American actor Tim Allen’s world was “changed overnight” after suffering a tremendous family loss as a kid.
Tim Allen was a huge part of many childhoods, even for those who wouldn’t see his face until years later. The 71-year-old actor is arguably best known as the voice of the spaceman Buzz Lightyear in the 1995 Disney Pixar movie Toy Story. He has reprised the role in three sequels, most recently in 2019’s Toy Story 4. Beyond that, he’s been in such beloved live-action family movies as The Santa Clause and Christmas With The Kranks. For somebody who makes so many families laugh and smile, however, his family history will bring tears to your eyes.
Tim Allen’s father was killed in family tragedy when he was 11
As a young boy, Tim was raised in Denver as part of a big family with five siblings. One day, his community worker mother Martha Katherine Dick and his real-estate agent father Gerald M. Dick were driving the kids back from a college football game.
Tim wasn’t present as he’d decided not to go, and tragically, a drunk driver collided with their vehicle. His mother and the four of his brothers who were in the car survived. Tragically, his dad did not.
Much later in life, Tim reflected on how the horrific tragedy of his father’s death reshaped his life forever in his 1994 memoir, Don’t Stand Too Close To A Naked Man.
“This loss stretched every boundary I knew,” the celebrity admitted. “I wasn’t king of my universe anymore. In fact, I felt helpless, useless, pathetic. I had no control and my scramble to regain some made me grow up very quickly…”
In the aftermath of the crash, he said, “All of a sudden, my world changed overnight.”
Further in the book, he regarded that “The world’s a mean place… It’s unfair, then it’s fair. It’s hateful, then it’s loving.”
His tragic history continued with a jail sentence for drugs
The actor is unflinching in the recollection of his life within the memoir. When he went to college, he confessed he started dealing drugs. In October 1978, he took 650 grams of cocaine to an airport, stored the package in a locker, and intended to hand over the key to a contact in exchange for thousands of dollars in payment.
He was foiled by an undercover cop and arrested immediately before receiving jail time. However, he agreed to offer up the names of those involved in his operations in exchange for a more modest sentence. It’s in jail that he began to prepare for what would become a stand-up comedy career upon his release.
Following around two and a half years served, he was let out on parole and was fast to begin establishing himself as a comedian while working in an office to pay the bills. In 1989, he landed a comedy special, which opened up doors to the world of acting. Six years later, he became the iconic character Buzz Lightyear, known to millions.
The post Film legend faced tragedy no one should at just 11 years old - 'My world changed overnight' appeared first on Celebrity Tidbit.
