Taran Noah Smith Net Worth

What is Taran Noah Smith's net worth?

Taran Noah Smith is an American former child actor who has a net worth of $300 thousand. Taran Noah Smith became widely known for playing Mark Taylor on the hit sitcom "Home Improvement" alongside Tim Allen, Patricia Richardson, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and Zachery Ty Bryan.

Cast when he was just seven years old, Smith spent the entirety of his childhood on one of the most successful television comedies of the 1990s. As the show grew into a ratings powerhouse, Smith became a familiar face to millions of viewers. He appeared in 201 out of the show's 204 episodes over eight seasons. Unlike his castmates, he chose not to pursue an acting career after the series ended.

Taran Noah Smith's post-Hollywood years became defined by a highly publicized legal dispute with his parents over control of his earnings, a marriage to a woman 16 years his senior when he was 17, and a later shift toward business, technology, and philanthropy. Smith's life after "Home Improvement" has been unconventional, marked by attempts to reclaim privacy, redefine his identity outside of fame, and pursue interests far beyond the entertainment industry. He later reconciled with his parents and, in 2015, even helped his mother write a book titled "Stardom Happens," which detailed her son's experiences in Hollywood.

Trust Fund Lawsuit

Soon after "Home Improvement" wrapped, Smith entered a legal battle with his parents over control of his trust fund. Court filings in this case revealed a few interesting facts about Taran's earnings. First of all, according to the lawsuit, upon landing the role, Taran's parents signed a seven-year contract with the studio that produced the series. Unfortunately, that locked in Taran's potential earnings for all but one season of the show at an extremely low rate. While his castmates made many millions of dollars during their time on the series, enough to never work again, court filings revealed that Taran's account was worth a relatively meager $1.5 million when the series ended.

Taran also claimed that his parents were not acting in his best interests and accused them of mismanaging his earnings, including allegedly using portions of his money to buy a large home. His parents denied the accusations and argued that his concerns stemmed from the influence of his new wife, Heidi van Pelt, who was sixteen years his senior. They also noted that Taran's money was held in a court-administered trust and not directly accessible to them.

Smith ultimately won early access to the account, gaining control of the money just months before he would have been eligible anyway upon turning eighteen. Years later, he acknowledged that the lawsuit was rooted in misunderstandings and that he had since reconciled with his parents.

(Photo by Getty Images/Bob Riha, Jr.)

Career

Taran Noah Smith was born in San Francisco, California, on April 8, 1984. Taran was exposed to the entertainment world through his older sister, who had done some professional modeling work.

"Home Improvement" was his very first professional acting job. Taran appeared on the show, which also starred Tim Allen, Patricia Richardson, Zachery Ty Bryan, and Jonathan Taylor Thomas, for 8 seasons between 1991 and 1999.

After Home Improvement, he had guest-starring roles in such projects as "Ebbie", "Little Bigfoot 2: The Journey Home", and "7th Heaven".

With a desire to become a director, Taran enrolled at the University of Southern California Film School. It was here that he met a much older woman named Heidi van Pelt. As we detail in a moment, Taran would later marry Heidi. After just a few months at USC, Taran dropped out to open a vegan restaurant, farm, and non-dairy cheese manufacturer called Playfood, with Heidi.

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Personal Life

Taran was seven when he first began starring on Home Improvement. He was 16 when the series ended. When he was 17 years old, in 2001, Tarn married a woman named Heidi van Pelt. The marriage made headlines because Heidi, at 33, was 16 years his senior at the time of their marriage. The couple opened a vegan restaurant and organic food company in California before divorcing in 2007.

In the years that followed, Smith largely stepped away from public life. He became involved in technology, volunteer work, disaster relief efforts, and nonprofit initiatives. He has occasionally resurfaced for "Home Improvement" retrospectives and interviews, where he has spoken openly about the challenges of child stardom and the lessons learned from his early adulthood.

Smith's post-acting journey has been marked by attempts to find independence, stability, and purpose outside of Hollywood, making his life story one of the more unusual and complex paths taken by a former child star.

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Ty Bryan