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Tim Allen Says He 'Never Really Wanted' to Be a Father

The actor links that ambivalence to his long recovery and describes how nearly 30 years of sobriety changed his relationships with his daughters.

Overview

  • Allen told US Weekly in an interview published June 12, 2026 that he "never really wanted" to be a dad and called fatherhood a "work in progress."
  • He is father to two daughters—Katherine Allen, from his first marriage to Laura Deibel, and Elizabeth Allen‑Dick, with his wife Jane Hajduk—and said Jane once joked they should have had five children.
  • Allen said he was not sober during parts of Katherine’s childhood, that he has been sober almost 30 years, and that he "made amends" with his older daughter.
  • He described a practical parenting approach that emphasized finances and self‑reliance over traditionally feminine pastimes and tied that view to growing up in a large family with mostly boys.
  • Allen recounted an earlier period of criminal activity and a two‑year prison sentence that led him to read, refocus his life and build a recovery narrative now resurfacing in publicity for Toy Story 5.