Actor Tim Allen said he has struggled for over 60 years to forgive the drunk driver who killed his father, only now finding the will to do so after hearing Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, say she forgave the young man charged with murdering her husband.
Allen, who is best known for playing Tim “The Toolman” Taylor on the sitcom “Home Improvement,” reflected on Erika’s speech during the Sunday memorial service for her husband, where she revealed that she forgave Tyler Robinson, the man charged with killing her husband.
“When Erika Kirk spoke the words on the man who killed her husband: ‘That man … that young man … I forgive him.’ That moment deeply affected me,” the 72-year-old actor wrote in a Thursday X post. “I have struggled for over 60 years to forgive the man who killed my Dad. I will say those words now as I type: ‘I forgive the man who killed my father.’”
“Peace be with you all,” Allen stated.
During the memorial service in Glendale, Arizona, Kirk’s 36-year-old widow said she forgave her husband’s assassin because Jesus Christ forgave those who crucified Him on the cross.
“On the cross, our Savior said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they [know not] what they do,'” Erika said, adding, “That young man, I forgive him,” which prompted applause from the crowd.
“I forgive him because it was what Christ did, and is what Charlie would do,” she said. “The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the Gospel is love, is always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”
Allen was 11 when his father, real estate agent Gerald M. Dick, was killed by a drunk driver in November 1964, according to USA Today. The actor’s father was driving Allen’s mom and a car full of children home from a football game in Colorado when a drunk driver swerved and collided with the vehicle.
During an interview on “The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe” in April, Allen opened up about how the pain of losing his father impacted him throughout most of his life.
“My father was killed by a drunk driver when I was 11 years old,” the actor and voice of Buzz Lightyear in “Toy Story” told Rowe. “Luckily, he was the only one killed, but he died in my mother’s lap; my other two brothers were thrown around the car, a lot of kids were hurt.”
“The pain of it never stopped,” Allen said about losing his father.
Though he was raised Episcopalian, Allen has previously said the death of his father and other tragedies in his life resulted in him going through a period of skepticism. In a 2011 interview, Allen stated that, over time, he began to view God as “The Builder,” someone he consults for purpose and direction in his life.
In June, the actor announced that he was reading through the New Testament, saying he was “amazed” by the Gospel of Paul.
“Finished the Old Testament, and it is such a gift when I get out of the way and the words and meaning flow.”
In February, Allen announced he’d read through and re-read the Old Testament — an experience he described as a “treasure.”
“After nearly a year, I have finished [the] entire Old Testament and the experience of re reading, dedicated focus, and no drifting has made this a humbling [,] overwhelming experience. What a treasure,” he wrote.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
