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Rich or Rehab: Whatever Happened to Jonathan Taylor Thomas?
JTT. In the early 1990s, those three simple letters inspired a fervent, Jonas-Brothers-level reaction in millions of young girls across America. Tweens dreamily wrote them in bubble letters on their school notebooks and imagined the day when, perhaps, they might become Mrs. JTT. 
But in the post-2000 years, we didn’t hear those letters as often anymore. Which prompts this week’s Rich or Rehab question: whatever happened to Jonathan Taylor Thomas?
The actor is, of course, best known for playing Randy Taylor, the son of Tim Allen’s “Tool Timer” Tim Taylor on the sitcom “Home Improvement.” His work on that show, a gig he scored at the age of 10, and the heartthrob status that followed propelled him to score other projects, including the voice of young Simba in “The Lion King” and a starring role in the movie “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”
In turn, his success prompted him to bail on “Home Improvement” in the middle of its penultimate season, a fact that reportedly irked Allen. Even though his star faded a bit in the years that followed, he continued working as an actor, popping up on TV shows such as “Smallville,” “8 Simple Rules” and “Veronica Mars.” He also portrayed gay characters in a couple of low-profile films, includiong “Speedway Junky,” prompting rumors that Thomas, too, was gay. But in 2000, the one-time prince of Teen Beat denied those rumors in interviews, including this one with The Advocate.
During the past couple of years, Thomas has stayed out of the limelight. Wikipedia and IvyGate report that as recently as last year, he was enrolled at Columbia University in New York. He did not appear with the rest of the “Home Improvement” cast earlier this year at the TV Land Awards. It seems the kid, now a man, is trying to keep some semblance of privacy and live a normal life.
Good luck, Jonathan. Once you ‘ve been JTT, it can be pretty hard to go back.
Related Links:
Rich or Rehab: Whatever Happened to the ‘Spellbound’ Kids?
Rich or Rehab: Whatever Happened to the Gummi Bear Girl?
Rich or Rehab: Whatever Happened to Edward Furlong?
Images: Geocities and AfterElton.com
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10 Comments
[...] they are following up on Jonathan Taylor Thomas who was on “Tool Time” with Buzz [...]
Where in the World is Jonathan Taylor Thomas? | Famecrawler commented on Jun 17 09 at 7:31 am[...] people have now become druggies/alcoholics/losers who can’t get a job (well, other than JTT… he’s done pretty well for himself). ANYWAY, this is kind of like that, except [...]
where are they now? [part one] » Amber Fischer Photography commented on Feb 03 10 at 11:41 amTwyla commented on Jun 17 09 at 12:07 amI think I still have Teen Beat posters of him. Of course they are stashed away with my other middle school nostalgia.
kim commented on Dec 29 09 at 11:17 pmi miss jonathan taylor thomas, i wish he’d come back
courtney commented on Jan 09 10 at 5:20 amI was and still is in love with Jonathan Taylor Thomas, I’m still holding on hope that I will meet him one day.
Amanda Charles commented on Jan 12 10 at 9:36 pmAfter all these years, hes still the one I want
Megan commented on Jan 20 10 at 7:02 pmI swear on everything, He’s my cousin. Like 3rd cousin actually. But he was on my grandpas side, and after my grandpa and everyone on that side of the family died, we lost touch with him. The last i’ve seen him is when i was around 5 at a family reunion. I’m 13 now. His mom said that he’d be coming to our next family reunion, but i don’t know.
Mary commented on Jan 20 10 at 10:58 pmHe has this charm that never dies
Laurens commented on Mar 24 10 at 5:43 pmYes he is gay, but he was forced to change his decision to come out, because of the cast of HI and his than manager at ICM. He has since come out at Harvard and Columbia University where he was going for his bachelors degree at the School for adult studies. He actually left Harvard without graduating due to a nervous breakdown he suffered in his third year. This was partially because of his Sigma Chi rejection due to his sexuality which was rather public to the campus due to his own participation in on campus GLBT organizations.
Jonathan Tayler Thomas came out in a 2007 issue of The Advocate.
http://gayinfosource.blogspot.com/2006/06/jonathan-taylor-thomas-is-gay.html
Lindsey commented on Oct 14 10 at 12:15 pmalways loved johnathan taylor thomas seen all his movies ..think i still got the fan mail pic that got sent in my mail :) hope he comes back to the big screen some time…
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