Zachery Ty Bryan. Gregg DeGuire/WireImage Zachery Ty Bryan has faced major ups and downs over the years after becoming a household name. Bryan got his big break when he was cast as Brad Taylor on the ABC sitcom Home Improvement. The show, which ran from 1991 to 1999, also starred Tim Allen, Patricia Richardson, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Taran Noah Smith. While the sitcom was a hit, Bryan struggled to navigate life after stardom. "If you star in a TV show today, you can be in any film that you want, but back then, it was the polar opposite," Bryan told The Hollywood Reporter in June 2023. "You were stigmatized as a TV star, and no matter how good your audition, you were never going to be taken seriously. But I kept at it." Child Stars: Where Are They Now? Mary-Kate, Ashley Olsen, Hilary Duff, More Bryan found it "really difficult" to find stability after Home Improvement wrapped, adding, "On the same token, you might get turned down on a bunch of projects, but you could go out at night and hang out with your buddies at Mel's Diner and everybody knows you." After pivoting from acting to producing, Bryan was involved in projects including Prowl, Rogue River and The Grief Tourist. His legal woes have overshadowed his post-Home Improvement career. In October 2020, Bryan was arrested for allegedly strangling his partner Johnnie Faye Cartwright. Us Weekly confirmed that Bryan agreed to a plea deal in the domestic violence case, agreeing to plead guilty to menacing and fourth-degree assault. Bryan, who remained in a relationship with Cartwright, later claimed the incident was "blown out of proportion." "We got really loud. We were screaming and because we were in a townhome that had [thin walls], everybody could hear," he told THR in June 2023, alleging that he and Cartwright didn't "even really get that physical" before he was arrested. "At the end of the day, [the police] throw a bunch of counts at you because they ultimately want you to plead to something. I could've fought it - but that's more stress and drama." Celebrity Mugshots Through the Years: Lindsay Lohan, Shia LaBeouf and More While reflecting on his personal struggles, Bryan said he considered it all a lesson. "I do know when things get in the way of who you're meant to be, where you're supposed to go and what God has planned for you," he continued at the time. "He sometimes challenges you to do some reflecting by looking in the mirror and taking responsibility." Bryan has since been charged several more times for domestic violence and a DUI, and was arrested for a probation violation in 2025. Keep scrolling for Bryan's ups and downs over the years: 1990s Cover Images After being raised by his parents in Denver, Bryan started acting by appearing in local print and TV ads. He later appeared at a showcase in New York City, which caught the eye of a talent rep that convinced Bryan and his family to move to California. Bryan was subsequently cast as the oldest Taylor child on Home Improvement. "Obviously, my life flipped upside down and everywhere you go, people know who you are, but I give a lot of credit to my dad and my mom because they always kept me grounded," Bryan told THR in June 2023 while calling his time on the sitcom as "some of the best days" of his life. Early 2000s Bryan remained a consistent onscreen presence with roles on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Boston Public, Family Law, Center of the Universe and Veronica Mars. After appearing in several 2009 projects including Meteor and THOR: Hammer of the Gods, Bryan took a break from being in front of the camera and became a producer on multiple films. 2007-2020 While attending La Cañada High School, Bryan met and started dating Carly Matros. The couple, who tied the knot in 2007, expanded their family with twin girls in 2014. Matros gave birth to their third daughter in 2016 and a son in 2019. Following 13 years of marriage, Bryan and Matros called it quits in 2020. 'Home Improvement' Cast: Where Are They Now? May 2020 Bryan entered a guilty plea after being booked for a DUI. He was sentenced to five years of probation and 18 months of a multiple-offender alcohol program due to a past record of DUI arrests. October 2020 Lane County Jail via Getty Images Bryan's legal issues continued when he was arrested for allegedly strangling Cartwright, who he started dating after his divorce from Matros. He received three years of probation, which included attending a violence intervention program called Bridges2Safety. As part of the deal, prosecutors agreed to drop six other charges against him, including strangulation and coercion. 2021-2022 In the aftermath of his arrest, Bryan and Cartwright stayed together and got engaged in November 2021. The pair have since welcomed three kids. He made a TV comeback in Netflix's 2022 series The Guardians of Justice. June 2023 In a profile about Bryan, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that he was accused of running a fraudulent agriculture-technology startup scheme