Tim Allen was born Tim Allen Dick in Denver, Colorado. Before becoming the power- tool-wielding star of the top-rated sitcom Home Improvement, Tim Allen suffered through comedy-club obscurity, Mr. Goodwrench commercials, prison, and even a job in advertising. Allen first took to the comedy stage on a dare by one of his friends, and found he had a talent for eliciting guffaws. He set about honing his act at night, while supporting himself by appearing in commercials during the day. As his reputation as a comedian grew, Allen retooled his act into a grunt-punctuated routine called "Men Are Pigs," which focused on men's love of hardware. The material quickly caught on, and before long, Allen succeeded in packaging it for a 1990 Showtime special of the same title. The special came to the attention of Walt Disney Studios then-chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg just about the time he was looking to develop a new television series. Katzenberg and Walt Disney Co. chairman Michael Eisner tracked down Allen backstage at one of his Improv gigs, and offered him starring roles in a series of situation comedies in development. Eventually, he succeeded in persuading the studio to use his "Men Are Pigs" routine as the basis for a sitcom, and Home Improvement was born. The pilot for Home Improvement introduced viewers to Tim Taylor, befuddled husband and father, and the well-meaning but mishap-prone host of a home-repair show called Tool Time. Anticipating forensic scrutiny of his past by the media, Allen stepped forward and revealed that, from 1980 to 1983, he had served a federal prison term for possession and distribution of narcotics. ABC executives nonetheless pledged their full support to Allen and the potential success of the sitcom, and the show debuted in the fall of 1991. Critics were divided on the show's appeal, but TV viewers loved it, and Home Improvement managed to break into the Nielsen top ten list during its first season on the air. And it only went up from there. (Allen finally hung up his toolbelt in 1999.) By 1994, Allen's first book, Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked Man, and first feature film, The Santa Clause, both ascended to number one at the cash register. The movie was the biggest comedy moneymaker of the year. In 1996, Allen published a second book, I'm Not Really Here, in which he ruminates on parenthood, fame, and other matters spiritual and philosophical, while puttering through his home in search of a missing 1956 Ford hood ornament.
Tim Allen