The Little Boy From Home Improvement Has Lived A Tragic Life

Despite bringing joy to television screens across the country, many child actors have ironically experienced life-altering tragedies. "Home Improvement" star Taran Noah Smith can attest to this, as his life's challenges began while the show was still in production. The sitcom focused on the life of Tim Allen's character, Tim 'The Tool Man' Taylor, a TV presenter raising his three sons. The show ran for eight seasons, with Smith playing the youngest son, Mark Taylor, from 1991 to 1999.

Smith's "Home Improvement" costars included Patricia Richardson (Jill Taylor), Earl Hindman (Wilson Wilson Jr.), and Zachery Ty Bryan (Brad Taylor), who looks very different today. The latter has frequently found himself at the center of chaos, including arrests related to domestic disputes and DUIs, since the show's end. During an interview with "The Best Show with Tom Scharpling" podcast, Smith discussed Bryan's legal trouble and revealed that, despite his sometimes strange behavior, Bryan always seemed to have a good heart. Smith, a once-popular child star who completely vanished from the public eye, is likely able to empathize with his costar's struggles due to his own tragic life experiences.

Taran Noah Smith's career began at the tender age of 6 months. He spent his childhood modeling for print ads and appeared in commercials for J.C. Penney, Macy's, and other clothing stores. However, his first recurring role as Mark Taylor in "Home Improvement" was the job that changed the trajectory of his life — and not all for the better.

Smith, who appeared in over 200 episodes of the show, said "Home Improvement" left him feeling tired of acting. "It was pretty exciting to leave it behind and do other things," a then-27-year-old Smith told Entertainment Weekly in 2011. He later explained that he wouldn't allow his future children to take a similar opportunity because many child stars grew up struggling with challenges like addiction.

Once the sitcom ended, Smith felt an unprecedented sense of autonomy when it came to deciding his future. "I started 'Home Improvement' when I was 7, and the show ended when I was 16. I never had the chance to decide what I wanted to do with my life," Smith told Capital Journal (via Hello Magazine). "When I was 16, I knew that I didn't want to act anymore." While walking away from acting gave Smith the freedom to explore life on his own terms, his journey outside of "Home Improvement" would prove far from simple. In the years that followed, he faced a series of personal struggles and controversies that would continuously place him in the public spotlight.

While still starring in "Home Improvement," at the age of 14, Taran Noah Smith met Heidi Van Pelt — a nutritionist who was 16 years his senior — at a raw food party. Following the show's end, the duo married in 2001, when Smith was just 17. The marriage sparked controversy, considering Pelt was nearly 30 when she met the teen star. 

Smith's parents were open about their disapproval of the relationship. "What we can't accept is a 33-year-old woman having the ability to influence our son in the way that she has," his mother, Candy Bennici, said in a statement to The Topeka Capital-Journal (via A Minor Consideration). She claimed that Smith "changed his spiritual beliefs, his outlook on society, his feelings toward higher education, his attitude toward his family, his diet, his image, and even his feelings toward video games, movies, and other things" in the immediate wake of meeting Van Pelt.

Despite public disapproval of their relationship, Van Pelt seemed unbothered by the negative attention. "I'm an artist, and I like to have a fresh outlook on life," Pelt said, also via A Minor Consideration. "I'm always learning new things and open to new things, so the age difference doesn't bother me. The only thing Taran and I fight about is the dishes." Smith shared a similar sentiment, stating that their age gap was not an indicator of intellectual misalignment.

Taran Noah Smith's mother, Candy Bennici, served as his manager during his "Home Improvement" career, placing the bulk of his earnings in a trust fund. Amid Smith and Heidi Van Pelt's relationship, Smith left home and sought access to the earnings before turning 18, accusing his parents of living off his earnings in the process. Smith went so far as to file for emancipation from his parents in 2001 in order to gain early access to the $1.5 million trust fund.

"It hurts and is very frustrating ever since he has met her, his whole attitude towards his family has changed," Bennici told The Topeka Capital-Journal (via A Minor Consideration). "His running away has affected this whole family. I can't even describe the tremendous pain we have been through. We love him so much." The emancipation request was denied, and his parents denied the allegations, noting that they couldn't access the funds if they wanted to.

"There's so much that we want to do," Smith said about his desire to gain access to his money, according to Lawrence Journal-World. "We've been stuck in kind of the planning and plotting stage. We'll finally be able to do some serious work. I'm very excited about that." He would later express a change of heart about his parents' stance on his relationship and finances. "I'd gotten out of the teenage phase and realized my parents weren't doing anything wrong but were trying to protect me," he said (via The U.S. Sun).

In 2002, Smith and Pelt went into business together, opening Playfood. The California-based vegan food company specialized in non-dairy, plant-based products, including vegan cheese and food items made from cashews and other natural ingredients.

Pelt developed the vegan cheese recipes. She helped Smith, who'd previously practiced vegetarianism, transition to a full vegan diet when he was 16. During an appearance on the "Cooper Talk" podcast in 2015, he said, "I met someone who was a vegan chef and made it really easy to learn all the different substitutions and different products you can do."

Smith's acting money reportedly funded the venture. The couple initially provided vegan catering services out of their home and hosted pop-up restaurant nights throughout Los Angeles. The city stopped them from operating the restaurant out of their home, prompting them to extend their products to a restaurant in Studio City. However, financial constraints and marital issues led to the business's closure in 2007.

Problems began to develop in Taran Noah Smith and Heidi Van Pelt's marriage after Pelt disclosed something about her sexuality. "Heidi told me she preferred girls to guys," Smith told The ENQUIRER (via All Womens Talk). "She began to bring girls home. But if they paid more attention to me than to her, she'd get jealous. Finally, we agreed to have an open marriage. But when I began seeing another girl, Heidi got so mad she broke every dish in the house."

The "Home Improvement" star's rocky relationship ended as frustrations began to reportedly spill over into the business, leading to the alleged mistreatment of staff. The two also took out mutual restraining orders, and Pelt reportedly moved in with a man who was 12 years younger than her, despite her earlier revelation. On the other hand, Pelt was allegedly unhappy with her husband's frequent partying habits.

"I guess I'm living proof that love is blind," Taran, then 23 years old, told The ENQUIRER. "I've lost my house, and now I'm fighting to stop my wife from taking my livelihood away from me. I'm done with older women." He also reportedly apologized to his parents and admitted that they were right about Pelt.

On February 1, 2012, Taran Noah Smith joined the list of celebrities who have been arrested after being accused of driving under the influence and drug possession. The arrest took place in Los Angeles when police found the then-27-year-old star parked in front of a fire hydrant, seemingly high on marijuana with a stash of the drug in his possession.

Smith was taken to a Glendale jail and held on bail of $10,000. Smith was convicted of DUI and possession of hash in December 2012, pleading no contest to the first charge and guilty to the latter. A judge sentenced him to a 12-hour program for the DUI, a six-month drug diversion program, and three years of probation.

The incident underscored the challenges often faced by child actors, as Smith highlighted in an interview on the podcast "The Best Show with Tom Scharpling." Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney Blog later used the incident as an example of how serious such charges can be, noting that simply being behind the wheel of a parked car can result in charges and reputation damage.

Although "Home Improvement" helped create strong bonds between its costars, Taran Noah Smith later revealed that he did not maintain close relationships with his cast brothers after the show's end. During an appearance on "The Best Show with Tom Scharpling" podcast, he explained that his relationship with '90s heartthrob Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who played Randy Taylor, began to dissipate after Thomas left the series early and gradually distanced himself from the cast over time.

Smith also eventually lost contact with Zachery Ty Bryan, with whom he had once been pretty close. Smith admitted that the two were extremely different and probably would have never been friends if they had met in school instead of on set. While on "The Best Show with Tom Scharpling" (via Little Things), Smith explained: "He's had a lot of trouble over the last few years with getting multiple DUIs and multiple domestic violence charges, so I've not seen him since any of that has come out, and I don't want to."

The commentary highlighted how the connections formed during Smith's childhood fame, unfortunately, did not turn into lasting relationships later in life. As for appearance, the child star can today be seen sporting long hair and a matching beard. The "Home Improvement" star is among many childhood actors who ditched sets for normal careers, as he now works at SpaceX as a sea recovery technician.