he could afford but a lot of cash, for him, also came with a lot of attention from adoring fans. He admitted to disliking the unrestrained fawning he received, especially when fans crowded him when he wanted to go about his day. One such incident occurred in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral when Thomas was lighting candles and a woman approached for an autograph. Thomas found the incident very strange, specifically “odd since we’re in, like, a beautiful church.” He told her, “I said I’d be happy to sign it, but can we step outside?” He avoided this kind of attention when he could and tried to correct course with his nickname whenever possible, saying of the name JTT, “I’m over that. I’ve always been over that.”
The ’90s continued and so did television and film work. Thomas again lent his vocal talents to a project centered around animals, this time Disney’s The Lion King as a young Simba. Archival audio of his performance would be used for Square Enix’s video game Kingdom Hearts, a marriage of Disney and Final Fantasy characters duking it out to defeat the darkness. He also played the titular Tom Sawyer in Tom and Huck and provided the voice of the deceptive puppet himself in The Adventures of Pinocchio. As the ’90s drew to a close, though, so too did Thomas’ time on Home Improvement.
Jonathan Taylor Thomas favored education and slowing things down
The year was 1998 and Home Improvement was in its eighth season. Right from the start, viewers learned that Randy was setting off to help Mother Earth, as was an important cause to the character. Meanwhile, Thomas was primed to pursue his own interest: education. Often, it was just about education for Thomas. Thomas finished the ninth grade with a 4.1 GPA taking honors classes. It represented normalcy in a life that had been defined by juggling responsibilities. “I’d been going nonstop since I was 8 years old,” Thomas shared. “I wanted to go to school, to travel and have a bit of a break.” And go to school he did, enrolling in Harvard in 2000 for history and philosophy before studying abroad in Scotland’s St. Andrews University. Ultimately, he graduated from Columbia University.
However, his involvement in other projects bemused Thomas’ Home Improvement colleagues. “I was a little confused at why he didn’t want to do this whole year,” said Tim Allen. “He said it was about going to school, but then he did some films. Did he want to do films? Did he want to go to school?” That he did not return for the 1999 finale only solidified the unease between castmates. But asked about any regrets for his choice to focus more on education, Thomas has none. He got into other personal enrichment activities like hiking and keeps his foot in the industry door – as well as his eyes peeled for any theater productions worth checking out.
‘Tool Time’ family reunion
Whatever misgivings his TV dad had with Thomas’ departure, they were not enough to stop a reunion that had sitcom fans tickled. Three years after his graduation, Thomas got involved in Last Man Standing, yet another series led by man’s man Tim Allen, this time as a sporting goods store owner. Allen’s character, Mike Baxter, meets Thomas’ John Baker; he greets him with “Man, you look familiar,” and a self-appreciative “That kid was raised right,” referencing their time as a TV family.
By this time, Thomas had spread his wings and got into directing, which meant he was also in charge of three episodes: “Haunted House,” “Hard-Ass Teacher,” and “Eve’s Band,” the latter of which released just when the series was on the threshold of potential cancelation drama. Even with his fingers in so many pies, Thomas insists, “I never took the fame too seriously. 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.”
What happened to Jonathan Taylor Thomas?
Today at , Thomas has no known romantic life and keeps his personal affairs private. His time as a director is reported to have seen him cross paths with Natalie Wright when the two both worked on The Extra in 2006. The story goes that by the next year, the two were engaged. One more year later, they separated due to personal issues.
It is reported that he is the owner of three pets, a dog named McCormick, and two cats, one named Samantha and the other a nod to one of his biggest early roles, beloved Disney icon Simba. When not watching television, adventuring, or fly fishing, Thomas works behind the scenes in Hollywood as part of the SAG-AFTRA National Board, which represents 160,000 performers; one of the group’s most important jobs is cited as negotiating contracts with employers and advocating for those under them; one faction specifically said, “We want to field a leadership team that truly understands the issues and will stand up to the employers who divide us.” Thomas brings his own awareness of personal needs, as well as a Young Artist Award win and multiple Kids’ Choice Award nominations to the table. With Last Man Standing being his latest credit, it seems his board responsibilities take up most of Thomas’ time these days, and otherwise, he has found balance in quiet isolation.
And from his time working on Wild America, he emphasizes, “Kids need this message that you can have goals and you should follow those dreams.”