Alan Thicke

Alan Thicke

Thicke at the "Night of 100 Stars", at the Beverly Hills Hotel, March 2010
Born Alan Willis Jeffery
(1947-03-01) March 1, 1947
Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada
Alma mater University of Western Ontario
Occupation Actor, composer, TV host
Years active 1969–present
Spouse(s)
Children Brennan Thicke
Robin Thicke
Carter Thicke
Relatives Todd Thicke (half brother)

Alan Willis Thicke (born Alan Willis Jeffery; March 1, 1947) is a Canadian actor, songwriter, and game and talk show host. He is known for his role as Jason Seaver, the father on the ABC television series Growing Pains. He is the father of singer Robin Thicke. In 2013, Thicke was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.

Early life

Thicke was born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada, the son of Shirley "Joan" Isobel Marie (née Greer), a nurse, and William Jeffery, a stockbroker.[1] His mother remarried to Brian Thicke, a physician.

Thicke graduated from Elliot Lake Secondary School in 1965, and was elected homecoming king. He went on to attend the University of Western Ontario, where he joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity.

Career

Game shows

Thicke hosted a Canadian game show on CFCF-TV in Montreal called First Impressions in the late 1970s and the Saturday morning celebrity game show Animal Crack-Ups in the late 1980s. In 1997, he hosted a television version of the board game Pictionary.[1] In the early 2000s, he hosted the All New 3's a Crowd on the Game Show Network.[1]

Talk shows

Norman Lear hired 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. In the late 1970s, he was a frequent guest host of The Alan Hamel Show, a popular daytime talk show on Canadian TV, usually hosted by Alan Hamel. Thicke went on to host his own popular talk show in Canada during the early 1980s, called The Alan Thicke Show. The show at one point spawned a prime-time spinoff, Prime Cuts, which consisted of edited highlights from the talk show. Thicke was later signed to do an American syndicated late-night talk show, Thicke of the Night.

Theme song composer

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. He also wrote a number of TV game show themes, including The Wizard of Odds (for which he also sang the vocal introduction), The Joker's Wild, Celebrity Sweepstakes, The Diamond Head Game, Animal Crack-Ups (which he co-wrote with his brother Todd Thicke and Gary Pickus), Blank Check, Stumpers!, Whew!,[2] and the original theme to Wheel of Fortune. Thicke was a popular songwriter. He co-wrote "Sara", a solo hit for Bill Champlin and included on the latter's Runaway album (1981).

Growing Pains

Thicke played Jason Seaver, a psychiatrist and father, on the family sitcom Growing Pains.[3] When the show began, Jason was moving his psychiatry practice into the home to be closer to the family's children while the family matriarch Maggie, played by Joanna Kerns, resumed her career as a reporter.[4] Growing Pains debuted on ABC in 1985 and ran until 1992.[3][5]

Two TV movies, The Growing Pains Movie (2000), and Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers (2004), followed.

Television and film appearances

Thicke in the 2000s

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

In 1988, he hosted the Miss USA Pageant in El Paso, Texas, replacing Bob Barker (who quit over fur being involved in the pageants). He replaced Barker again as host of the 1988 Miss Universe Pageant (along with Tracy Scoggins) in Taipei, Taiwan. Thicke was replaced by Dick Clark as host of the 1989 Miss USA Pageant in Mobile, Alabama and by John Forsythe as host of the 1989 Miss Universe Pageant in Cancun, Mexico.

Thicke continued hosting a wide range of variety TV events. In 1989 he co-hosted with SCTV alumnus Andrea Martin the TV special Opening of SkyDome in Toronto, which aired across Canada on the CBC.[6] In 2004, he hosted the Miss Universe Canada Pageant in Ontario. Apart from Growing Pains, Thicke also appeared on the American television series Hope & Gloria, which ran for 35 episodes. He played a lead role in the Not Quite Human trilogy of made-for-TV movies. In April 2006, he hosted Celebrity Cooking Showdown on NBC, in which celebrities were teamed with famous chefs in a cooking competition. In August 2006 and 2007, Thicke made a few appearances as talk show host Rich Ginger on The Bold and the Beautiful. Thicke also had a cameo appearance in the 2007 movie Alpha Dog as the father of the lead character's girlfriend.

In 2008, Thicke appeared in a major supporting role as Jim Jarlewski in the television series adaptation of Douglas Coupland's jPod. That same year, he had a cameo appearance in the How I Met Your Mother episode "Sandcastles in the Sand" as the dad in Robin Scherbatsky's second "Robin Sparkles" music video.[7] He guest starred as himself in the episode "The Rough Patch". He appeared on a website made specifically for the show, canadiansexacts.org, featured in the episode "Old King Clancy".

In February 2009, Thicke made a guest appearance on Adult Swim's Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job. In the same month, he made a guest appearance on the web series Star-ving.[8] He also had a role in the 2009 film, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard. On July 10, 2009, Thicke appeared on the 1000th episode of Attack of the Show!, and sang a song with Kevin Pereira and Olivia Munn, at the end kissing Munn.

Thicke appeared in the season six finale of Just Shoot Me, "The Boys in the Band". He made a guest appearance on a few episodes of Canada's Worst Handyman 5. In 2010, Thicke appeared on the television program, Tosh.0. In October 2010, he appeared as a celebrity contestant on Don't Forget the Lyrics, where he played for the charities ProCon.org and the Alan Thicke Center for diabetes research.[9]

In March 2013, he participated on ABC's Celebrity Wife Swap. He swapped wives with comedian Gilbert Gottfried.[10]

Other hosting

In 2014 and 2015 Thicke hosted a traveling dance show called Dancing Pros Live which toured the United States.[11]

Personal life

Thicke has been married three times: His first marriage, to Days of Our Lives actress Gloria Loring, lasted from 1970 until around 1984, and has two sons, Brennan and Robin Thicke.[1] He started dating actress Kristy Swanson when she was 17 years old in 1986 and got engaged to her two years later when he was 42.[12] He married his second wife, Miss World 1990 Gina Tolleson, on August 13, 1994, and had a son, Carter William Thicke, before their divorce was finalized on September 29, 1999.[1] In 1999, he met Tanya Callau in Miami, where he was the celebrity host and she was a model. They married in 2005.[13]

Filmography

Thicke at a Canadian Film Centre & Variety-hosted reception for the Telefilm Canada Features Comedy Lab, March 2012

Films

Year Title Role
1971 The Point! Narrator/Father (voice; third telecast)
1983 Copper Mountain Jackson Reach
1984 Calendar Girl Murders Alan Conti
1987 Not Quite Human Dr. Jonas Carson
1991 And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird Matthew Carson / Newman (voice)
1993 Betrayal of the Dove Jack West
1993 Stepmonster George Dougherty
1995 Open Season Xanex
1996 Demolition High Slater
1998 Anarchy TV Reverend Wright
2000 Bear with Me
2001 Xin shi zi jie tou Steve
2003 Hollywood North Peter Casey
2003 Carolina Chuck McBride – Perfect Date Host
2004 Raising Helen Hockey Cantor
2004 Childstar J.R.
2006 The Surfer King Pipeman
2006 Alpha Dog Douglas Holden
2009 The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard Stu Harding
2009 RoboDoc Dr. Roskin
2010 Making a Scene The Producer
2015 It's Not My Fault and I Don't Care Anyway Patrick Spencer

Television

Series

Year Title Role Notes
1969 It's Our Stuff Regular
1974 Jack: A Flash Fantasy Jack of Diamonds
1978 America 2-Night Doug Episode: "I Am Democracy"
1980–82 The Alan Thicke Show Himself/Host Also writer and producer
1983–84 Thicke of the Night Himself/Host Also writer and executive producer
1984 Masquerade Episode: "Sleeper"
1984/87 The Love Boat Alan Price / Robert McBride / Senator Bob Townsend 3 episodes
1985 Scene of the Crime Craig Spears Episode: "A Vote for Murder"
1985–92 Growing Pains Jason Seaver
1990 The Hitchhiker Mickey Black Episode: "Tough Guys Don't Whine"
1992 Travelquest Host
1993 Murder, She Wrote Harrison M. Kane Episode: "The Phantom Killer"
1994 Burke's Law Episode: "Who Killed the Beauty Queen?"
1995 Minor Adjustments Roger Episode: "The Ex-Files"
1995–96 Hope & Gloria Dennis Dupree
1996/97 Married... with Children Bruce / Henry 3 episodes
1997 The Outer Limits Donald Rivers Episode: "A Special Edition"
1999 Arliss Doctor Episode: "Rules of the Game"
2000 Beggars and Choosers Episode: "The Woodhouse Conundrum"
2000–02 Son of the Beach Captain 'Buck' Enteneille / Captain Buck Enteneille 3 episodes
2001 7th Heaven Ed Palmer Episode: "Parents"
2003 EGG, the Arts Show Alan Scott Episode: "Broadway Workshop"
2004 My Wife and Kids Magician Episode: "Fantasy Camp: Part 2"
2005 Yes, Dear Joel Episode: "The New Neighbors"
2005 Half & Half Gavin Storm Episode: "The Big Mothers for Others Episode"
2005 Joey Himself Episode: "Joey and the Poker"
2006–09 The Bold and the Beautiful Rich Ginger 7 episodes
2007 Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide Hal E. Burton Episode: "Spring Fever & the School Newspaper"
2008 About a Girl Dude's Dad Episode: "About a Homecoming"
2008 JPod Jim Jarlewski 13 episodes
2008–13 How I Met Your Mother Himself 5 episodes
2010 Canada's Worst Handyman 5 Himself
2010 Tosh.0 Himself Episode: "Crystal Light Dancers (Reunion)"
2011 I'm in the Band Simon Craig 5 episodes
2011 This Hour Has 22 Minutes Himself
2012 The L.A. Complex Donald Gallagher 4 episodes
2013 Celebrity Wife Swap Himself Season 2, episode 3
2014 Unusually Thicke Himself Reality show; 14 episodes
2014 American Dad! Himself Episode: "Permanent Record Wrecker"
2015 Scream Queens Tad Radwell Episode: "Thanksgiving"
2015 The Jack and Triumph Show Himself Episode: 7
2016 This is Us Himself Episode: "Pilot"
2016 The Eric Andre Show Himself Season 4, Episode 9

Movies

Year Title Role
1986 Perry Mason: The Case of the Shooting Star Steve Carr
1987 Hitting Home Conrad Vaughan
1987 Not Quite Human Dr. Jonas Carson
1988 14 Going on 30 The real Forndexter
1988 Dance 'til Dawn Jack Lefcourt
1989 Not Quite Human II Dr. Jonas Carson
1990 Jury Duty: The Comedy Phil Beckman
1992 The Trial of Red Riding Hood The Wolf
1992 Still Not Quite Human Dr. Jonas Carson
1993 Rubdown Raymond Holliman
1994 Lamb Chop and the Haunted Studio Alan
1995 Lamb Chop's Special Chanukah Alan
1996 Windsor Protocol Senator Joplin Hardy
1996 Shari's Passover Surprise Alan
1996 The Secret She Carried Reed Epperson (uncredited)
1997 Shadow of the Bear William Andrich
1997 Any Place But Home August Danforth
1998 Thunder Point Joplin Hardy
1998 Casper Meets Wendy Baseball Announcer
1999 Two of Hearts Hank Powers
2000 Ice Angel Coach Parker
2000 The Growing Pains Movie Jason Seaver
2004 Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers Jason Seaver
2008 Mother Goose Parade
2013 Camp Sunshine Ken Handcourt
2013 Bad Management Tobias Sr.
2013 Let It Snow Ted Beck

Commercials

In the 1990s, Thicke was the spokesman for the Canadian division of Woolco department stores until its demise in 1994.[14] In 1991 Thicke appeared in a television commercial for 'Fruit of the Loom' underwear. In 1997 he appeared in a television infomercial for the 'Bright Smile' tooth whitening system. In 2007, he appeared in a television ad for Tahiti Village, a Las Vegas time-share resort. In 2009 Thicke began appearing in TV ads endorsing CCS Medical, a distributor of home-delivered diabetes supplies.[15][16][17] In 2014, Thicke began appearing in ad spots for OptimaTax Relief.[18]

Books

Honours

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Alan Thicke Biography". FilmReference.com. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
  2. "Whew! Credits". Television Production Music Museum. 2010. Retrieved August 7, 2010. Alan Thicke: Did not save a master reel. He didn't even remember doing the show. After much discussion, he gave the museum a written release so we can acquire anything the US Copyright office has regarding WHEW!
  3. 1 2 Hal Erickson, Rovi. "Alan Thicke". New York Times. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  4. Margulies, Lee (9 October 1985). "He's Never Too Thicke To Endure 'Growing Pains'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  5. Slate, Libby (25 April 1992). "A Night of Long Goodbys at ABC: Television: The last episodes of 'Growing Pains,' 'Who's the Boss?' and 'MacGyver' are expected to lure faithful viewers one more time.". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e3f4sWNFh4
  7. "Sandcastles In The Sand". How I Met Your Mother. Season 3. Episode 16. April 21, 2008. CBS.
  8. "News and Updates". AlanThicke.com. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
  9. "Don't Forget the Lyrics!". ProCon.org. October 20, 2010. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
  10. Itzkoff, Dave (March 11, 2013). "Vulgarity's Abrasive Master, but Not at Home". New York Times. p. C1. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
  11. BWW News Desk (September 17, 2014). "Karina Smirnoff, Chelsie Hightower & More Set for DANCING PROS: LIVE Tour". broadwayworld.com. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  12. "Alan Thicke". TV.com. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  13. "Growing Pains' Alan Thicke Ties the Knot". People.com. May 11, 2005. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  14. Don't get me started!: reflections ... – Susan Mackie Smith – Google Books. Retrieved November 20, 2011 via Google Books.
  15. Weather & Time. "Does Alan Thicke have diabetes?". ChaCha. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  16. juliana (April 25, 2007). "Alan Thicke Hawking Las Vegas Time Shares". HotelChatter. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  17. Walters, Chris (June 24, 2009). "Alan Thicke Can't Save Tahiti Village Timeshare Company From Going Under". The Consumerist. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  18. "Optima Tax Relief TV Spot, 'IRS' Featuring Alan Thicke".
  19. "Alan Thicke". Canada's Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on September 30, 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-25.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alan Thicke.
Preceded by
Miss World America Host
1992
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Bob Barker
Miss USA Host
1988
Succeeded by
Dick Clark
Preceded by
Bob Barker
Miss Universe Host
1988
Succeeded by
John Forsythe
Preceded by
Brian Robbins
Host, Pictionary
1997–1998
Succeeded by
Defunct
Preceded by
Miss Universe Canada Host
2004
Succeeded by
Dominique Dufour
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