• Laura Deibel is the first wife of actor/comedian Tim Allen.
• She graduated from Western Michigan University in 1978.
• She supported Tim through his arrest for cocaine distribution in 1978.
• They had a child, Katherine, and divorced in 200•
• Laura has a net worth of around $15 million.
Contents
Laura Deibel is the first wife of the popular actor and comedian, Tim Allen. The star of “Home Improvement” and the voice of Buzz Lightyear from “Toy Story” had hard times divorcing from his wife, as his career at that moment was under a big question.
Early life, family, educational background
Laura Diebel was born on 12 November 1956 in the USA, so her zodiac sign is Scorpio, and she holds American nationality. Little is known about her childhood, as she became famous only after her marriage to the actor Tim Allen. She graduated from Western Michigan University in 1978.
Career
Laura started working in the position of sales manager for an interior landscape company. She worked hard to raise money for their family, as at that time her husband Tim Allen didn’t have as much money he has now, and they both did their best to stay afloat.
However, when her now-ex-spouse started getting good roles in TV series and movies, she quit her job and became a housewife, taking care of their child.
Personal life, ex-husband Tim Allen
Meeting, dating and marrying Tim Allen
Laura started dating Tim Allen when they both studied in Western Michigan University. A lot of sources close to Tim Allen and his first wife say that Laura was a ‘stand-by-your-man’ wife – in his interview with People magazine, an old friend of Tim Allen, George Kutlenios, said they were ‘lifelong soulmates’. When Tim was arrested for cocaine distribution in October 1978, Laura stood by his side, supporting him and waiting for him to return from prison where he spent two years and four months. Tim revealed the names of his dealers who provided him with 1.43lbs (0.65kgs) of cocaine in exchange for a softer sentence – he could have been imprisoned for the rest of his life.
‘We loved each other. It was that simple’, Laura shared in her interview with People in 1991, when she was asked about those hard times and her feelings about the situation her then-boyfriend got into. However, Tim was released from prison in 1981, and the couple married in a private ceremony on 7 April 1984.
First child and first troubles in the family
Five years into their marriage, Laura gave birth to their only child, Katherine Allen. Laura had to deal with all the troubles around taking care of the child all by herself – Tim had a very busy schedule at work, spending most of his time on rehearsals and tapings, and getting back home in the middle of the night. Laura had a chance to appear in the tapings on Friday nights, but Bill Riback, the producer of the series “Home Improvement” Tim was starring in at the time said: ‘Laura wasn’t around all that much.
She was raising a child, trying to maintain the home life’, said. Both Laura and Tim are very religious people, and baptized their daughter; Rob Cowin, Tim’s business partner and lifetime friend became the godfather for Katherine, who is called Kady in the close circle of the family. Rob later shared that when the “Home Improvement” series was closed after eight successful seasons, Tim came home with no understanding of his future role in the series, nor his role in the family he rarely spent time with: ‘He’s like a CEO who retires after 30 years on the job, and suddenly comes home and has nothing to do but bother his wife. He’s driving her crazy’, said Rob in his interview with People in 1999.
Filing for divorce
After “Home Improvement”, Tim got another role in the sequel to the successful animation movie “Toy Story”, in which he voiced-over the character of Buzz Lightyear.
He got around $5 million for the work in the cartoon, but it didn’t make the family happy and strong. Laura appeared near Tim at the Los Angeles premiere of the movie, but a friend of the couple later said that they all only acted like a family. Katherine, who was nine years old at the time, also joined her parents walking down the red carpet.
Only four days later, Laura filed for divorce after 15 years of marriage. Martha Bones, the mother of Tim Allen, called the situation ‘very unhappy for everyone’. Tim shared in his interview with The Detroit News that ‘he let his family slide’, adding that he never saw his daughter at all, as he was too busy with filming. Many friends of their family didn’t believe their marriage was going to be over, and still thought Laura and Tim could ‘fix it’.
However, Rob Cowin admitted: ‘She supported him [emotionally] all those years, and then he became famous and she was in the back seat’. The papers were eventually signed four years later on 1 March 2003, as they had a hard time agreeing on the terms of custody of Kady.
Life after divorce
While nothing further is known about the private life of Laura, Tim married for the second time. He decided to correct all his mistakes he made fathering Katherine, and gave all his love and attention to his second daughter, Elizabeth, who was born in 2009, after three years of Tim’s marriage with the actress Jane Hajduk. In his interview with Parade he said: ‘I was gone so much in my first marriage.
I love the moments when I engage with my youngest daughter now. It’s not my thing to sit on the ground and play tea party, but I’ll do it because it’s a moment that will stick with me forever’. Even though Tim was often rumored to have affairs with other women during his marriage with Laura, he didn’t give anyone a reason to fuss about his romances, and their marriage with Jane is still strong.
What films is Tim Allen famous for? Short bio
Tim Allen was born Timothy Alan Dick on 13 June 1953. Raised in a very religious family who followed The Episcopal Church, he attended Central Michigan University, but then transferred to Western Michigan University, and started working as a stand-up comedian. He got $50 per performance at the beginning, but continued to develop his performing skills.
Even though he spent more than two years in prison, he got back to his acting career as soon as he was freed. His first work was the role of Baggage Handler in “Tropical Snow” (1988). However, acting was something that he wanted to do all his life, after his successful work in the popular TV sitcom “Home Improvement” (1991 – 1999), in which he landed the role of Tim Taylor.
Later he voiced over the character of Buzz Lightyear in “Toy Story” (1995), getting $50,000 for his work. In 1997 he appeared in “Jungle 2 Jungle” and “For Richer or Poorer”, and reprised his character Buzz Lightyear in 1999, when the sequel of “Toy Story” was launched, this time receiving $5 million for his voice-over role. Later he played Jason Nesmith in “Galaxy Quest” (1999), landed the role of Joe Scheffer in “Joe Somebody” (2001) and the role of Luther Krank in “Christmas with the Kranks” (2004).
Since 2010, Tim has mostly focused on his voice-over roles, working on the third and fourth parts of “Toy Story”. He also landed the role of Mike Baxter in “Last Man Standing” (2011 – present), sharing the screen with Hector Elizondo (also known for “Borrowed Hearts” and “Pretty Woman”) and Nancy Travis (also seen in “Three Men and a Little Lady” and “Rose Red”).
Daughter, Katherine Allen
Katherine Allen has a good relationship with her stepmother, Jane Hajduk, as she presented at her father’s second wedding among the guests invited to the small private ceremony in Grand Lake, Grand County, Colorado. She seems to be close to her father, even though their relationship was hard when she was young, as she didn’t see her father much during her childhood. In 2004 Katherine accompanied her father to the ceremony of the opening of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Katherine hasn’t shared any plans on her career, so it’s not known whether she is going to follow her father’s steps, or choose her own way in life.
Appearance, clothing style
Laura has short grey hair and hazel eyes. She is 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall and weighs around 132lbs (60kgs). As to her clothing style, she has always stuck to classy outfits; whenever she appeared in public, she always wore mostly black and white feminine suits, choosing trousers over skirts.
Net worth and salary
As of 2019, Laura’s net worth is estimated to be around $15 million, a large part as a result of her divorce from Tim Allen, whose actual net worth is claimed to be around $80 million. The star of “Toy Story” series now earns up to $235,000 per episode in the series “Last Man Standing”. Tim also owns a house in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, which cost around $2.2 million.
2 Comments
I worked with Laura in Saginaw, MI in the early 1980s. She is one of the nicest people I ever met. I remember her mentioning Tim Allen only briefly. I think she just said that he was a comedian. I was shocked years later when a I found out she was married to Tim Allen. I have no idea why they divorced but in my opinion, he lost a real gem when they split up. I have nothing but fond memories of my association with her and wish her the best of luck with whatever it is she is doing now.
I am sorry, but this is a poorly written article. The grammar is atrocious. I assumed this was written by someone in a foreign country, but last time I checked Australia is an English-speaking country. I have a hard time believing this person is educated in journalism. I had to stop reading half way through because I grew tired of rereading the same sentences to allow it to make sense.