What is Patricia Richardson's Net Worth and Salary?
Patricia Richardson is an American television and film actress who has a net worth of $20 million. Patricia Richardson is best known for her role as Jill Taylor on the hit television series "Home Improvement," where she starred alongside Tim Allen. The show, popular in the 1990s, earned her widespread recognition and several award nominations, including four Primetime Emmy Award nominations and two Golden Globe Award nominations. Her portrayal of a loving but no-nonsense mother and wife resonated with many viewers, cementing her as a household name. In total, she appeared in 202 episodes of the series. "Home Improvement" ran eight seasons between 1991 and 1999. As we detail in the next section, both Patricia and her co-star Tim Allen were offered insane salaries to do a ninth season, but they declined and the show ended.
Before "Home Improvement," Richardson had a diverse acting career, including roles in television and theater. She appeared in shows like "The Cosby Show" and "Quantum Leap." Her post-"Home Improvement" career continued with significant roles in series such as "Strong Medicine" and "The West Wing." She also starred in various TV movies and made appearances in several series.
Turning Down $25 Million
ABC executives were so eager for a ninth season of "Home Improvement" that they offered Tim Allen $50 million, $2 million per episode, and Patricia Richardson $25 million, $1 million per episode. Tim was very on board. Patricia was not pleased. As she would later tell it, Patricia was incensed that once again the network was treating the two stars extremely differently in terms of compensation. She responded to their offer by requesting pay parity with Tim, as in $2 million per episode, and ABC opted to end the series. Patricia would later also explain that at that point she was recently divorced and raising kids as a single mother. She also had an ailing parent she wanted to care for.
"The reason I turned down the ninth year of Home Improvement was because I was a single [divorced] parent and away from my kids too much."
"I also passed up another show that won, like, 30 Emmys. But I don't mean to sound like, 'Oh, I sacrificed this huge thing for my children,' because it's what I wanted. Granted, it's what they needed, but it was also what I needed because I missed them terribly. Home Improvement had much longer days than most sitcoms. Because I was involved in all the writing, I was away from them more than I wanted and felt I missed so many things."
And, she says, it wasn't as hard a decision as you might think to step away from it all, given the attitude that both she and one of her most famous costars shared about the perils of celebrity:
"I really hated fame. Jonathan Taylor Thomas and I had similar reactions — he backed off, too, and went to school. I didn't do charity events, because I was desperate for time with my kids and husband, who was always mad I was never home. Hence the divorce."
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Early Life
Patricia Castle Richardson was born on February 23, 1951 in Bethesda, Maryland. Patricia attended multiple high schools before attending Southern Methodist University, graduating in 1972. During her college years, she brushed shoulders with actors such as Beth Henley and Stephen Tobolowsky. Tobolowsky was initially considered for a role in "Home Improvement" but turned it down due to scheduling conflicts. He then suggested Patricia to the producers, and she was able to audition for the role of Jill after Frances Fisher was passed over. Patricia remains a Methodist to this day, and she is also a registered Democrat.
Career
"Home Improvement" effectively launched Richardson's mainstream career, but she had been involved in theatrical productions from an earlier age. Her first major achievement was becoming an understudy for a Broadway production of "Gypsy: A Musical Fable." She spent the next ten years working heavily on the stage, appearing in a range of both Broadway and off-Broadway productions.
During this early period, she also began her television career with roles in shows like "The Equalizer," "Spencer For Hire," and "Kate & Allie." Another notable role came with "The Cosby Show," in which she played a pregnant woman giving birth to her ninth child. During the 80s, she also appeared in films such as "Christmas Evil" and "C.H.U.D." By the late 80s, she was appearing in shows like "Quantum Leap."
Although she had the opportunity to work on a sitcom in L.A. during the 80s, Patricia chose to stay in New York and focus on Broadway productions such as "The Miss Firecracker Contest." That said, she appeared in a few seasons of sitcoms like "Double Trouble," "Eisenhower and Lutz," and "FM" during the 80s. In 1989, Richardson appeared in three movies: "Parent Trap III," "Lost Angels," and "In Country."
Home Improvement
By 1991, Patricia had just given birth to twins when she was given the chance to audition for the role of Jill Taylor in the new sitcom "Home Improvement." She booked the role, and it became one of the most defining moments in her career. Over the course of the series, she was nominated for four Emmys and two Golden Globes. This increase in notoriety also resulted in her hosting the Emmys and booking a number of additional roles in other projects, such as 1997's "Ulee's Gold." The film earned her a nomination for an Independent Spirit Award.
"Home Improvement" continued onward for eight seasons, eventually coming to a close in 1999.
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Other Work
Over the next few years, Patricia continued to book roles in a variety of productions. In 2002, she joined the cast of "Strong Medicine," replacing Janine Turner. She spent three seasons on this show before booking a recurring role as a campaign manager in the final two seasons of "The West Wing." Richardson then followed up with an appearance in the first season of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" before executive producing a documentary called "Long Story Short" in 2008.
During the 2010s, Richardson appeared in a number of made-for-TV films, such as "The Jensen Project," "Smart Cookies," and "Bringing Ashley Home." She also booked a role in the 2012 film "Beautiful Wave" during this period. Tim Allen and Patricia eventually reunited for an episode of "Last Man Standing," appearing together in the 12th episode of the fourth season. Richardson then made another appearance in the 5th season of "Last Man Standing." By 2015, Patricia attempted to gain the presidency of the SAG-AFTRA union, which is one of the biggest acting unions in the world. However, she lost narrowly to Ken Howard. Richardson remains on the board nonetheless.
Towards the end of the 2020s, Patricia turned her attention towards stage work once again. In 2016, she appeared in a production of "Steel Magnolias" alongside actors such as Elaine Hendrix, Lucy DeVito, Jessica Walter, and Susan Sullivan. The play was also directed by four-time Oscar nominee Marsha Mason. This play continued for the next three years and eventually became the highest-grossing show in the history of the Bucks County Playhouse.
Other Ventures
Patricia is closely involved with an organization called Cure PSP, having served on the organization's Board of Directors for many years. This research organization is dedicated to illnesses such as progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, and multiple system atrophy. Richardson is passionate about this topic, as her father passed away from PSP in 2005.
Personal Life & Real Estate
In 1982, Patricia Richardson married Ray Baker, a fellow actor. They welcomed their first child into the world in 1985 before having twins in 1991. In 1995, Richardson and Baker finalized their divorce. Richardson then pursued a relationship with a retired psychologist named Mark Cline, whom she met while attending Southern Methodist University.
In January 1995, at the peak of "Home Improvement," Patricia paid $1.1 million for a 4,000 square foot mansion set on 1-acre in Los Angeles. She still owns this house today and it is worth roughly $6-7 million.
