[ Scroll down the page to see the Awards section ]
Jonathan Taylor Thomas was in fact born Jonathan Taylor Weiss in
small town Pennsylvania on September 8th, 1981, began working
as a model after moving to California when he was just four
years old. His first small dose of acting came in
the next couple of years from television ads.
Jonathan's first acting break was back in 1990 when he got the spot
on the Brady Bunch update named, "The Bradys."
This is where Jonathan had to change his name due to the
name 'Jonathan Weiss' and 'Jonathan Taylor Weiss' already
being a registered acting name. Jonathan decided on
the name 'Jonathan Taylor Thomas' by taking his real first
name, his real middle name and his brother, Joel's middle
name (fans usually shorten his name to JTT). Another
mentionable appearance in the same year was when Jonathan
featured in 'In Living Color'.
The next year (1991), was Jonathans soon to be biggest break
he would receive thus far in his acting career as he landed
the role in sitcom Home Improvement where he would play
the role of Randy Taylor. Randy Taylor was the middle
son of three in a family of five, he was thought to be the
'humorous' and 'intelligent' one of the three children.
Playing this part soon gave Jonathan 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 first big
break inside the cinemas. Jonathan voiced the role
of Simba, which was the lion cub distend to one day be king
in Disney’s 'The Lion King'. This helped Jonathan
Taylor Thomas 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 Jonathan even more recognition. Quickly becoming a 'known name' Jonathan landed
the role of Tom Sawyer in the film Tom and Huck the same year,
which was another recreation of the classic Mark Twain story
'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Jonathan's next move was to play a leading role in Wild America as
Marshall Stouffer followed by another leading role playing
Ben Archer in Man of the House. Such leading roles
as Wild America, Man of the House and Tom and Huck led to
making Jonathan Taylor Thomas a 'teen idol' and loved 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 Disney's
Christmas movie; 'I'll Be Home For Christmas'.
Different people have different opinions of this time in Jonathans
career, some say it 'ruined' his image and others say it
was the 'peak'. In either case Jonathan 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 Jonathans
sexuality and the making fun of the 'I'll Be Home For Christmas'
film calling it 'I'll Be Homo For Christmas'.
Jonathan left Home Improvement, in order to pursue his acting career
in
movies and to spend more time with his studies. Rumors
abounded that he left because he wanted his character to
come out of the closet but the producers said no. However
they have not been substantiated. Most likely, they arose
after it was announced that Jonathan would portray a gay
hustler in the upcoming film, Speedway Junky. In an
attempt to break away from his wholesome image, he has taken
a role in the movie, which also star Tiffani-Amber Thiessen
and Jesse Bradford.
Around the same time as Speedway Junky, Jonathan Taylor Thomas
was invited to star in the movie creation of the book entitled
'Walking Across Egypt'. Jonathan accepted this role
and played Wesley Benfield, a juvenile delinquent who's
been in and out of trouble his whole life. Later Jonathan
landed the role in the second part of a three part story
exploring the effects of homosexuality in the 20th century,
Common Ground. Jonathan appears as Tobias Anderson
as he plays a gay youth who has to deal with the problems
of his sexuality. Between shooting films Jonathan
guest stared in Ally McBeal as Chris Emerson, this aired
in 2000.
Jonathan Taylor Thomas has guest stared in Smallville's episode Dichotic
where he played the role of Ian Randall who has the power
to double. This episode in probably for most, the
first time they have seen Jonathan since Common Ground and
therefore surprised at how much Jonathan has 'grown up'
and changed, especially since his Home Improvement days.
Although Jonathan has now gone from the lime light so to speak and
realizes himself that he can not always be a teen idol and
therefore he is concentrating on his studies at Harvard
University where he recently took a year studying in Scotland,
hoping to one day direct his own movies. It has been
reported that Jonathan will be playing a lead role in The
Right Steps sometime in 2003 and it has also been reported
that he maybe playing a part in a possible future Home Improvement
film although there has been no more news or information
about either.
In late January 2003 Jonathan made another public appearance
at the WB Network All-Star Arrival and then in April it
was realized that Jonathan would be playing a voiced role
in the ever famous adult cartoon series, "The Simpson's".
Is this the start of Jonathan coming back full time acting?
- Only time will tell, and with the conclusion of his studies
soon approaching it is looking more likeable.
The answer the the above question now seems to be answering
it self because as of November 2003 it was announced that
Jonathan would come back to another episode of Smallville,
this time in series 3 the date of this would be January
2004. Jonathan would be playing the same role as last
time, playing 2 Ian Randall's, the episode is being called
'Asylum' and with Jonathan as the guest star it surely was
a hit.
2004 become the year of Jonathan once again, with performances
in 'Smallville, Asylum' and getting
himself another guest staring role in yet another awesome
family sitcom '8 Simple Rules' for 3 parts of 'Opposites
Attract' (the name of the 8 Simple Rules episode).
If 8 Simple Rules and Smallville guest appearences wasn't
enough Jonathan signed himself a voicing role on Thru The
Moebius Strip, a sci-fi animation that will surely be a
big hit.
In 2005 more of Jonathan Taylor Thomas was seen on the television
screens, with Jonathan landing a guest staring role in the
new series American program called Veronica Mars Episode
#18 "Weapons of Class Destruction". Veronica Mars
wasn't the only thing we heard of Jonathan Taylor Thomas
as he also got the role of Customer #3 in a short movie
called Tilt-A-Whirl.
10 Facts you may or may not have known about Jonathan Taylor Thomas, for more facts just browse the rest of the website. :)
- Jonathan is a strict vegetarian
- Jonathan loves to go fly fishing
- He wants to go into directing after acting
- His real last name is Weiss, Thomas is his brother's middle name
- He studied with a private tutor
- Went to Chaminade High School
- He likes The Chicago Bears
- Often dyes his hair
- Prefers people to call him 'Jon' or 'Jonathan'
- Enjoys playing roller hockey whenever he can
|
- (1998) Home Improvement - Emmy Award in the category "Electronics" Home Improvement: for the consequence "The Horror Video"
- (1998) Kids Choice in the category "TV Actor" for Home Improvement role
- (1997) Young Award in the category "Young Voiceover's" for Pinocchio role
- (1996) Home Improvement - Emmy Award in the category "Electronics" for the consequence "Room Without Prospect"
- (1995) Home Improvement - Hollywood Reporter's Award in the category "Actor Comedy Series"
- (1995) Young Star Award for "Best Performance by a Young Actor in a TV Comedy Series" for his role as Randy in Home Improvement
- (1995) National Theatre Owners Association (NATO/ShoWest) Young Star of the Year Award
- (1992 - 1996) Home Improvement - People's Choice in the category "Favorite Comedy"
|
- (1999) Walking Across Egypt: "Marco Iceland Filmfestival"; "Audience Award" for "Walking Across Egypt" in the category "feature drama"
- (1999) Walking Across Egypt: "Heartland Film festival"; "Crystal Heart Award" for "Walking Across Egypt" in the category "Best direction"
- (1999) Speedway Junky: Nominating with "internationally Gay and Lesbian film Festival"; "Rosebud Award" for "Speedway Junky" in the category "Best feature"
- (1999) Speedway Junky: Nominating with "new haven internationally film Festival"; "jury Award" for "Speedway Junky" in the category "Best film"
- (1998) "Young star Award" in the category "Best performance by A young actor in A Comedy series" (Home Improvement)
- (1996) Kid's Choice Award Nomination for "Favourite Actor"
- (1996) Young Star Award Nomination for "Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy Film" for his work in "Tom and Huck"
- (1995) Young Star Award Nomination for "Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Feature Film Comedy" for his role as Ben Archer in "Man of the House"
- (1995) Youth in Film Award Nomination for "Outstanding Child Actor"
- (1994) Youth in Film Award Nomination for "Outstanding Youth Ensemble in a Television Series"
|
- (1996) Emmy Nomination Consideration - Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series "The Longest Day", "Room Without a View" in Home Improvement
|
|
|
