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Tim Allen Says 21 Years of Sobriety Has Been His 'Biggest Blessing'

By Kayla Kunkel June 29, 2019 at 10:23am

From the “Santa Clause” trilogy to the “Toy Story” franchise — and even popular TV shows like “Home Improvement” and “Last Man Standing” — Tim Allen could easily come up with a long list of blessings, but in a recent interview with Parade he calls his 21-year sobriety the “biggest blessing in my life.”

When Allen was only 11 years old, his father, Gerald, was killed by a drunk driver. The sudden loss of his father eventually drove the 66-year-old star to begin drinking and partying.

In 1978 he was arrested for felony drug trafficking charges and was sentenced to two years in prison, which helped set him on a more positive path.

“It was a watershed moment,” Allen told Closer Weekly in 2017. “It put me in a position of great humility, and I was able to make amends to friends and family and refocus my life on setting and achieving goals.”

Just over two decades later, however, drinking crept back into his life; he was arrested for drunk driving in 1997. Later, in 2011, he called the arrest “humiliating” during a “20/20” interview.

“By the grace of God I didn’t hurt anybody or myself in the years I was drinking and driving,” the comedic actor said.

After that incident, however, Allen decided that alcohol and drugs had controlled his life for long enough, entered rehab and became sober.

It has been over 21 years to this day.

“To be perfectly frank,” he told Parade in a recent interview, “I’m going on 21 years sober. That’s the biggest blessing in my life.”

He also told Closer that he has been more present since becoming sober.

In his 20/20 interview, he also shared that his father’s death sparked his curiosity toward God.

“For years, I just did not like this idea of God, church,” he said. “(I was) still a churchgoer, but constantly a cynic.”

As he navigated through the loss of his father, his own addictions and being arrested, however, his faith in God, whom the actor calls “The Builder,” has only grown stronger.

“Whoever built me, this is too much, too weird that it happened by accident,” Allen said. “It didn’t happen by accident.”

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