Tim Allen has been one of the beloved comedic stars in Hollywood for decades, and he’s preparing to star in a brand new show, Shifting Gears! That’s why we’ve decided to take a walk down memory lane and explore his background.
When Was Tim Allen Born?
Tim Allen was born Timothy Allen Dick on June 13, 1953, in Denver, Colorado. He was the third of six children. Allen’s father Gerald was a real estate salesman, and his mother Martha was a community service worker.
In November of 1964, tragedy struck when Gerald was killed in a collision with a drunk driver. Gerald was driving his family home from a University of Colorado football game when this crash occurred. Allen was only 11 years-old at the time.
Losing his father at such a young age had a devastating impact on Allen.
“I loved my father more than anything,” Allen later said. “He was a tall, strong, funny, really engaging guy. I so enjoyed his company, his smell, sensibility, discipline, sense of humor — all the fun stuff we did together. I couldn’t wait for him to come home.”
Just two years after Gerald’s death, Martha married her high school sweetheart, who was an Episcopalian deacon. She moved Allen and his siblings to Birmingham, Michigan to live with her new husband. This was a difficult move for Allen, who later told Entertainment Weekly that it meant that he went from “being in a cool group at one school to being at the bottom [of the social hierarchy at another].”
Why Did Tim Allen Go To Jail?
After high school, Allen attended Western Michigan University and graduated with a degree in Television Production in 1975. During college, however, Allen became involved in a hard-partying lifestyle. He soon began dealing drugs to earn extra money, and this only escalated after he graduated.
Things finally came to a head on October 2, 1978, when Allen was arrested at Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport. There, he was found to be in possession of more than 650 grams of cocaine.
Allen was sentenced to three to seven years behind bars. He ultimately only served two years and was paroled on June 12th, 1981. Allen’s time in prison had a major impact on him, as he later recalled that “reality hit so hard that it took my breath away.”
Comedy can sometimes come from dark places, and that’s what happened with Allen. “I was funny before that,” he later explained. “Prison grew me up. I was an adolescent that woke up too early when my father was killed, and I stayed at that angry adolescent level.”
Tim Allen Launches Comedy Career
After his release from prison, Allen re-entered the world with a new lease on life. He started his standup comedy career on a dare from a friend at the Comedy Castle in Detroit. Allen quickly found that he was actually a talented standup, so he moved to Los Angeles to pursue the craft with everything he had.
Throughout the 1980s, Allen became a regular performer at The Comedy Store, which is the main comedy club in Los Angeles. Moving up the ranks in the standup comedy world, Allen began making regular stand-up appearances on late-night talk shows.
Allen finally achieved national success with his sitcom Home Improvement, which aired from 1991 until 1999. The show was an immediate hit, and Allen won one Golden Globe and was nominated for one Emmy for his work on the show.
Home Improvement cemented Allen as a household name. The rest, as they say, is history!
Who Is Tim Allen Married To?
Allen has been married twice. His first wive was Laura Deibel, who he married in 1984. They had a daughter Katherine together in 1989 before separating in 1999 and divorcing in 2003. Few details are publicly available about Deibel and Allen’s marriage to her.
Allen has been married to the actress Jane Hajduk since 2006. They welcomed their daughter Elizabeth Allen-Dick in 2009.
“[My wife] did all the work but she allowed me to be there, and I was able to physically help her on the back side of it,” Allen told People Magazine at the time.
Hajduk later described Allen as being “an incredible dad.”
Though Allen and Hajduk live a relatively private life, she frequently joins him on the red carpet when he attends his premieres.
What Does Tim Allen’s Daughter Do?
It’s not known what Allen’s oldest daughter does for work. Elizabeth, however, has a very public job that gives Allen the chance to spend quite a bit of time with her.
Elizabeth plays Allen’s daughter in the Disney+ series The Santa Clauses! Allen has said that she came in initially to audition for the small role of an elf, but that all changed when she blew everyone away with her audition.
“She ended up reading the dialogue so well that the kid got the lead in it as Santa’s daughter,” Allen said while appearing on The Tonight Show in 2022. “It was the most amazing occurrence.”
After decades of working in Hollywood, Allen had some powerful advice for his daughter as she took on this role.
“The advice I gave to my daughter Elizabeth is that the writers, producers and crew have the most important roles on a production,” he recalled. “Being an actor is a wonderful craft, but we are just a part of a teamwork experience.”
What Is Tim Allen’s Next Sitcom About?
Allen has had two extremely successful sitcoms. The first was Home Improvement, and the second was Last Man Standing, which ran from 2011 until 2021. Allen currently has a third sitcom in the works that he hopes will be his next big hit!
Earlier this year, ABC ordered Allen’s new sitcom Shifting Gears to pilot. Allen will be starring on the sitcom as a stubborn widower who owns a classic car restoration shop. His life is then turned upside down when his estranged daughter and her children come to live with him.
Allen has made it clear that he is very much looking forward to getting back to his sitcom roots.
“I am very excited,” Allen told Entertainment Tonight earlier this year. “You know, I tried really hard with Home Improvement, and then Last Man Standing. Maybe three’s a charm! Maybe I can finally make a statement with this.”
Shifting Gears is even filming on the very same Disney lot where Home Improvement was filmed. Here’s hoping that brings the project some luck!
What Is Tim Allen’s Net Worth?
After decades of success in Hollywood, Allen has an estimated net worth of $100 million.
Allen’s path to Hollywood stardom may have been an unorthodox one, but he found his way to the top nonetheless. He continues to be one of the most beloved figures in the entertainment world. We can’t wait to see what Tim Allen has in store for us in the years to come!
