‘The Santa Clause’ turns 30! See the cast of the holiday classic, then and now

Tim Allen (Scott Calvin)

Going into 1994’s The Santa Clause, Tim Allen was best known as the comedian leading the hit ABC show Home Improvement.

He would go on to star in movies including Toy Story (and its sequels), Galaxy Quest (1999), and Christmas With the Kranks (2004), not to mention two more Santa Clause installments (2002, 2006). He also returned to TV in 2011 with the sitcom Last Man Standing, which aired its final season in 2021.

Allen joined his Home Improvement costar Richard Karn on History’s Assembly Required and More Power and reprised his beloved role as Scott Calvin on the Disney+ series The Santa Clauses, a continuation of The Santa Clause franchise. “When I show up dressed in the full suit and everything else, there’s big smiles on people’s faces,” Allen told EW in 2022. “I had totally forgotten that. It does feel like Santa’s in the room.”

He is set to return to the world of sitcoms with an upcoming ABC comedy, Shifting Gears.

Allen was married to his first wife, Laura Deibel, from 1984 to 2003; he married Jane Hajduk in 2006. He has two daughters, Katherine and Elizabeth — the latter even played his onscreen daughter in The Santa Clauses.

Judge Reinhold (Neal)

By the time The Santa Clause came his way, Judge Reinhold had already appeared in many beloved films, like Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) and the first three Beverly Hills Cop movies.

“Tim had made so much money for ABC and Disney that he brought ‘The Santa Clause’ to them, but they weren’t that crazy about it, they thought it was too far-fetched,” Reinhold told WTOP in 2024. “That movie was made for a budget price, then it went on to [success]. We won the People’s Choice Award, it was very exciting.”

After playing the patronizing psychiatrist stepfather Neal in the Christmas flick, Reinhold continued working mainly in film, and dipped into voice work on animated series including Teen Titans. Reinhold — who is active on Instagram — has slowed down his acting since 2017, but he came back with Eddie Murphy for Netflix‘s Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley in 2024.

Wendy Crewson (Laura)

Wendy Crewson played Laura, a woman caught between a husband who doesn’t believe in Santa (Reinhold) and an ex literally turning into the Christmas legend (Allen). The actress was a staple in the Canadian entertainment industry prior to The Santa Clause and its sequels.

She has gone on to appear in hit films like 1997’s Air Force One and 2020’s The Kid Detective with Adam Brody, and landed on the shows Workin’ Moms, Departure, Good Sam, Pretty Hard Cases, and Gray.

Crewson publicly came out as a lesbian in 2014. She has two children with ex-husband Michael Murphy.

Eric Lloyd (Charlie)

Audiences watched Eric Lloyd as Charlie grew from a little kid not believing in Santa to Santa’s teenage son.

“People will say, ‘Did I go to high school with you, or something?’ and I’ll say, “I don’t know, maybe!” Lloyd told ABC News in 2015. “It’s one of those films that when anyone that does recognize me it’s because they really enjoyed the film. It’s those people that watch it every year and are true fans of it.”

Lloyd’s previous claim to fame was playing the young version of Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) on The Wonder Years, but, after Clause, Lloyd would continue working as an actor on projects like Batman & Robin (1997) and the NBC show Jesse. He now runs a production studio in Los Angeles and also returned as Charlie for an episode of The Santa Clauses in 2022.

David Krumholtz (Bernard)

Playing Bernard, the original head elf in charge of Santa’s workshop, David Krumholtz had previously been one of the breakout stars of the cult favorite Addams Family Values (1993).

“At the time I was 16, and I had just started acting,” Krumholtz recalled to EW in 2022. “I didn’t know what about me was interesting, but I did have this kind of wise-cracking Queens attitude, and for lines like ‘Haven’t you people ever heard of basting?’, I guess that really worked.”

The actor has continued to find steady work, including projects like Numb3rs, the Harold & Kumar movies (2004, 2008, 2011), the HBO series The Deuce, the 2023 HBO miniseries White House Plumbers, and Christopher Nolan‘s Best Picture winner Oppenheimer (2023) — in addition to guest appearances on The Twilight Zone, Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens, Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, and The Santa Clauses.

Krumholtz has been married to his wife, actress Vanessa Britting, since 2010. He was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2011 and was deemed cancer-free a year later after successful treatment.

Paige Tamada (Judy)

Paige Tamada, who played The Santa Clause‘s sweet, scene-stealing elf Judy, had previously guest-starred on Home Improvement.

She would continue to make guest appearances on ’90s shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Ally McBeal before giving up acting around the turn of the millennium. She later graduated from U.C. Berkeley and now works as a retail industry executive. Tamara returned to acting for an episode of The Santa Clauses in 2023.

Larry Brandenburg (Detective Nunzio)

Larry Brandenburg has one of the funniest scenes in The Santa Clause, arresting Kris Kringle himself, but it wasn’t even the first big film he starred in that year.

The veteran actor went from roles in films like The Untouchables (1987), Field of Dreams (1989), and The Shawshank Redemption (1994) to later TV guest spots on shows like Monk, Grey’s Anatomy, and NCIS. Brandenburg’s acting career slowed down in 2010, but he is often mentioned in relation to retrospectives for the beloved films he’s appeared in, like 1996’s Fargo.

Peter Boyle (Mr. Whittle)

Legendary character actor Peter Boyle played Scott’s boss, who’s disturbed by the ever-expanding holiday hero’s transformative “bee sting.”

Doyle had been working long before The Santa Clause, in films like Young Frankenstein (1974) and Taxi Driver (1976). He was best known as the cranky patriarch on Everybody Loves Raymond, and died at age 71 a year after the hit sitcom ended in 2005.

Judith Scott (Susan)

Playing a co-worker of Scott’s, also disturbed by his transformation, TV actress Judith Scott would go on to have bigger roles on hit shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Dexter.

Scott continues to act, showing up decades later in Bad Hair (2020), The Little Things (2021), season 4 of Dear White People, and Netflix’s From Scratch — as well as a 2023 guest stint on Magnum P.I.

Steve Vinovich (Dr. Novos)

Adding to the list of characters in The Santa Clause shocked by Allen’s character’s transformation, Steve Vinovich played the good doctor guiding the Santa Claus-to-be through it.

Vinovich had previously starred on TV shows like Valerie, and would continue to work mostly on the small screen after The Santa Clause, on shows like ER, The Young and the Restless, and Days of Our Lives. He continues to act, having worked on the Epix show Godfather of Harlem, the 2020 film Worth (starring Michael Keaton and Stanley Tucci), and the Lifetime movies The Holiday Fix Up (2021) and The Holiday Dating Guide (2022).

He has two children with actress Carolyn Mignini, to whom he has been married since 1982.