Jonathan Taylor Thomas
Jonathan Taylor Thomas | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jonathan Taylor Weiss |
| Years active | 1987 ─ present |
Jonathan Taylor Thomas (born September 8, 1981) is an American actor and former child actor and teen idol. He is well known for his role of middle child Randy Taylor on the sitcom Home Improvement and voice of the young Simba in Disney's The Lion King.
Biography
Early life
Thomas was born Jonathan Taylor Weiss in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the son of Claudine Weiss (née Gonsalves), a personal manager and social worker, and Stephen Weiss, an industrial sales manager; the two divorced in 1989.[1][2] Thomas has part Portuguese ancestry.[3] He has a brother named Joel Thomas Weiss, whose middle name he adopted as his pseudonym, in order to avoid confusion with an existing actor named Jonathan Weiss. He was famously known by his initials "JTT". In 1986, Thomas moved with his family to Sacramento, California, and was later cast in a Burger King commercial at the age of eight.
Career
In 1990, Thomas garnered the role of Kevin Brady, the son of Greg Brady, on the short-lived TV show The Bradys, a spin-off of the popular 70s TV show The Brady Bunch. In 1991, at the age of 10, he won the role of Randy Taylor on the popular television show Home Improvement. He remained with Home Improvement well into his teenage years, but left the show in 1998 in order to concentrate more on his academics. He served as guest timekeeper for then WWF's, WrestleMania XI in 1995. During his run on Home Improvement, Jonathan's popularity grew as he famously voiced the role of young Simba in the 1994 Disney Blockbuster film The Lion King.
By this time, Jonathan had earned a reputation as a teen heartthrob and was a leading cover boy on teen magazines, and his fan base largely consisted of pre-teen and teenage girls. He starred in the Christmas comedy I'll Be Home for Christmas. He also appeared in the movies Man of the House, Tom and Huck, The Adventures of Pinocchio, Wild America, Common Ground, Walking Across Egypt, and Speedway Junky. He had a guest role on the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter in early 2004, and appeared in the WB's Smallville in 2002 and 2004. In 2005, he had a guest role in UPN's high school detective drama Veronica Mars, and was also featured on The E! True Hollywood Story's show on Home Improvement.
Personal life
After taking on a number of roles in such films as Common Ground, and Speedway Junky, where Thomas portrayed gay characters, rumors began to surface that he himself was gay. These stemmed from comments made by LGBT activist Norman Jones IV and information published on website CyberSleaze. He denied these reports in 2000 during an interview with the gay-lesbian magazine, The Advocate and an interview with talk-show host Jay Leno.[4]
Thomas attended Harvard University[5] and spent spring semester of his third year at the University of St. Andrews. As of 2008, Thomas attends Columbia University Graduate School.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
| Year | Result | Award | Category | Film or series |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Nominated | Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Movie Actor | Tom and Huck |
| 1997 | Nominated | Favorite Television Actor | Home Improvement | |
| 1998 | Won | Favorite Television Actor | Home Improvement | |
| 1995 | Nominated | Saturn Awards | Best Performance by a Younger Actor | The Lion King |
| 1997 | Best Performance by a Younger Actor | The Adventures of Pinocchio | ||
| 1993 | Nominated | Young Artist Awards | Best Young Actor Starring in a Television Series | Home Improvement |
| 1994 | Won | Outstanding Youth Ensemble in a Television Series | Home Improvement (shared w/Zachary Ty Bryan & Taran Noah Smith) | |
| 1995 | Nominated | Best Performance by a Young Actor in a TV or Movie Voiceover | The Lion King | |
| 1996 | Nominated | Best Young Leading Actor in a Feature Film | Tom and Huck | |
| 1997 | Won | Best Performance by a Young Actor in a TV or Movie Voiceover | The Adventures of Pinocchio | |
| 1997 | Nominated | YoungStar Awards | Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy TV Series | Home Improvement |
| Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy Film | Tom and Huck | |||
| 1998 | Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy TV Series | Home Improvement |
References
External links
- 1981 births
- Alumni of the University of St Andrews
- American child actors
- American film actors
- American television actors
- American vegans
- American voice actors
- Americans of Portuguese descent
- California actors
- Living people
- Pennsylvania actors
- People from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
- People from Placer County, California
- People from the Lehigh Valley