Jonathan Taylor Thomas

Jonathan Taylor Thomas (Template:Ne; born September 8, 1981)<ref name=vice>Template:Cite news</ref> is an American actor and director. He is known for portraying Randy Taylor on Home Improvement (1991–1998) and Pinocchio in the film The Adventures of Pinocchio (1996), and voicing young Simba in the animated film The Lion King (1994).

Early life and education

Thomas was born Jonathan Taylor Weiss on September 8, 1981, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to Claudine (née Gonsalves) and Stephen Weiss,<ref name="Spotlight"/> and later moved to Sacramento, California, and then to Los Angeles.<ref name=vice/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He has an older brother, Joel (born in 1978), who works for Texas–Pan American Broncs as an assistant coach for the men's basketball team in Edinburg, Texas.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Spotlight"/> Thomas's paternal uncle was playwright and actor Jeff Weiss (1940–2022).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Thomas has Pennsylvania Dutch and Portuguese ancestry.<ref name=thomas>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=yas>Template:Cite news</ref> His parents divorced when he was 10.<ref name="Spotlight">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2000, Thomas enrolled at Harvard University, where he studied philosophy and history and spent his third year abroad at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Failed verification In 2010, he graduated from the School of General Studies at Columbia University.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

Television

Thomas began his television career in 1990, playing the role of Kevin Brady, the son of Greg Brady, on The Bradys, a spin-off of the 1970s TV show The Brady Bunch. In 1991, Thomas appeared in three episodes of Fox's sketch comedy series In Living Color. That same year, he was cast as middle son Randy Taylor on ABC's sitcom Home Improvement. Despite looking much younger, in reality, Thomas was a month older than Zachery Ty Bryan who played his elder brother Brad. Thomas remained with Home Improvement well into his teenage years but left the show in 1998 to focus on academics, and was only involved in three episodes of the final season.

Since departing Home Improvement, Thomas has acted only occasionally. In early 2004, he had a small guest role on 8 Simple Rules, another ABC sitcom, and appeared in the WB's Smallville in 2002 and 2004. In 2005, Thomas appeared in UPN's high school detective drama Veronica Mars and was also featured on The E! True Hollywood StoryTemplate:'s episode on Home Improvement.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On March 22, 2013, Thomas guest-starred on the second-season finale of his third ABC sitcom, Last Man Standing, and again in the fourth episode of the third season on October 11, 2013, reuniting with Tim Allen, his TV father from Home Improvement.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On January 10, 2015, he had a small cameo on the twelfth episode of the fourth season of Last Man Standing, reuniting with both of his TV parents from Home Improvement, Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson.<ref name= "Returns to Last">Template:Cite news</ref>

Thomas directed three episodes of Last Man Standing between 2013 and 2016.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Since 2017, Thomas has served as a national board member of the media labor union SAG-AFTRA.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Film

Thomas appeared in many films during and after his run on Home Improvement. He had a few roles as a voice actor in his child years, including Disney's animated feature The Lion King, in which he voiced the protagonist Simba as a cub.

He also appeared in live-action films. Among the ones he starred in are those from Disney: Man of the House, Tom and Huck, and I'll Be Home for Christmas. Other live-action films starring Thomas are an adaptation of The Adventures of Pinocchio (in which he played and voiced the titular character), Wild America, Speedway Junky, and Walking Across Egypt.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Template:Sortname	Young Simba	Voice role
	Pom Poko	Shoukichi	Voice role (2005 Disney dub)
1995	Man of the House	Ben Archer
	Tom and Huck	Tom Sawyer
1996	Template:Sortname	Pinocchio	Voice role
1997	Wild America	Marshall Stouffer
1998	I Woke Up Early the Day I Died	Boy at Beach
	I'll Be Home for Christmas	Jake Wilkinson
	The Emperor's New Clothes: An All-Star Illustrated Retelling of the Classic Fairy Tale	The Imperial Prince	Voice role
1999	Speedway Junky	Steve
	Walking Across Egypt	Wesley Benfield
2000	Common Ground	Tobias Anderson
	The Tangerine Bear: Home in Time for Christmas!	Tangie	Voice role; TV movie
	Timothy Tweedle the First Christmas Elf	Timothy Tweedle	TV movie
2001	An American Town	Rafe
2005	Tilt-A-Whirl	Customer #3	Short film
	Thru the Moebius Strip	Prince Ragis	Voice role

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989–1993	Template:Sortname	Spot	Voice role; 26 episodes; (1989–1993 American version)
1990	Template:Sortname	Kevin Brady	5 episodes
1991	In Living Color	Macaulay Culkin	1 episode
1991–1998	Home Improvement	Randy Taylor	179 episodes
1994	Template:Sortname	George	Voice role; Episode: "Spider Sense"
1996	Template:Sortname	Scarecrow Jr.	Voice role
2000	Ally McBeal	Chris Emerson	Episode: "Do You Wanna Dance?"
2000–2001	Template:Sortname	Tyler Tucker	Voice role; 6 episodes
2002–2004	Smallville	Ian Randall	2 episodes
2003	Template:Sortname	Luke Stetson	Voice role; Episode: "Dude, Where's My Ranch?"
2004	8 Simple Rules	Jeremy	3 episodes
2005	Veronica Mars	Ben	Episode: "Weapons of Class Destruction"
2013–2015	Last Man Standing	John Baker / Randy	4 episodes

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Template:Sortname	Human Pinocchio
2006	Template:Sortname	Young Simba	Archive audio

Production credits

Year	Title	Position	Notes
2006	The Extra	Director	Short film
2013–2016	Last Man Standing		3 episodes

Awards and nominations

Wins

• 1994 – Young Artist Awards for Outstanding Youth Ensemble in a Television Series (Home Improvement)
• 1996 – ShoWest Convention: ShoWest Award for Young Star of the Year
• 1997 – Young Artist Awards for Best Performance in a Voiceover – Young Artist (The Adventures of Pinocchio)
• 1998 – Kids' Choice Awards: Blimp Award for Favorite Television Actor (Home Improvement)
• 1999 – Kids' Choice Awards: Hall of Fame Award

Nominations

• 1993 – Young Artist Awards for Best Young Actor Starring in a Television Series (Home Improvement)
• 1995 – Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films: Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor (The Lion King)
• 1995 – Young Artist Awards for Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Voiceover – TV or Movie (The Lion King)
• 1996 – Young Artist Awards for Best Young Leading Actor – Feature Film (Tom and Huck)
• 1996 – Kids' Choice Awards: Blimp Award for Favorite Movie Actor (Tom and Huck)
• 1997 – Kids' Choice Awards: Blimp Award for Favorite Television Actor (Home Improvement)
• 1997 – Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films: Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor (The Adventures of Pinocchio)
• 1997 – YoungStar Awards for Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy TV Series (Home Improvement)
• 1997 – YoungStar Awards for Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy Film (Tom and Huck)
• 1998 – YoungStar Awards for Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy TV Series (Home Improvement)
• 1999 – Kids' Choice Awards: Blimp Award for Favorite TV Actor (Home Improvement)

External links

• Template:IMDb name