With a number one show to her name, Patricia Richardson is a Hollywood name that many people are highly familiar with. Starring as Jill Taylor, the mother of a busy family in the hit sitcom “Home Improvement,” she has spent years on the TV show’s set, bringing her character to life and being the antithesis of her co-star Tim Allen.
Now, the actress is 72 years old and proudly showed off her gray locks at her daughter’s wedding. Richardson looked radiant, posting a slew of photos to Twitter after the ceremony where her family had spent some time together celebrating.
Patricia Richardson and Tim Allen in “Home Improvement,” September 17, 1991 | Source: Getty Images
Patricia Richardson and Tim Allen in “Home Improvement,” July 1, 1994 | Source: Getty Images
Richardson posted several snapshots of the big day, showing her children and other members of the family gathered to celebrate her daughter, Roxanne Baker’s wedding. The images showed Richardson holding a baby and planting a kiss on the little one’s forehead. There were also snaps of her kids sharing a moment.
While she worked on “Home Improvement” for eight years, Richardson also tried to balance family life.
The actress captioned the images by writing about how the family had to wait through three years of the COVID-19 pandemic and her daughter’s indecision about venues to have the wedding. Finally, they found the perfect site for the ceremony in the mountains of Ojai, where they spent a weekend celebrating the happy new couple.
Besides her daughter, Richardson also has two sons. Roxanne has a twin brother, Joseph Castle Baker, who works as a stand-up comedian, writer, and actor. Joe has made numerous comedy skits, including one about him coming out as gay to his parents. The twins have an older brother, Henry Baker, who is also married.
Patricia Richardson on March 15, 2023 in Burbank, California | Source: Getty Images
Patricia Richardson and Joseph Castle Baker in New York City in 2013 | Source: Getty Images
In the past, Richardson has been open about the choices she has made in life and the things she would regret when she eventually looked back on her life. Many would think the actress regretted her choice to stop working on “Home Improvement,” turning down a massive contract. She opened up about why she stepped down.
Why Did Patricia Richardson Reject Millions?
Although “Home Improvement” made her career a success, the show also took its toll on Richardson’s personal life. She has been open about her marital struggles, saying she initially never trusted herself to be married. Nonetheless, she tied the knot with Ray Baker, and the pair shared many happy years.
These days, Richardson is still a devoted mother and grandmother.
Patricia Richardson in “Home Improvement,” October 6, 1993 | Source: Getty Images
Patricia Richardson and Ray Baker on April 8, 1995 | Source: Getty Images
While she worked on “Home Improvement” for eight years, Richardson also tried to balance family life. She had three children to raise, a husband who wanted her to be home more, and parents to take care of. For a while, the actress was the only caretaker for her parents, who had increasingly bad health.
Nonetheless, she kept working for close to a decade. During the course of her career, she also faced a divorce from her long-time husband. Although Baker encouraged her to work on “Home Improvement” at first, the show started taking up all her time, and after a while, the pair couldn’t work out their differences.
Patricia Richardson and Ray Baker on May 10, 1994 in New York City, New York | Source: Getty Images
Patricia Richardson and her kids in Westwood, California, United States, 2002 | Source: Getty Images
Richardson recalled how she would often turn down doing charity events because she never had time to spend with her children. Eventually, Baker filed for divorce, making Richardson a single mother. After the separation, she realized she was the only one around to look after her kids, so she had to make a choice.
Besides being an actress on the show, Richardson also wrote. The actress helped the show’s creators make her character seem as real and relatable as possible. But she couldn’t keep working so many hours and be a good mom to her children, so she made the difficult choice to step down from the show.
Patricia Richardson and her kids in 2000 | Source: Getty Images
Richardson refused to work on “Home Improvement’s” ninth year, turning down a $30 million deal in the process. She also turned down another project that won 30 Emmys. Despite this, the actress is glad she chose her family over her career, recalling, “I was away from them more than I wanted and felt I missed so many things.”
Does Patricia Richardson Have Any Regrets?
Giving up a role like the one she had would leave many people looking back and wondering how their life would have been had they decided to accept the offer. Although Richardson does think back about some of the things she missed out on because she chose her family over her career, the actress believes she made the best choice.
She opened up about the time before she decided to quit “Home Improvement,” recalling how she had to take care of her mother and father, who were seriously ill in their last few years. With her sister’s help, Richardson took care of her parents while working on “West Wing,” and by the time she finished, they had both passed away.
Patricia Richardson on “NCIS,” November 8, 2021 | Source: Getty Images
Getting through “Home Improvement” proved challenging even though she enjoyed it. Richardson is proud of the fact that she worked hard to make a success of her career, but she’s glad to have stepped down when she did. The actress also noted that she had been away from her kids for so long that she had to work on her parenting skills again.
These days, Richardson is still a devoted mother and grandmother. She often shares snapshots of herself with her family. On May 7, 2023, she shared an image of her with her grandchild. In the caption, she wrote, “Happy Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers and grandmothers today!”
Although Richardson gave up her role in “Home Improvement,” she’s living a happy life as a grandmother. She shared an image of her grandson and granddaughter playing in their yard, showing the young boy putting his arms around her granddaughter in a playful gesture. The proud granny wrote, “Grandson learning about unwelcome hugging.”
