Taran Noah Smith was an American actor. He was seen as a child actor in the popular show Home Improvement where he played the role of the youngest son of the Taylor family. He has also appeared in 7th Heaven and in the TV movie Ebbie. He acted in the movie Little Bigfoot 2 as well. He gave up acting when he was still a teenager.
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Early Life and Career
Taran Noah Smith was born in San Francisco in California on April 8, 1984. His parents are David Smith and Candy Bennici, and he has an older sister whose name is Ariandrea Smith. She grew up to be an international model. He has English-Irish ancestry from his father’s side and Swedish-Italian ancestry from his mother’s side.
When he was just seven years old, he auditioned for and won a major role in the series Home Improvement. He acted in 203 episodes of the show from 1991 to 1999. He often mentions that the prime years of his childhood, from the age of 7 to 16, were spent on the sets of Home Improvement, and made him feel all grown up when he really was just a teen. This proved a sore point with him, due to which he developed some resentment against his parents. What fueled the fire was that his parents used up his trust fund of $1.5 million, which was his net worth at that time, to buy a mansion. Due to this, he sued his parents and got estranged. Currently, he is reconciled with his parents.
His acting life did not interfere much with his academic life. He was a good student who got an early graduation from his high school. He attended college at USC’s Film School, but quit that almost soon after her started to pursue a business.
After Acting
Smith gave up acting altogether and developed a vegan restaurant in California. His associate was his then wife Heidi Van Pelt. Together, they also started Playfood, a company that produced non-dairy cheese. Playfood was a major success in 2008.
He has also been a major voice for organic food production. He once staged a protest to preserve the South Central Farm that was being encroached upon by real estate agents. During this protest, he also courted arrest.
Personal Life
Smith married Heidi van Pelt in 2001, when he was 17 years old. This marriage was widely publicized and even criticized by the media for two factors – that Smith himself was underage at the time of marriage and that Van Pelt was 16 years his senior. Soon after, Smith and Van Pelt even became business associates and this is what created the rift between them. In 2007, Smith made a lawsuit against her for fudging finances from their company Playfood. The couple had a divorce soon after.
At present he has reconciled with his parents. He continues to live in his house in Lawrence in Kansas and takes care of his various businesses.
In his free time, Taran Noah Smith participates in sports such as sailing and motorcycling. The family also owns an airplane that he flies.
He occasionally dabbles in music too. He has learned how to play the drums and is a mixtape enthusiast as well.
Last Modified: Apr 7, 2020
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