TMC
03-06-2023, 08:47 PM
https://www.nickiswift.com/1215881/what-happened-to-taran-noah-smith-after-home-improvement/
Taran Noah Smith went into business with his much-older wife
When "Home Improvement" ended its eight-year run in 1999, Taran Noah Smith was on the cusp of adulthood. "I had a wonderful time, but it's something I did all my childhood life, and by the time I was 16 or 17, I just wanted to do other things," he told HNGN. Unfortunately, some of the decisions he made after leaving the biz behind would result in years of unwanted tabloid attention for Smith and his family.
When Smith was 16, he attended the same party as 33-year-old chef Heidi Van Pelt, and the pair soon started dating. Smith's parents were concerned about the couple's age gap and Smith's attempt to get emancipated at age 17 so he could gain early access to his $1.5 million trust fund. Smith even ran away from home and married Van Pelt in hopes that it would help his cause. As his parents fought his efforts in court, Smith lashed out at his mother, Candy Bennici. "My mother always used to tell me to look out for the sharks, people who were going to take my money," he told People (https://people.com/archive/family-feud-vol-56-no-10/) in 2001. "Turns out she was talking about herself."
When Smith turned 18, he and Van Pelt used his trust fund money to open Playfood, a Kansas City-based company that produced dairy food alternatives for vegans. But after around half a decade of marriage, Smith told the Marin Independent Journal (https://www.marinij.com/2015/05/07/marin-mother-of-home-improvement-child-star-writes-book-warning-of-sharks-in-show-business/), "I realized I had made a mistake."
Taran Noah Smith had to deny that he was a drug smuggler
When Taran Noah Smith decided to divorce Heidi Van Pelt, he made amends with his family. The exes' vegan food company eventually shuttered its doors, and Smith embarked on a new phase of his life. He captained a sailboat that was available for charter in Santa Barbara and became a disaster relief volunteer, per the Marin Independent Journal. In 2017, he helped with the Hurricane Harvey relief efforts in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he worked with tools and heavy machinery. "It is very strange; I'm now doing 'Tool Time' for real," he quipped to Inside Edition (https://www.insideedition.com/former-home-improvement-star-taran-noah-smith-fixing-homes-those-affected-hurricane-harvey-38760). The following year, he told "Access Hollywood" that he had started making water desalination equipment, which is what his father was doing for a living at the time of the family's battle over Smith's trust fund, per People.
Smith grew up on a boat with his parents, and apparently he got bit by the seafaring bug. By 2019, he'd started piloting submarines for the Community Submersibles Project. While he was training another pilot off the coast of Monterey Bay, some concerned onlookers spotted their vessel and thought it might belong to drug smugglers. "No, we are not smuggling drugs, we are not attacking the U.S.," Smith later told Action News 8, according to SFGate (https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/Mystery-submarine-spotted-in-Monterey-Bay-belongs-14099739.php), "we are just all Californians having a good time." So, where's the "Home Improvement" reboot where Mark forces his pop to go on an undersea adventure with him?
Taran Noah Smith went into business with his much-older wife
When "Home Improvement" ended its eight-year run in 1999, Taran Noah Smith was on the cusp of adulthood. "I had a wonderful time, but it's something I did all my childhood life, and by the time I was 16 or 17, I just wanted to do other things," he told HNGN. Unfortunately, some of the decisions he made after leaving the biz behind would result in years of unwanted tabloid attention for Smith and his family.
When Smith was 16, he attended the same party as 33-year-old chef Heidi Van Pelt, and the pair soon started dating. Smith's parents were concerned about the couple's age gap and Smith's attempt to get emancipated at age 17 so he could gain early access to his $1.5 million trust fund. Smith even ran away from home and married Van Pelt in hopes that it would help his cause. As his parents fought his efforts in court, Smith lashed out at his mother, Candy Bennici. "My mother always used to tell me to look out for the sharks, people who were going to take my money," he told People (https://people.com/archive/family-feud-vol-56-no-10/) in 2001. "Turns out she was talking about herself."
When Smith turned 18, he and Van Pelt used his trust fund money to open Playfood, a Kansas City-based company that produced dairy food alternatives for vegans. But after around half a decade of marriage, Smith told the Marin Independent Journal (https://www.marinij.com/2015/05/07/marin-mother-of-home-improvement-child-star-writes-book-warning-of-sharks-in-show-business/), "I realized I had made a mistake."
Taran Noah Smith had to deny that he was a drug smuggler
When Taran Noah Smith decided to divorce Heidi Van Pelt, he made amends with his family. The exes' vegan food company eventually shuttered its doors, and Smith embarked on a new phase of his life. He captained a sailboat that was available for charter in Santa Barbara and became a disaster relief volunteer, per the Marin Independent Journal. In 2017, he helped with the Hurricane Harvey relief efforts in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he worked with tools and heavy machinery. "It is very strange; I'm now doing 'Tool Time' for real," he quipped to Inside Edition (https://www.insideedition.com/former-home-improvement-star-taran-noah-smith-fixing-homes-those-affected-hurricane-harvey-38760). The following year, he told "Access Hollywood" that he had started making water desalination equipment, which is what his father was doing for a living at the time of the family's battle over Smith's trust fund, per People.
Smith grew up on a boat with his parents, and apparently he got bit by the seafaring bug. By 2019, he'd started piloting submarines for the Community Submersibles Project. While he was training another pilot off the coast of Monterey Bay, some concerned onlookers spotted their vessel and thought it might belong to drug smugglers. "No, we are not smuggling drugs, we are not attacking the U.S.," Smith later told Action News 8, according to SFGate (https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/Mystery-submarine-spotted-in-Monterey-Bay-belongs-14099739.php), "we are just all Californians having a good time." So, where's the "Home Improvement" reboot where Mark forces his pop to go on an undersea adventure with him?