He’s played Santa Claus, Tim “The Toolman” Taylor and Buzz Lightyear. Tim Allen, born Tom Alan Dick, has been entertaining television and movie audiences for decades. He began his career in the comedy clubs, working as a stand-up comedian around the Rust Belt. After a two-year prison stint over a 1978 drug bust, in which he pleaded guilty to felony drug trafficking, Tim got his ducks in a row and success soon followed. He landed the lead role on the ABC sitcom, Home Improvement, in 1991.
For eight years, he was a pop culture phenomenon. He also became a box office smash, starring in movies like The Santa Clause, Jungle 2 Jungle, Galaxy Quest, and lending his voice to the Toy Story films. While his career sagged in the early 2000s, he still found roles in movies like Wild Hogs, a remake of The Shaggy Dog, and more. Tim returned to television in 2011 in the sitcom Last Man Standing.
Scroll through the gallery below to see Tim’s transformation over the years.
