Tim Allen's Real Name: Timothy Alan Dick

Quick answer: Tim Allen was born Timothy Alan Dick. Encyclopedia.com and the Detroit Historical Society both record that form and give his birth date as June 13, 1953, in Denver, Colorado (Encyclopedia.com; Detroit Historical Society).

Real name and early life

Encyclopedia.com lists the original name Timothy Alan Dick and names his parents as Gerald Dick, a real estate salesperson, and Martha Dick, known as Marty. The Detroit Historical Society says his father died in a car accident when he was eleven, after which his mother remarried and moved Tim and his siblings to Birmingham, Michigan, outside Detroit. He attended Central Michigan University, then transferred to Western Michigan University in 1974 and graduated in 1976 with a B.S. in communications; Encyclopedia.com gives the same degree and year, and notes that some sources also cite studies at the University of Michigan. While awaiting trial in 1979 he performed stand-up at Detroit's Comedy Castle under the name Tim Dick, the Detroit account says, and later began using Tim Allen.

Career highlights

A 1990 Showtime special, Men Are Pigs, and a CableACE award for work at the Just for Laughs festival preceded Home Improvement (1991–99), which the Detroit Historical Society says he developed with Disney and which became a top-rated ABC sitcom. He played Tim "the Toolman" Taylor; Encyclopedia.com lists the series among his principal credits and records a 1995 Golden Globe for his work in a television comedy or musical. He later starred in The Santa Clause and its sequels, voiced Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story films, and appeared in Galaxy Quest, among other movies listed by both sources. He also wrote the books Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked Man and I'm Not Really Here (1996). Beginning in 1992, the Detroit account says, he won nine consecutive People's Choice Awards as favorite male television performer.

Legal history

The Detroit Historical Society records that he was arrested in 1978 at the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport in Michigan for possession of cocaine, pleaded guilty in 1981 to drug trafficking charges, received an eight-year sentence, and served two years and four months in a federal prison in Minnesota.

Name notes for searchers

Timothy Alan Dick is his birth name; he is known professionally as Tim Allen. Searchers looking for Tim Taylor on Home Improvement, Santa Claus in The Santa Clause, or the voice of Buzz Lightyear are usually aiming at the same person.