Al Borland

Al Borland is Tim's best friend, and the co-host of Tool Time. Al is a quiet, serious, knowledgeable guy -- Tim's exact opposite.

RICHARD KARN: Richard Karn Wilson was born on February 17, 1956 in Seattle, Washington where he attended the University of Washington's Professional Actor's Training Program. Before Richard rose to fame on "Home Improvement," he appeared in many off-Broadway and Broadway shows. It was on the stage that he met his wife Trudi Roche. Karn found out about "Home Improvement" while attending traffic school, after running a red light. It was there that Karn met an agent who told him about "Home Improvement." Although Karn landed the gig as Tim Allen's "Tool Time" sidekick, Al Borland, he wasn't certain it would pay the bills so he kept his day job as an apartment manager until the end of the first season of "Home Improvement. Now Karn is the spokesperson for Wayne-Dalton, the world's largest garage door manufacturer, and sponsor of the annual Wayne Dalton/Richard Karn Celebrity Golf Classic, which raises funds for the internationally renowned Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle's Overlake Hospital. The tournament is broadcast on ESPN, and focuses attention on the disease that claimed the life of Karn's mother, noted Pacific Northwest artist Louise Wilson. Karn and his wife, married since 1985, have a son named Cooper Andrew Wilson.