| Jonathan Taylor Thomas was Jonathan Taylor Weiss, in Bethelehem, Pennsylvania, on September 8, 1981. He began working as a model after moving to California when he was four. His first small dose of acting came in the next couple of years from television ads. Jonathan's first acting break was in 1990 when he got the spot on "The Bradys." He is credited as Jonathan Weiss here. He eventually changed his name to "Jonathan Taylor Thomas" because the name "Jonathan Weiss" was already registered as an actor's name. Eventually shortened down to "JTT" by fans, "Jonathan Taylor Thomas" is his real first name, real middle name, and Thomas is his brother's middle name, and is also his mother's maiden name. Another mentionable appearance in the same year was when Jon was featured in "In Living Color." 1991 was Jon's biggest break when he would land the role of Randy Taylor in the sitcom "Home Improvement." Randy was the middle son of three and was thought to be the "humorous" and "intelligent" one of the three. Playing this part soon gave Jon the recognition that would land his face all over teen magazines world wide. It was his voice and not his face that got him his frist big break inside the cinemas. Jon voiced the role of Simba, which was the lion cub destined to one day be king in Disney's "The Lion King." This helped him gain some prestige and allowed him to break out of his sitcom world into the mainstream. The Walt Disney film as expected became a big hit in 1994 and therefore gave Jon even more recognition. The same year, Jon landed the role of Ben Archer in "Man of the House" along side funnyman Chevy Chase. Quickly becoming a "known name," Jon soon after played Tom Sawyer in the film "Tom and Huck" in 1995. "Tom and Huck" was another recreation of the classic Mark Twain story "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." Jon's next move was to play a leading role in "Wild America" as Marshall Stouffer, soon leading Jonathan to be a "teen idol," adored by millions. He soon landed deal after deal including voiced parts in such hits as "Christmas in Oz" and "Who Stole Santa" and shortly got asked to play the role of Jake Wilkinson in "I'll Be Home For Christmas." Different people have different opinions by this time in Jon's career and some even say it "ruined" his image and other's say it was the "peak." In either case, Jon gained more popularity than ever featuring globally on front page after front page of teen magazines. But it was not just his teen idol image that produced more popularity for this actor as this is when the rumors started up about Jon's sexuality and making fun of "I'll Be Home For Christmas," mocking it and calling it "I'll Be Homo For Christmas." Some believe that his sexuality was the reason he left "Home Improvement" in 1997, but mainly it was because he chose such roles as the bi-sexual hustler in "Speedway Junky" and the gay swim team, straight-A student, Toby, in "Common Ground." Jon left "Home Improvement" in 1997 in order to concentrate on school, and no to mention, he did end up having more time for dating. He and Nikki Hale began dating approximately around July 1997, and they were together for a good two years. Other than that, questoins rose that he left "Home Improvement" because it was rumored that his character was supposed to come out of the closet in a future episode. All producers of the show deny this, however, they have not been substantiated. Most likely, they arose after it was announced that Jon would portray a bi-sexual hustler in the upcoming film, "Speedway Junky." In an attempt to break away from his wholesome image, he has taken a role in this movie, which also stars Jesse Bradford from "Bring it On" and "Clockstoppers." Around the same time as "Speedway Junky," Jonathan was invited to star in the movie creatoin of the book entitled "Walking Across Egypt." Jon accepted this role and play Wesley Benfield, a juvenile delinquent who's been in and out of trouble his whole life. Later Jon landed the role in the second part of a three part story exploring the effects of homosexuality in the 20th century. He appears as Tobias Anderson in "Common Ground," a gay youth who has to deal with the problems of his sexuality. Between shooting films Jon guest starred in "Ally McBeal" as Chris Emerson which aired in 2000. In November 2002, Jon guest starred in "Smallville." In the episode "Dichotic," he played the role of Ian Randall who has the power to double. This episode is the first time since "Common Ground" that many have seen Jon and are suprised at how much he's grown up. Although Jon is now gone from the limelight, he realizies that he cannot always be a teen idol and therefore he is concentrating on his studies at Harvard in Cambrige, Massachusetts. However, during the 2002-2003 school year, Jon studied abrod in Scotland at the University of St. Andrew's, the same university that Prince William is attending. It was reported that Jon will be playing a lead role in "The Right Steps" sometime in 2003 and it has also been reported that he may be playing a part in a possible "Home Improvement" film, although there has been no more news or information about either. Whatever the future may hold for Jonathan Taylor Thomas, one this is for sure, and that is his fans will forever remain adoring and will always support whatever he choose to do in his career. |
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