Canadian actor, songwriter and host Alan Thicke passed away late yesterday in Los Angeles due to a heart attack after a game of hockey with his youngest son. He was 69 years old and had an extensive career in television and film.
Thicke began his career as host of several gameshows in the 1970s before getting his own Canadian talk show, The Alan Thicke Show, and later an American version called Thicke of the Night. His most prominent role, however, was the 1985 series Growing Pains in which he played family patriarch Dr. Jason Roland Seaver for ABC. The series ran on ABC for 7 seasons, over 150 episodes, and is responsible for launching the career of Leonardo DiCaprio in its later years.
Thicke was also an accomplished songwriter both for the music and television industry, creating the theme songs for Diff’rent Strokes, The Facts of Life and gameshow Wheel of Fortune. His eldest son Robin has even started a music career of his own, most notably singing ‘Blurred Lines’ with Pharrell Williams.
Alan Thicke was still active in television in recent years, from a guest role as an exaggerated version of himself in How I Met Your Mother to more recently a guest appearance in season two of Netflix’s Fuller House. He was inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame in 2013 and is survived by his wife Gina Tolleson and sons Carter, Brennen and Robin.
Originally published December 14, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
