Timothy Charles McDaniel was born in 1965 at the Children's Hospital in San Francisco, California. His mother, an entertainer from New Jersey, and father, a nightclub owner from Texas, raised him in southern California. As a toddler, Tim spent much time visiting 20th Century Fox studios and television show sets, learning about the industry while his mother worked as a casting director.
At the age of 11 or 12, Tim started acting at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, California, performing small parts in Shakespeare plays. He also worked in a PBS special as a tween in a public service announcement about the dangers of sneaking into houses.
Before his 13th birthday, Tim landed a job at the Long Beach Convention Center in a production of Our Town, directed by Gower Champion and starring Eddie Albert. He played the role of Si Crowell, which ran for eight weeks, giving him on-set schooling.
Tim later played small roles in AFI film productions of Shakespeare plays and, by the time he turned 16, was auditioning for various movies, television shows, and commercials. He took a commercial acting class, got commercial photos, and landed a small role in a First Tennessee Bank commercial.
Tim attended acting classes in Hollywood, including one led by Geno Havens, and the Groundlings Improvisational Comedy Workshop, taught by Genevieve Robert. At 22, he won a leading role in the movie "Ghost Chase," directed by Roland Emmerich, and spent a few months filming in West Germany.
After returning to the states, Tim auditioned for and got a cameo role in the film "Casual Sex" with Lea Thompson and Victoria Jackson, which was directed by Genevieve Robert, his former teacher.
