A Golden Globe nominee from a long-running sitcom was spotted looking stylish in black when she surfaced in Los Angeles this week.
However her star-making role came in the 1990s, when she was the leading lady on a TV comedy that became one of the biggest hits of the decade.
This year, she took a public swipe at her co-star on that show, whom she accused of ‘lying to people’ that she was ‘on board’ for a spin-off.
Since the series ended, she has guest-starred on other iconic TV programs, including an beloved hospital show and two classic police procedurals.
With just one degree of separation, this Maryland-born actress even has a connection to Pixar’s thunderously successful Toy Story franchise.
Can you guess who she is?
A Golden Globe nominee from a long-running sitcom was spotted looking stylish in black when she surfaced in Los Angeles this week
When she was glimpsed this week, she wore a fashionable checked blazer over a matching black top, teamed with a fitted set of trendily faded blue jeans
The actress in question is Patricia Richardson, 73, who is loved by fans as Jill Taylor on Home Improvement, starring Tim Allen as her husband Tim.
When she was glimpsed this week, she wore a fashionable checked blazer over a matching black top, teamed with a fitted set of trendily faded blue jeans.
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Home Improvement's Patricia Richardson says Tim Allen has been 'lying to people' about her 'being on board' for a reboot of the 90s sitcom: 'He never asked me'
Patricia and Tim became household names on the sitcom, which ran a whopping eight seasons from 1991 until 1999 on ABC.
Tim starred as Tim Taylor, a warm and fun-loving handyman who also hosts a show called Tool Time, while Patricia played his elegant wife Jill.
Jill was initially supposed to be played by Clint Eastwood’s then-girlfriend Frances Fisher, who was replaced during rehearsals because of her performance.
Patricia was then cast as her replacement, and she and Tim rose to become the leads of one of the highest-rated sitcoms of the decade.
They played the parents of a suburban Detroit family that included their three sons, portrayed by Zachery Ty Bryan, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Taran Noah Smith.
Patricia earned two Golden Globe nominations and four Emmy nominations for her role as Jill Taylor, but never won either prize.
Patricia is pictured in a publicity still for Home Improvement with (from left) Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Zachery Ty Bryan, Tim Allen and Taran Noah Smith
Patricia and Tim became household names on the sitcom, which ran a whopping eight seasons from 1991 until 1999 on ABC; Patricia earned two Golden Globe nods and four Emmy nods
In 1995, in the midst of the show’s run, Tim lent his voice to the character of Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story, the movie that launched Disney’s Pixar studio.
Since Home Improvement ended, Patricia has guested on such juggernaut TV shows as Grey’s Anatomy, NCIS, The West Wing and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
In recent years, she featured on two episodes of Tim’s sitcom Last Man Standing, which ran for an impressive nine seasons from 2011 to 2021.
However this year, there appeared to be tension between them as Patricia accused Tim of dishonesty for claiming she was ‘on board’ for a Home Improvement spin-off.
She said she had heard a ‘rumor’ about a potential show about Jill, and claimed Tim ‘was kind of lying to people and telling them that I was on board and I didn’t know anything about it,’ on the podcast Back To The Best.
Tim has expressed interest in rebooting Home Improvement multiple times over the years, but Patricia summarily shot down the idea.
‘It’s not the same – it’s not gonna be the show at all,’ she said. ‘And people think we can just magically go right back to who we were 30 years ago and do a show that was 30 years ago, and we’ve all changed quite a bit, I think, since then.’
While she was ‘very happy’ that Tim ‘went on to’ star on Last Man Standing, she felt it ‘would be very weird’ for Home Improvement to be revived.
In 1995, in the midst of the show’s run, Tim lent his voice to the character of Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story; Buzz is pictured with the film’s lead character Woody (left), voiced by Tom Hanks
‘It makes me sad to think about it. I think – We did it. We did it well. We quit at the right time before it got really bad. And it should just stay as it is,’ she said.
‘I mean, Zach is now a felon,’ she observed, referring to Zachery Ty Bryan, who in 2023 pled guilty to felony assault in the fourth degree constituting domestic violence.
She also made note of the fact Jonathan Taylor Thomas has pivoted to writing and directing and Taran Noah Smith has quit acting.
‘And we don’t have Wilson,’ she said, referring to the Taylor family’s neighbor, played by Earl Hindman, who died of lung cancer in 2003 at the age of 61.
‘So if we did it without Earl, and also we have just two kids — probably, if that — it’s not going to be the show at all,’ Patricia argued.