38 Facts About Alan Thicke

1.

Alan Thicke is the father of American singer Robin Thicke.

2.

In 2013, Thicke was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.

3.

Alan Thicke was best known for playing Dr Jason Seaver on the 1980s sitcom Growing Pains on ABC.

4.

Alan Thicke was born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, the son of Shirley "Joan" Isobel Marie, a nurse, and William Jeffrey, a stockbroker.

5.

Alan Thicke's mother remarried Brian Thicke, a physician, and they moved to Elliot Lake.

6.

Alan Thicke graduated from Elliot Lake Secondary School in 1965 and was elected homecoming king.

7.

Alan Thicke went on to attend the University of Western Ontario joining the Delta Upsilon fraternity.

8.

Alan Thicke hosted the Canadian game show "Face The Music" for CHCH-TV by Niagara Television in 1975.

9.

Norman Lear hired Alan Thicke to produce and head the writing staff of Fernwood 2 Night, a tongue-in-cheek talk show based on characters from Lear's earlier show, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.

10.

Alan Thicke had a successful career as a TV theme song composer, often collaborating with his then-wife Gloria Loring on these projects, which included the themes to the popular sitcoms Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life.

11.

Alan Thicke co-wrote "Sara", a solo hit for Bill Champlin and included on the latter's Runaway album.

12.

Alan Thicke produced a variety of television shows, including Anne Murray Christmas specials for the CBC, beginning in the late 1970s.

13.

Alan Thicke became well-known when he played Jason Seaver, a psychiatrist and father, on the family sitcom Growing Pains.

14.

Alan Thicke reprised his role in two reunion TV movies, The Growing Pains Movie and Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers.

15.

Alan Thicke co-hosted the Walt Disney World Very Merry Christmas Parade with Joan Lunden from 1983 to 1990, when he was succeeded by Regis Philbin.

16.

Alan Thicke hosted the 1987 and 1988 Crystal Light National Aerobic Championships.

17.

In 1987, Alan Thicke appeared as Dr Jonas Carson, who creates an android that looks just like a human teenage boy, and he "adopts" him as his son in the Disney Channel film Not Quite Human.

18.

Alan Thicke replaced Barker again as host of the 1988 Miss Universe Pageant in Taipei, Taiwan.

19.

Alan Thicke continued to host a wide range of variety TV events.

20.

In 1992, Alan Thicke appeared as himself in the pilot episode of the sitcom Hangin' with Mr Cooper.

21.

Alan Thicke appeared in the end-credits scene, alongside series star Mark Curry, humorously referencing the pilot episode being filmed on the same set used as the Seavers' home on Growing Pains.

22.

Alan Thicke made guest appearances on shows such as Murder, She Wrote, Married.

23.

From 2001 to 2003, Alan Thicke hosted Animal Miracles on the Pax TV network.

24.

In 2008, Alan Thicke appeared in a major supporting role as Jim Jarlewski in the television series adaptation of Douglas Coupland's jPod.

25.

In February 2009, Alan Thicke made guest appearances on Adult Swim's Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job.

26.

Alan Thicke had a role in the 2009 film, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard.

27.

Alan Thicke made a guest appearance on a few episodes of Canada's Worst Handyman 5.

28.

From 2014 to 2015, Alan Thicke starred in his own reality series, Unusually Alan Thicke, which aired on Pop.

29.

In October 2016, Alan Thicke appeared as himself in the pilot episode of NBC's This is Us.

30.

In 2007, Alan Thicke appeared in a television ad for Tahiti Village, a Las Vegas time-share resort.

31.

In 2009, Alan Thicke began appearing in TV ads endorsing CCS Medical, a distributor of home-delivered diabetes supplies.

32.

From 2011, Alan Thicke was the spokesperson for Cambridge Life Solutions, a Canadian company that promised to reduce unsecured consumer debt through a method known as debt settlement, which had been outlawed in the United States by the Federal Trade Commission as a predatory practice in 2010 and was banned in Ontario in 2015.

33.

Alan Thicke was married three times: His first marriage, to Days of Our Lives actress Gloria Loring, lasted from 1970 until 1984; they had two sons, Brennan and Robin.

34.

In 1987 at the age of 40, Alan Thicke began dating 17-year old Kristy Swanson.

35.

Alan Thicke married his second wife, Miss World 1990 Gina Tolleson, on 13 August 1994, and had a son, Carter William Thicke, before their divorce was finalized on 29 September 1999.

36.

On 13 December 2016, Alan Thicke collapsed while playing ice hockey with his son Carter at Pickwick Gardens in Burbank, California.

37.

Alan Thicke died later that day of type-A aortic dissection at the Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, at the age of 69.

38.

Alan Thicke was buried at Santa Barbara Cemetery in Santa Barbara, California.