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

Heidi Van Pelt is known to different people for different reasons but the biggest reason she was in the news is the difference of 16 years between her and the man she married. The ensuing controversy was enough to make the Van Pelt name a name that will never be forgotten. The subsequent divorce was as inflammatory as the beginning of the marriage.

Read on to learn more about her marriage to a child actor and the development of her vegan restaurant. On top of all this, we will tell you more about Heidi Van Pelt Biography, Facts To Know About Taran Noah Smith’s Ex-Wife

Heidi Van Pelt – Biography

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

The most crucial detail about her parents is their divorce when she was a child. For this reason, she grew up in a dysfunctional environment where she spent all her time living with either her father or mother at different times. They were not exactly model parents with her mother Marsha Duncan and a father who didn’t find the time to wish her a happy birthday. Regardless of the dysfunctional nature of their family unit their mother was a rock for them and encouraged them to follow any path they wanted to take.

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

While studying at Stephens College, she studied fashion design, but that didn’t work out. Her next ambition was to go to the University of Missouri, where she tried to study German and Philosophy, but the idea of becoming a CIA agent led her to the University of Washington in 1988 to complete a Russian Studies program, which took place at the university. The coursework proved to be too much for her, and after one semester Heidi Van Pelt quit.

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Education

Heidi Van Pelt was initially admitted to Blueprint High School, but she graduated from Oak Park High School. She then pursued a degree in Design and Fashion at Stephens College, however, decided to transfer to the University of Missouri where she studied German and Philosophy.

Her ambition to work with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) drove her to further education at the University of Washington, gaining a degree in Russian Studies before dropping out with just one semester left; this led her on an entrepreneurial path that saw her establish Emergent Films.

Heidi Van Pelt Career

After 1988 and leaving the University of Washington, Heidi Van Pelt founded Emergent Films, her own entertainment company. In a short time, the company was dissolved and she worked on the film sets.

Heidi Van Pelt led a dissatisfied life, which all changed when she met a vegan group of animal rights activists with whom she quickly became friends. These people took her in and helped her refine her skills in the art of vegan catering. As a result, she co-hosted her radio show on healthy eating and also appeared as a caterer at sophisticated parties in Hollywood.

At one of these parties, she met her future husband and the source of her fame, Taran Noah Smith, but he was fourteen years old at the time, the next time they met was at a movie premiere in 2000 when he was seventeen years old.

Marriage

In 2001 she married Taran Noah Smith who was a star in one of the most popular sitcoms of the 1990s Home Improvement. The two got married when Smith was just eighteen and Van Pelt thirty-four years old. The first time the couple tried to get married was at a time when Taran had to prove to the law that he was an adult and take control of his trust fund from which his parents had withdrawn money but which was turned down.

But in 2007 difficulties arose and the couple separated. The separation came after the feelings they had for each other began to dissolve aided by Smith’s deceit and excessive partying. All this began after they returned to California after a year on the run from the police and his parents. The association did not produce children and lasted for five years.

Heidi Van Pelt’s Net Worth

Heidi Van Pelt’s exact net worth is currently $300000 as of 2024, but it can be reasonably assumed that her cookery business has been lucrative and that her marriage to Taran Noah and their subsequent business partners have contributed significantly to increasing her wealth.

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Body Measurement, Height

In 2024, Heidi Van Pelt is 56 years old. She stands at 5 feet 8 inches (172 cm) and weighs 121 pounds (55 kg). Her eye color is blue and her hair color is blonde.

Facts About Taran Noah Smith’s Ex-Wife

Heidi Van Pelt owned a company called PlayFood that focused on the production of healthy foods, especially vegan cheese. It was funded by her ex-husband but collapsed when her marriage ended and also caused a legal battle between Van Pelt and Smith.

As a vegan caterer, Pelt worked with several stars one of whom is actor Woody Harrelson.

At the time of their marriage, Heidi Van Pelt was 32 years old and Taran Noah Smith was 17 years old; a difference in age of 16 years.

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

Van Pelt’s parents, unfortunately, split when she was just a baby. As a result of this challenging situation, her childhood years were spent alternating between visits to both of her parent’s homes.

Heidi Van Pelt reportedly has a net worth of $300000.

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