Patricia Richardson

Birthday: 23 February 1951, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Birth Name: Patricia Castle Richardson

Height: 170 cm

Patricia is best known for her work on ABC TV's Home Improvement as Jill Taylor. For that show she was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, and four Emmy Awards. Her first television series was for Norman Lear, Double Trouble, starring Liz and Jean Sagal. She also starred in two other comedies from one of the creators of the Mary Tyler Moore show, Alan Burns: Eisenhower and Lutz with Scott Bakula and FM with Robert Hays. After Home Improvement she took off a few years to be with her kids and then went back to work on Lifetime's Strong Medicine, produced by Whoopie Goldberg. She was nominated for her work in it by the Prism Awards. Patricia co-hosted the Emmy Awards with Ellen Degeneres and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her first starring role in a movie opposite Peter Fonda in Ulee's Gold. Ms. Richardson received a BFA in acting from Southern Methodist University and spent several years in New York doing theatre. She created roles in two Beth Henley plays, The Wake of Jamie Foster, and The Miss Firecracker Contest, Michael Weller's Loose Ends, Kevin Wade's Cruise Control, and various other plays on and off- Broadway and around the country in regional theaters. She got her Equity card from Arthur Laurents on her first audition in New York for the job understudying the young Gypsy Rose Lee in Angela Lansbury's revival of Gypsy at the Winter Garden. When her youngest children went to college she returned to the east coast and started doing theatre again. Notably a World Premiere of Alfred Uhry's Apples and Oranges, directed by Lynne Meadow at the Alliance Theater, I Forgive You Ronald Reagan Off-Broadway at the Samuel Beckett Theater, most recently Bucks County Playhouse's Steel Magnolias directed by Marsha Mason with Jessica Walters, Susan Sullivan, Elaine Hendrix, Lucy Devito, and Clea Alsip. She has been been reoccurring on Tim Allen's Last Man Standing and doing some Independent features as well.Patricia served for ten years as the National Spokesperson and was on the Board of Directors for CurePSP, a patient advocacy organization for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, the disease that killed her father. She still serves on both the LA Local and the National Boards of SAG AFTRA . She has three children , now adults . Show less «

But then my mother, who's a very selfless, stoic person from a family of Marines, would tell us that...Show more »

But then my mother, who's a very selfless, stoic person from a family of Marines, would tell us that what was good for our father was good for us - he would make more money; therefore, we'd be able to get better educations. Show less «

Instead of yelling and spanking, which don't work anyway, I believe in finding creative ways to keep...Show more »

Instead of yelling and spanking, which don't work anyway, I believe in finding creative ways to keep their attention - turning things into a game, for instance. And, when they do something good, positive reinforcement and praise. Show less «

When you're a woman with a certain amount of fame and money, you are never certain what someone's mo...Show more »

When you're a woman with a certain amount of fame and money, you are never certain what someone's motives are. Show less «

Getting married and then having children just centered me and grounded my values. It was like a whol...Show more »

Getting married and then having children just centered me and grounded my values. It was like a whole new world. It started happening in New York with a little play called Cruise Control, where I relaxed, and then I kept getting work in Hollywood till this series happened. Show less «

Good actresses can often accomplish miracles, and it is possible to be someone you've never been or ...Show more »

Good actresses can often accomplish miracles, and it is possible to be someone you've never been or will be. But in a sitcom, there's no time. Show less «

I live in such a sweet world in the world of 'Home Improvement' that I tend to be drawn to stuff tha...Show more »

I live in such a sweet world in the world of 'Home Improvement' that I tend to be drawn to stuff that's really on the other end of the spectrum entirely. Show less «

I curse too much. I really do. I have a horrible cursing mouth.

The truth is, I've been going pretty much nuts all year. I constantly have to fight being scattered....Show more »

The truth is, I've been going pretty much nuts all year. I constantly have to fight being scattered. I feel like I'm on automatic pilot from fatigue. The hardest thing is trying to be present, living for the moment, for everybody in the family. Show less «

I really was about to pass out during my entire wedding. I just didn't know if I could marry anybody...Show more »

I really was about to pass out during my entire wedding. I just didn't know if I could marry anybody. Show less «

Television is a real woman's medium... but what's disturbing is, still even in television, women hav...Show more »

Television is a real woman's medium... but what's disturbing is, still even in television, women have so little to do with what's going on behind the scenes. Show less «

It was extremely hard going from being a parent of one to a parent of three, because now all these i...Show more »

It was extremely hard going from being a parent of one to a parent of three, because now all these instant decisions have to be made about how you balance out the time and attention between them. Show less «

I always hated perfect TV moms because I always thought that was unrealistic.

You have to be the parent; you can't be their friend.

I had been a real problem child, but once I got into acting, my parents never had any more trouble w...Show more »

I had been a real problem child, but once I got into acting, my parents never had any more trouble with me because all of that energy was directed in a positive way. Show less «

Losing their reproductive rights is the first step to how women live in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan...Show more »

Losing their reproductive rights is the first step to how women live in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. Show less «

I'd like us to deliver a little message to all the men still out there who think it's the '50s, and ...Show more »

I'd like us to deliver a little message to all the men still out there who think it's the '50s, and coming home simply means watching television with a beer. Show less «

Part of the whole L.A. mentality that nothing really matters unless it's a success... is such a shal...Show more »

Part of the whole L.A. mentality that nothing really matters unless it's a success... is such a shallow and dangerous attitude to have. Show less «

I didn't want to do comedy again. It is way harder when you are doing comedy. You can't just concent...Show more »

I didn't want to do comedy again. It is way harder when you are doing comedy. You can't just concentrate on the character and the plot. In comedy, the writers, instead of obsessing about character and plot, obsess about the jokes. Show less «

You go where you think it's good for your work and your soul to go. I need to go someplace where I a...Show more »

You go where you think it's good for your work and your soul to go. I need to go someplace where I am reminded about why I wanted to act in the first place, and for me, that's the theater. Show less «

I've had so many horrible things happen in my life since I did 'Home Improvement' that it's worried ...Show more »

I've had so many horrible things happen in my life since I did 'Home Improvement' that it's worried me about doing comedy because - how do I say this - I'm a much darker person than I was. Show less «

I don't understand that, because I think that what people like most about the show is that they reco...Show more »

I don't understand that, because I think that what people like most about the show is that they recognize themselves in the characters and their problems, so the more believable the family is, the more we can draw the audience in. Show less «

I have born-again Christians in my family, and they are completely against abortion... Everybody's g...Show more »

I have born-again Christians in my family, and they are completely against abortion... Everybody's got to stop being afraid of it real soon. Who's going to do it if a woman's network doesn't? People are going to be dying. Show less «

Tim on the show does a lot of that posturing, of course, and feels sort of threatened by women. But ...Show more »

Tim on the show does a lot of that posturing, of course, and feels sort of threatened by women. But even at that, you do see him cooking, and ultimately he's a good father because he spends a lot of time with the boys. Show less «

I know it's a lot harder for women who don't have enough help, but the truth is, no matter how much ...Show more »

I know it's a lot harder for women who don't have enough help, but the truth is, no matter how much money you have, if you want to stay involved with your children and don't want to lose being a primary parent to them, you're still in the game. Show less «

I still get the kids to the doctor and dentist and plan their play dates and buy their clothes.

I kind of feel like people like to dump on 'Home Improvement,' and I don't know why.

People who meet me think of Jill and transfer her strong qualities to me.

They see me as being this Super Mom on TV who also can more than handle a difficult husband, and the...Show more »

They see me as being this Super Mom on TV who also can more than handle a difficult husband, and they assume I'm going to be just full of wisdom as a mother and wife myself. Show less «

Patricia Richardson

Patricia Richardson's FILMOGRAPHY

Patricia Richardson'S roles

Feedback about this page?