Early life

Allen was born in Denver, Colorado. He is the son of Martha Katherine (née Fox), a community-service worker, and Gerald M. Dick (1923-1964), a real estate agent. He is the third oldest of five brothers. His father died in a car accident, colliding with a drunk driver, when Allen was 11. Two years later, his mother married her high school sweetheart, a successful business executive, and moved with her six children to Birmingham, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, to be with her new husband and his three children. Allen attended Seaholm High School in Birmingham, where he was in theater and music classes (resulting in his love of classical piano). He then attended Central Michigan University and transferred to Western Michigan University in 1974. At Western Michigan, Allen worked at the student radio station WIDR and received a Bachelor of Science degree in communications specializing in radio and television production in 1976 with a split minor in philosophy and design. In 1998, Western Michigan awarded Allen an honorary Fine Arts degree and the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Career

Allen started his career as a comedian in 1975. On a dare from one of his friends, he participated in a comedy night at Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle in Royal Oak, a suburb of Detroit. While in Detroit he began to get recognition appearing in local television commercials and appearing on cable comedy shows such as Gary Thison's Some Semblance of Sanity. He moved to Los Angeles and became a regular performer at The Comedy Store. He began to do stand-up appearances on late-night talk shows and specials on record and film.

Despite his admitted limited acting range (he once told a magazine his range as an actor is "strictly limited. I can only play a part if I can draw on personal experience, and that well can go dry pretty quickly"), Allen rose to fame in acting with the ABC sitcom Home Improvement (1991-1999) produced for ABC by Wind Dancer Productions, a company he co-founded with producer Carmen Finestra. Allen played the main character Tim "The Tool-Man" Taylor. In November 1994, he simultaneously starred in the highest grossing film (Disney's The Santa Clause), topped the New York Times best-seller list with his book Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked Man, and appeared in the top rated television series (Home Improvement) within the span of one week. Home Improvement ran until 1999, for which he was paid $1.25 million per episode.

In 1995, Allen provided the voice of Buzz Lightyear in the Disney/Pixar blockbuster Toy Story. Simultaneous with his time acting in Home Improvement, Allen formed a race team with Steve Saleen and race driver Bob Bondurant, called the Saleen/Allen "RRR" Speedlab. The team raced Saleen Mustangs in the SCCA World Challenge, with Allen and Saleen as the team's drivers. In 1997 he starred in the family comedy Jungle 2 Jungle from Disney. The next year he returned to voice Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story 2 which was a financial and critical hit. Also in 1999 he starred in the sci-fi parody Galaxy Quest alongside Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman and Sam Rockwell.

In 2002, he reprised his role as Scott "Santa Clause" Calvin in The Santa Clause 2. Two years later, he starred as Luther Krank in Christmas with the Kranks. In 2006, Zoom was released, starring Allen as Jack Shepard. The same year, he also starred in The Shaggy Dog and The Santa Clause 3.

Allen began narrating the "Pure Michigan" television and radio commercials for the "Travel Michigan" agency. These commercials can be seen and heard throughout the Midwest and began airing nationally in 2009.

In December 2009 he started a preview tour of Crazy on the Outside, a film that debuted in January 2010. Allen accompanied the film, helping promote it with a series of stand-up acts beforehand. During the performances he told audiences that he planned a 2010 comedy tour. Allen also directed the film, marking his film directorial debut.

Allen hosted the 8th Annual TV Land Awards on April 25, 2010. That same year, he became the official voice of the Chevrolet Cruze, narrating commercials for the vehicle, and he became the voice of Campbell Soup's "It's Amazing What Soup Can Do" campaign.

Since 2011, Allen has starred in another ABC sitcom, Last Man Standing. He plays the role of Mike Baxter, a conservative father who is fighting for his manhood in his house filled with women. The character is loosely based on his own life, as a Republican father of two girls.

Personal life

On October 2, 1978, Allen was arrested in the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport for possession of over 650 grams (1.43 lb) of cocaine. He subsequently pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges, and provided the names of other dealers in exchange for a sentence of three to seven years rather than a possible life imprisonment. He was paroled on June 12, 1981, after serving two years and four months in Federal Correctional Institution, Sandstone in Sandstone, Minnesota. Allen had the Federal Bureau of Prisons Register # 04276-040.

Allen was raised as an Episcopalian. He was married to Laura Diebel from April 7, 1984, until they legally separated in 1999. Their divorce was finalized in 2003. Their daughter Katherine was born in 1989. Allen married actress Jane Hajduk on October 7, 2006, in a small private ceremony in Grand Lake, Colorado. They had dated for five years. In March 2009, their daughter Elizabeth was born.

In 1997, Allen was arrested for DUI in Birmingham, Michigan, and was recorded as having a 0.15 percent blood-alcohol content. He was sentenced to one year probation. He entered a rehabilitation clinic for alcohol abuse as part of his court obligation.

In September 2014, Allen, like his character Mike Baxter in Last Man Standing, became a licensed amateur radio operator under the callsign KK6OTD. Also like his character, Allen is a Republican. He has appeared on Sean Hannity's show and announced support for John Kasich in the 2016 presidential election.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Tropical Snow	Baggage Handler
1988	Comedy's Dirtiest Dozen	Himself
1989	Rodney Dangerfield: Opening Night at Rodney's Place	Himself
1990	Tim Allen: Men Are Pigs	Himself
1991	Tim Allen Rewires America	Himself
1994	Santa Clause, TheThe Santa Clause	Scott Calvin / Santa Claus
1995	Toy Story	Buzz Lightyear (voice)
1997	Meet Wally Sparks	Himself	Cameo
1997	Jungle 2 Jungle	Michael Cromwell
1997	For Richer or Poorer	Brad Sexton
1999	Toy Story 2	Buzz Lightyear (voice)
1999	Galaxy Quest	Jason Nesmith
2000	Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins	Buzz Lightyear (voice)	Direct-to-video
2001	Who Is Cletis Tout?	Critical Jim
2001	Joe Somebody	Joe Scheffer
2002	Big Trouble	Eliot Arnold
2002	Santa Clause 2, TheThe Santa Clause 2	Santa Claus / Scott Calvin / Toy Santa
2003	Top Speed	Narrator
2004	Christmas with the Kranks	Luther Krank
2006	Cars	Buzz Lightyear Car (voice)	Cameo
2006	Shaggy Dog, TheThe Shaggy Dog	Dave Douglas
2006	Zoom	Jack Shepard/Captain Zoom
2006	Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, TheThe Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause	Santa Claus / Scott Calvin
2007	Fired!	Documentary
2007	Wild Hogs	Doug Madsen
2008	Redbelt	Chet Frank
2009	Six Wives of Henry Lefay, TheThe Six Wives of Henry Lefay	Henry Lefay
2010	Crazy on the Outside	Tommy Zelda	Also director
2010	Toy Story 3	Buzz Lightyear (voice)
2010	I Am Comic
2011	Hawaiian Vacation	Buzz Lightyear (voice)	Short film
2011	Small Fry	Buzz Lightyear (voice)	Short film
2012	Partysaurus Rex	Buzz Lightyear (voice)	Short film
2012	Chimpanzee	Narrator	Documentary
2012	The Penguin King	Narrator	U.S. version
2013	3 Geezers!	Tim
2013	Adventures of the Penguin King	Narrator
2018	Toy Story 4	Buzz Lightyear (voice)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991-99	Home Improvement	Tim Taylor	Series; also executive producer (seasons 6-8)
1997	Soul Man	Tim Taylor	Episode: "Communion Wine and Convicts"
1998	Spin City	Rags (voice)	Episode: "The Kidney's All Right"
2003	These Guys	Narrator (voice)	Movie
2004	Jimmy Neutron: Win, Lose and Kaboom	Meldar Prime (voice)	Movie
2011-present	Last Man Standing	Mike Baxter	Series
2013	Toy Story of Terror!	Buzz Lightyear (voice)	Special
2014	Toy Story That Time Forgot	Buzz Lightyear (voice)	Special
2015	Cristela	Mike Baxter	Crossover appearance: "Last Goose Standing"
2015	Toy Story at 20: To Infinity and Beyond	Himself	Documentary
2016	88th Academy Awards	Buzz Lightyear (voice)	Awards ceremony

Video games

Year	Title	Role
1994	Home Improvement: Power Tool Pursuit	Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor
1996	Toy Story Activity Center	Buzz Lightyear
1999	Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue	Buzz Lightyear
2001	Toy Story Racer	Buzz Lightyear
2010	Scene It? Disney Magical Moments	Buzz Lightyear

Books

• Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked Man (1994) - ISBN 0-7868-6134-7
• I'm Not Really Here (1996) - ISBN 0-7868-6257-2

Awards and honors

Year	Association	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
1992	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Male Performer in a New TV Series	Home Improvement	Won
1993	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	Home Improvement	Nominated
1993/94 1996/97	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Home Improvement	Nominated
1995			Home Improvement	Won
1993-99	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Male TV Performer	Home Improvement	Won
1994-97	Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Male TV Actor	Home Improvement	Won
1998/99			Home Improvement	Nominated
1995	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Comedy Motion Picture Actor	The Santa Clause	Won
1995	MTV Movie Awards	Best Breakthrough Performance	The Santa Clause	Nominated
1995		Best Comedic Performance	The Santa Clause	Nominated
1996	Kids' Choice Awards	Hall of Fame induction		Honored
1997	Golden Satellite Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical	Home Improvement	Nominated
1999	TV Guide Awards	Favorite Actor in a Comedy	Home Improvement	Won
2000	Annie Awards	Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Male Performer in an Animated Feature Production	Toy Story 2	Won
2009	TV Land Awards	Fan Favorite (given to the cast)	Home Improvement	Won
2011	Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie	Toy Story 3	Nominated
2012	TV Guide Awards	Favorite Comeback	Last Man Standing	Won

Other honors

• 1999: Named a Disney Legend for his work on the Toy Story and The Santa Clause franchises.
• 2004: Received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6898 Hollywood Blvd for contributions to the television industry

Charities

Tim Allen supports the following charitable causes: Children, Animals.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]