Jonathan Taylor Thomas

Infobox actor

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imagesize =
caption =
birthname = Jonathan Taylor Weiss
birthdate = birth date and age|1981|9|8
birthplace = Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
yearsactive = 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. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/61/Jonathan-Taylor-Thomas.html Jonathan Taylor Thomas Biography (1981-) ] ] [ [http://www.usaweekend.com/98_issues/981213/981213choices.html USA WEEKEND Magazine ] ] Thomas has part Portuguese ancestry. [http://www.hiarchive.co.uk/articles/jttyours.php Questions and answers w/ Jonathan Taylor Thomas] ] 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. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_2000_Feb_1/ai_59086783 Uncommonly grounded - Jonathan Taylor Thomas - Interview | Advocate, The | Find Articles at BNET.com ] ]

Thomas attended Harvard University [ [http://tv.yahoo.com/jonathan-taylor-thomas/contributor/28913/bio;_ylt=AibZPyUq4JWp4sFP4hAIhHi.o9EF Jonathan Taylor-Thomas - Yahoo! TV ] ] 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

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0001795|name=Jonathan Taylor Thomas
*tv.com person|id=16912|name=Jonathan Taylor Thomas

Persondata
NAME= Thomas, Jonathan Taylor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Weiss, Jonathan Taylor
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Actor
DATE OF BIRTH= September 8, 1981
PLACE OF BIRTH= Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=