An active and charismatic child actor who successfully moved into significant adult roles in his late teen years, Jonathan Taylor Thomas was best known for his seven year runt as the wise cracking middle son Randy on the hit ABC television sitcom "Home Improvement". The Pennsylvania native relocated to California at age six and got his first television commercial in 1989. The next year he was cast as Greg's son Kevin on the short-lived CBS sitcom "The Brady's". 

While starring on "Home Improvement", Thomas began trying out for film and movie work, and in 1994, gave a brilliant performance in "The Lion King", giving his unique young teen rasping voice to the film's young hero Simba. He made his feature film introduction the following year in the comedy "Man of the House",  starring Chevy Chase and Farrah Fawcett, as a couple whose romance is stopped by her son. Jonathon lit up the screen with a remarkable role as the obnoxious but caring young man, and was the one good spot in the dull film. 

That same year he played Tom Sawyer to Brad Renfro's Huckleberry Finn in the film edition "Tom and Huck". "The Adventures of Pinocchio" followed in 1996, where he played the lead puppet turned into a boy in this live-action version of the classic tale. 1997 saw the young actor take on the role of future nature photographer Marshall Stouffer in the adventure "Wild America", In the film, he continued his work in natural style, bringing a combination of boy like excitement and passion to his part. He played a privileged prep school student on a journey to get home for the holidays and win back his girlfriend in the teen comedy "I'll Be Home For Christmas" (1998) featuring Jessica Biel.

1998 marked the actors last appearance on "Home Improvement", and he left the show at the start of its final season in order to give himself to his studies in the his junior year of high school. Fans who had watched JTT grow from a wisecracking, delightfully funny child actor to a caring and talented young man were sorry to see him go, but he would continue to act despite his concentration on his schooling, and began to break his boy next door stereotype with roles in rough and difficult projects. 

Portraying a drug-addicted hustler in 1999's independent "Speedway Junkie" with Daryl Hannah, he surprised both his fans and critics with a strong but understated role in a part far different from anything he had previously played. 

In 2000, amid rumors of his own homosexuality and gay lifestyle, the actor took on the role of a gay teenager tormented by his friends in the Terrence McNally drama "Mr. Roberts", a segment of the Showtime anthology "Common Ground". While this was his first film role as a homosexual, critics applauded his efforts and bravery. 

Thomas returned to the big screen with a role as a frightening young man who makes friends with a Southern widow (Ellen Burstyn) in the independent "Walking Across Egypt" (2000) and then joined with television brother Zachary Ty Bryant as two of a group of five high-school boys kidnapped in the thriller "Held For Ransom" (1999).

Jonathon Taylor Thomas returned to the world of virtual reality when he lent his voice talents to the video game "Kingdom Hearts II" (2005), joining an all-star group of celebrities that took part in the project including Haley Joel Osment, David Gallagher, Hayden Panettiere and Jesse McCartney. Next for the now mature actor was the animated adventure "Thru the Moebius Strip" (2005) about a boy who travels to an alien world to find his father and learn of his destiny.