Date of Birth : 8 September 1981, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
Birth Name : Jonathan Taylor Weiss
Nickname :JTT Jon
Height :5' 6" (1.68 m)
Mini Biography
Jonathan Taylor Thomas was born on September 8, 1981 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Growing up, he liked the music group Boyz II Men, and his favorite TV shows were "Roseanne" (1988) and "Grace Under Fire" (1993), but he also liked watching CNN news, to keep up to date with current events. One thing that Jonathan does not like is meat. He has been a vegetarian since he was four years old, and he doesn't use products that are tested on animals because he believes that it is wrong to hurt them.
When Jonathan was four years old, his family (his mother Claudine, his father Stephen and his older brother Joel) moved from Bethlehem to Sacramento, California. At the age of seven, Jonathan was working as a model for print advertisements in Sacramento, and over the next few years, he appeared in TV commercials for Kelloggs cereal, Mattel toys and for many other products. By this time, Jonathan was ready for bigger roles, and in 1989, he landed the part of Greg Brady's son Kevin in the TV special "The Bradys" (1990). In 1990, he landed his biggest role yet, as Randy Taylor on "Home Improvement" (1991). Jonathan's audition went well, but what really gave him an edge over the other boys was that the casting directors thought that he looked a lot like his TV dad-to-be, Tim Allen.
In 1991, Jonathan's parents divorced. He lived with his mother and his brother. He began work in feature length movies, as the voice of young Simba in Disney's The Lion King (1994), and as Ben Archer in _Man of the House (1994) opposite Chevy Chase. Among his other movies are Tom and Huck (1995) and The Adventures of Pinocchio (1996).
One of the longest reigning and most popular teeny bopper idols of the 1990s, Jonathan Taylor Thomas first found favor playing the son of Tim_Allen on ABC's long-running, phenomenally popular sitcom Home_Improvement. With a mop of dull-blonde hair and a dimpled, impish grin, it is small wonder that he captured the hearts of young girls across the country. With help from a lucrative contract from Disney, he broke into feature films, voicing the young Simba in The_Lion_King (1994). He made his live-action feature-film debut opposite Farrah_Fawcett and Chevy_Chase in the family comedy Man of the House (1995).
He was born in Bethlehem, PA, but raised in Sacramento, CA, after the age of four. Before starting grade school, he was a locally popular child model. This led to national exposure and appearances in commercials for such companies as Burger King. The youth made his acting debut on the short-lived resuscitation of The_Brady_Bunch playing the son of Greg Brady. The show immediately sank into oblivion, but it did open doors for the young actor, who next landed the role of wiseacre son Randy on Home_Improvement.
An energetic and charming child actor who successfully segued into serious adult roles in his late teens, Jonathan Taylor Thomas was best known for his seven-season (1991-98) stint as smart-aleck middle son Randy on the hit ABC sitcom "Home Improvement". The Pennsylvania native moved to California at age five and landed his first commercial job in 1989. The following year he was cast as Greg's son Kevin on the short-lived CBS sitcom "The Bradys".
Thomas began his "Home Improvement" run in September 1991 and proved his talent with a charming turn as the mischievous pre-teen. This highly-rated show beamed into millions of American homes each week, winning the appealing young actor a devoted following of fans and landing his face on nearly every teen-aimed magazine. Notably attractive but not exceptionally handsome in a traditional sense, the sandy-haired and somewhat small but athletic young performer epitomized the modern all-American boy-next-door in both looks and temperament.
While starring on "Home Improvement", Thomas began branching out into film work, In 1994, he gave a memorable if unseen performance in "The Lion King", lending his distinctive prepubescent raspy whisper to the film's young protagonist Simba. He made his feature film debut the following year in the comedy "Man of the House", a clunker starring Chevy Chase and Farrah Fawcett as a couple whose romance is derailed by her disagreeable son.
Thomas veritably lit up the screen with a remarkable turn as the obnoxious but sympathetic young man, and was undoubtedly the one shining spot in an otherwise lackluster film. That same year he played Tom Sawyer to Brad Renfro's Huckleberry Finn in the lightweight adaptation "Tom and Huck". While the movie was less than impressive, the caliber of young talent onscreen was formidable, and the two magnetic child stars brought an interesting depth to their roles.
"The Adventures of Pinocchio" followed in 1996, with Thomas playing the titular puppet-turned-boy in this forgettable live-action take on the classic tale. 1997 saw him take on the role of future nature photographer Marshall Stouffer in the fact-based adventure "Wild America", Here Thomas continued his work in wholesome fare, bringing a mixture of boyish exuberance and intensity to his part. He played a privileged prep school student on a mission to get home for the holidays to win back his girlfriend and be gifted with a Porsche in the teen-aimed comedy "I'll Be Home For Christmas" (1998).
1998 marked Thomas' final appearance on "Home Improvement", the actor departing from the show at the start of its final season in order to dedicate himself to his studies in the all-important junior year of high school. Fans who had watched Thomas grow from a wisecracking, charmingly hammy child performer to a thoughtful and obviously talented young man were sorry to see him go, but he would continue to act despite his increased concentration on education and began to shatter his boy-next-door stereotype with roles in gritty and challenging projects.
Portraying a drug-addicted hustler in 1999's festival-screened independent "Speedway Junkie", Thomas surprised both his fans and critics with a strong and nuanced performance in a part far different from anything he has previously played. In 2000, amid rumors of his own homosexuality, the actor unflinchingly took on the role of a gay teenager tormented by his peers in the Terrence McNally-scripted drama "Mr. Roberts", a segment of the Showtime anthology "Common Ground".
Thomas returned to the big screen with a turn as a menacing youth befriended by a Southern widow (Ellen Burstyn) in the independent "Walking Across Egypt" (2000) and reteamed with TV brother Zachary Ty Bryant as two of a group of five high-school students inexplicably kidnapped in the thriller "Held For Ransom" (lensed 1999).
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