Richard Karn

Biography

Richard Wilson is an American actor, game show host. He hosted the popular show Family Feud between 2002 and 2006. He is popular for playing roles- Al Borland in Home Improvement, Arthur Piller in Ctrl(2009), Judge Jon Oplinger in The Bold and the Beautiful (2017), Richard Karn in Detroiters(2017).

Childhood- Family

Richard Wilson was born on 17th February 1956 in Seattle, Washington, United States to Gene Wilson(Father)- an US Navy construction worker who served in the World War 2 (also a retired building contractor.)  &  Louise Wilson(Mother)- an artist.

Education

• Portage Northern High School (class of 1969)
• Nathan Eckstein Junior High School
• Roosevelt High School (Seattle, Washington)
• University of Washington: He attended the Washington University in Seattle, Washington; and has a degree in Drama (Bachelor of Film Arts, Professional Actor Training Program) he was in the class of 1979.  Richard was in the Beta Theta Pi (ΒΘΠ)fraternity at the University of Washington, Seattle.
• Edinburgh Festivals, Scotland: Richard attended the Edinburgh Festivals in Scotland where he got trained in Drama acting.

Marriage

Richard Karn & Tudi Roche

Richard & Tudi met on an off-broadway play- The other Shore(1983), they eventually got married in 1985, the couple have son named Cooper Andrew Wilson born on March 4th 1992. [3] They appeared together on the TV series Home Improvement.

The couple moved to New York in search of a better life on a 74 Buick Apollo car.

Image: Richard Karn Family: Tudi Roche(wife), Cooper(Son)

Filmography

Movies

TV Series/ Shows

Career

Michelob beer commercial: Right after his commercial Richard moved to New York where he found a role in the Beer commercial. It was an international brand with large market share, the Ad was even shown at the Super Bowl of 1980.

More Commercials: He later appeared in:

• 50 Floor flooring company
• Black & Decker
• Edenpure infrared heater
• Hilshire Farm Smoked Sausage
• Internet Tool Box
• Kodak printers
• Little Giant ladder systems
• Michelob beer
• Mitre 10 hardware store
• Orchard Supply Hardware
• Pocket Hose Ultra
• Wahl's hair clippers and trimmers (WAHL Grooming Kit)

He worked as an apartment complex manager initially in his career (for half the season of Home Improvement until the apartment people used to bring friends to show him off). He also worked as a food caterer at the Jewish events.

Home Improvement

He was pulled over and his insurance did not cover it, he was ordered 8 hours of traffic school in the 1990s, the lady who was sitting next to him was an Hollywood agent, they discussed acting and stuff and he mentioned he did not have an agent, and she became his agent that way, he got a role in the 'Home Improvement' through her for just the pilot season, luckily for him his character got extended and became one of the main characters. The role had previously gone to Stephen Tobolowsky, who couldn't take up the role and he had to be replaced. He got so popular that he bought his Cadillac within a few pay checks.

Richard played a handy man on Home Improvement, being the son of a construction expert he actually knew how to use all the tools.

Family Feud

He landed on the game show as its 4th host after Louie Anderson in 2002, he continued till 2006. 

Someday: Richard appeared on 'The Strokes' song as the Family Feud game host , the theme of the song was a fight between "The Stokes" & "Guided by Voices"

GSN Radio Host: He hosted the internet Game Show Network Radio in 2008. Bingo America was another show he hosted for GSN

Stage

• The Other Shore(1983)
• The Nerd(1988)
• Harvey(1989)

Books

In collaboration with writer George Mair, Richard has authored two books: 

• House Broken: How I Remodeled My Home for Just Under Three Times the Original Bid (1999)
• Handy at Home: Tips on Improving Your Home from America's Favorite Handyman (2002)

Music Videos

• Careless Whisper(2018): In this "Train" song from the album "Greatest Hits", he plays a Saxophone player. It features Kenny G
• Someday(2002): He appears as himself in this Family Feud parody by "The Strokes" from the album "It This It"

Facts & Trivia

• His acting interest started in 5th grade, he was involved with acting all throughout high school.
• Richard Wilson to Richard Karn: When he joined Screen Actors Guild(SAG), He removed his last name Wilson and continued with his middle name Karn as the surname, there was already another person with the name Richard Wilson.
• Celebrity Golf Tournament: Richard is passionate about Golf, he sometimes arranges annual Golf competition of celebrities, these events have been attended by Craig Nelson, Debbe Dunning, Samuel Jackson, Tom Poston among others. Golf tournaments were arranged after softball games, Dinner & auction.
• Charity Works: The events organised were intended to raise funds for cancer research.
• He is still close with the cast of Home Improvement, he often plays golf with Tim Allen.
• His father who was a playboy reader since 1960s, once attended the sets Richard was working, he saw Pamela Anderson there and instantly recognized her, next time he brought a copy of Playboy with she on the cover and requested her to sign it, being a sweet girl that she is, she signed it for Richard's dad.
• Death Hoax: There was an online rumor about his health, source of the hoax are unknown.
• His son Cooper set up his Twitter account.
• Infomercial: He has appeared in numerous Infomercials, Hose commrecials among them.
• Cameo Link: He offers personalied videos on Holiday/Birthday wishes, home design tips, pep talk, roast, advice or you can ask him any question. He has already created 500+ customized videos
• Football: He was a football player when in college, he has been a football fan all through his life. The Washington Huskies football team are his favorite.

Quotes

• [About using his fame to promote charity] I have a nice high-profile job and I want to take advantage of it in a positive way
• I wasn't trying to steal the show, I wasn't trying to do more than that was there.
• I never really did stand-up, Stand-ups are a whole another breed [it takes time to get to appreciate them]
• I had the beard [at the auditions] because I was lazy [the casting directors liked it and it became his trademark]
• Sometimes you just have to stop and smell the world
• I was a little extraverted in youth, I think auditioned in junior high on a dare.
• I don't like to be away from my family for long periods.
• [About studying in Europe] I think staying away from home, being on my own self, have things that are not handed to me, I was dealing with people I didn't know, it all helped with experience.
• It was really fun working with Tim Allen, he makes me laugh hard, I have made him laugh hard too.
• Pamela was great, when we worked day to day, she never wore makeup, she was so pretty even without makeup.
• I’ve thought long and hard about NFT’s and I’ve decided it’s not something I need to do. [2]
• [on his his mother's death] I thought my parents were invincible. It never occurred to me she would die [4]

Updates

• He attended the Indiana Comic convention of December 2023
• In May 2023 he attended Tampa Bay comic convention
• In May 2022, he was Raising money for the Biletnikoff foundation
• In June 2020, he announced that he would no longer be honoring requests for autographs. [4]

Sources

1. Richard Karn on wikipedia
2. On NFTs on X
3. Cooper Karn's birthday
4. IMDB Bio
5.