If you grew up watching TV sitcoms like "Growing Pains", you most likely are familiar with quintessential TV dad Alan Thicke. Thicke died of a reported heart attack early this afternoon while playing hockey with his sons. He's also known in more modern circles as the father of R&B musician and "Blurred Lines" hitmaker Robin Thicke. He is survived by his wife Tanya and sons Brennan and Connor and Robin.
"Growing Pains" was a family sitcom about parents raising a young family in the suburbs. Alan Thicke played Psychiatrist Jason Seaver who moved his practice to his home to be closer to his journalist wife, played by Joanna Kerns. Growing Pains was material to the increase of the popularity of then teen idol Kirk Cameron, who played his son Mike. The show also responsible for an early start in the career of a certain young actor named Leonardo DiCaprio who played Luke Bower in the show's final seasons. The series ended in 1992.
Aside from "Growing Pains", Alan Thicke was also known for hosting his own show aplty named "The Alan Thicke Show". He's also had guest appearances in hit TV shows like "Married...With Children," "The Bold And The Beautiful" and more recently, also starred as himself in "How I Met Your Mother." In 2014 Alan Thicke also developed and starred in his own reality parody "Unusually Thicke." His most recent appearance in the small screen was another guest stint in the Netflix revival "Fuller House" whose second season premiered on December 9.
In a 2010 interview, he was asked to share his thoughts on "Growing Pains". He said, "I share the corny family values espoused on that show. Happy for the role, both, as I said. What it stood for and what it did for me and my life and my family and my career. So if that's what goes in my tombstone, I'm perfectly comfortable with it." He was 69. Do you have any fond TV memories of Alan Thicke? Share them in the comments section below.
