Heidi Van Pelt – Biography, Facts To Know About Taran Noah Smith’s Ex-Wife

Quick Facts

Heidi Van Pelt is known by different people for different reasons but the biggest reason she has been featured in the news is because of the 16-year difference between her and the man she got married to. The ensuing controversy was enough to make the Van Pelt name one that will never be forgotten, the divorce that came afterwards was also as riotous as the beginning of the marriage.

To learn more about her marriage to a child actor and the development of her own vegan restaurant, keep reading.

Heidi Van Pelt – Biography

Heidi Van Pelt was born on the 11th of July in 1968 in the Midwestern state of Missouri where she also spent her childhood.

The major detail about her parents is their divorce when she was one and because of this, she grew up in a dysfunctional environment, where she spent all of her time going to live with either her father or mother at different times. They were not exactly model parents, with her mother, Marsha Duncan, and a father who could not find the time to wish her happy birthday. Regardless of the dysfunctional nature of her family unit, her mother was a rock to her, encouraging her to take whatever path she wished to venture into.

For high school, Heidi Van Pelt went to two schools – Oak Park High School and Blue Springs High, both located in Missouri. She graduated from high school in 1986 and went ahead to a college in Columbia – Stephens College.

While at Stephens College, she studied Fashion Design but that did not work. Her next endeavor was to go to the University of Missouri where she attempted to study German and Philosophy, but the idea of becoming a CIA agent led her to the University of Washington in 1988, to undertake a Russian Studies program that was going on at the university. The coursework proved to be too much for her and after one semester, Heidi Van Pelt quit.

Career

After 1988 and leaving the University of Washington, she launched Emergent Films, her own entertainment company. In a short time, the establishment folded up and she found herself working on the sets of films.

Van Pelt was leading an unsatisfied life, all of which changed when she met a vegan group of an animal rights activist who she quickly became friendly with. These people took her in and helped her hone her skills in the art of vegan catering. This led to her co-hosting her own show on healthy eating on the radio, as well as catering at highbrow parties in Hollywood. It was at one of such parties that she met her future husband and the source of her fame, but he was fourteen at the time, the next time they met was at a movie premiere in 2000 when he was seventeen.

Marriage

In 2001, she got married to Taran Noah Smith who was a star on one of the most popular sitcoms of the 1990s, Home Improvement. The two got married when Smith was just eighteen and Van Pelt was thirty-four. The first time the couple tried to get married was a period where Taran needed to prove to the law he was an adult and take control of his trust fund that his parents had been taking money out of but that was declined.

But by 2007, trouble hit and the couple split. The breakup came after the feelings they had for each other started to dissipate, aided by Smith’s cheating and excessive partying. All of this started after they had returned to California after a year away on the run from the police and his parents. The union produced no children and lasted for five years.

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Facts About Taran Noah Smith’s Ex-Wife

* Heidi owned a business called PlayFood which focused on the production of healthy food, especially vegan Cheese. It was funded by her ex-husband but collapsed as her marriage drew to an end and also caused a legal battle between Van Pelt and Smith.

* As a vegan caterer, Pelt worked with different stars, one of such is the actor, .

* She has also worked as a nutritionist, where she specialized in teaching homeless people how to use the vegetables they get from food pantries.

* Heidi Van Pelt reportedly has a net worth of $300,000.

Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.