T.L. was born Thomas, but adopted his initials as a nickname in elementary school. Hailing originally from Lansing, Michigan, he moved back and forth between his divorced parents through his early childhood from Michigan to California and back, finally settling down in Naples, Florida from fifth grade onward. He graduated Lely High School in 1986 and slowly got his AA degree from Edison Community College in Ft. Myers, now known as Edison State College. He married early and together with his wife attended Florida State University where he received his Media Production degree with honors and won Outstanding Media Production Student of the Year in 1993. Shortly after that they moved to Central Florida and had two boys, Alex and Zachary. Now divorced, T.L. still lives in the area and continues to make commercial productions as well as short films. His son, 'Zach Westgate' , has also acted with him in short films.
