The 41-year-old seemed to have avoided the pitfalls of child stardom, then “he torched … all aspects of his life.” How did it all go so wrong? Friends, family, TV dad Tim Allen and Bryan himself talked to The Hollywood Reporter to detail his fall.
Every episode of ABC’s blockbuster 1990s sitcom Home Improvement ended with a life lesson. For eight seasons and 203 episodes, Americans tuned in weekly by the tens of millions to watch Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor, wife Jill and their three sons wrestle with dilemmas typical of middle-class American households, only to discover solutions and restore peace in a tight 22 minutes.
“What a Drag,” a season seven entry that aired Feb. 24, 1998, focused a lens on eldest son Brad, played by Zachery Ty Bryan, as it’s discovered he stashed marijuana in the family’s backyard gazebo. When confronted, Brad lies and deflects but eventually comes clean to his parents, played by Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson, and younger brother Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), who says in melodramatic fashion, “I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on with you.”
The episode culminates with a heart-to-heart on the living room sofa. “When you’re young, you want to have adventures. You think nothing bad can happen to you. It’s not true,” offers Richardson’s Jill after she, too, arrives at an honest moment of reflection to reveal that when she experimented with (laced) weed at a Led Zeppelin concert, it landed her behind bars. “Why would you want to take that risk?”
Tim picked it up from there. “Your life’s on track now. You don’t want to do stuff that will get it off track,” he advises. Brad apologizes and awaits “sentencing” before Tim lovingly concludes that he’s “a good kid” in such a way that it’s easy to see why he earned the title of America’s Dad.
By all accounts, Zachery Ty Bryan was a good kid. Friends and colleagues recall a strong work ethic, a love for family, a talent for soccer and a fierce ambition. The drive persisted into adulthood. “No rich parents. No assistance. No handouts. No favors. No excuses. Straight hunger. Straight ambition. Straight hustle. If I want it, I’m gonna go get it. Period,” Bryan tweeted on July 16, 2020. That same year, a darker version of Bryan began to emerge. Sources say his life had taken a dramatic turn evidenced by arrests for domestic violence and driving under the influence, and a trail of jilted investors who believe they were duped in a crypto scheme. The narrative puts a 2020s spin on the age-old parable of the promising child actor who goes off the rails later in life.
