Alan Thicke
Alan Thicke (born Alan Willis Jeffrey; March 1, 1947 – December 13, 2016) was a Canadian-American actor, songwriter, and television host recognized primarily for his portrayal of the family patriarch Jason Seaver, a psychiatrist, on the ABC sitcom Growing Pains from 1985 to 1992.[1][2] Thicke hosted syndicated programs such as the variety-talk show Thicke of the Night in the late 1980s and Canadian game shows including Face the Music (1975) and First Impressions.[3][1] He also composed theme songs for American game shows like The Wizard of Odds, The Joker's Wild, and Wheel of Fortune, often performing vocals himself.[1] Earlier in his career, Thicke worked as a writer and announcer in Toronto before transitioning to on-camera roles in the United States.[2] Thicke died at age 69 from an aortic dissection sustained during an informal hockey game in Pasadena, California.[1]Early Life
Family Background and Childhood
Alan Thicke was born Alan Willis Jeffrey on March 1, 1947, in the small northern Ontario mining town of Kirkland Lake, Canada, to Shirley "Joan" Isobel Marie Greer, a nurse, and William Jeffrey, a stockbroker.[4][5][6] The family possessed Scottish, Irish, and English heritage.[7] His parents divorced in 1953, when Thicke was six years old.[4][8] Thicke's mother subsequently remarried Brian Thicke, a physician, prompting the family—including Thicke's younger brother Todd and sister Joanne—to adopt the Thicke surname and relocate to Elliot Lake, Ontario, when he was 13 years old.[8][9][10] This move marked a shift from Kirkland Lake's remote, hockey-centric environment—where local lore described rudimentary birthing conditions, such as infants being delivered amid skating weather—to the planned community of Elliot Lake, a uranium mining town.[6][11] Thicke's early years reflected a creatively inclined family milieu: his maternal grandmother accompanied silent films on piano, while his mother performed as a tap dancer alongside her nursing duties.[12] In Elliot Lake, he gained his initial exposure to performance through stage activities, fostering interests that later influenced his career.[11] Despite relocations, Thicke preserved strong connections to Kirkland Lake, frequently visiting his grandparents and citing the town as a enduring familial anchor.[13]Education and Early Influences
Thicke grew up in the northern Ontario mining town of Kirkland Lake, where his family had roots in entertainment; his grandmother accompanied silent films on piano, and his mother performed as a tap dancer, fostering an early exposure to performance arts.[12] After his parents' divorce, he adopted his stepfather's surname and relocated to Elliot Lake, attending Elliot Lake Secondary School, from which he graduated in 1965 as homecoming king.[14] Having skipped grades 4 and 6, Thicke enrolled at the University of Western Ontario at age 16, initially considering a pre-medical path before pursuing studies in English and psychology.[2][15] He joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity and, during his time there, began his broadcasting career as a radio disc jockey at local stations, marking an early pivot toward media influenced by his family's performative background and the limited opportunities in his mining-town upbringing.[16] Thicke earned a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1967 at age 20.[16]Career
Early Broadcasting in Canada
Thicke began his professional broadcasting career in Canada during the late 1960s, initially as a writer for CBC Television programs.[17] By 1969, he secured his first regular on-air role as a performer on the CBC variety series It's Our Stuff, which featured music and comedy sketches.[17] [18] Throughout this period, he also contributed writing and hosting duties to CBC Radio and additional CBC Television projects, building experience in variety formats and live performance.[19] [12] In the 1970s, Thicke's on-air presence expanded into game show hosting. He emceed Face the Music, a musical guessing game produced for CHCH-TV in Hamilton, Ontario, where competing couples identified songs from brief musical clips for prizes.[20] This work, alongside other variety and light entertainment segments, honed his skills in audience engagement and quick-witted delivery, key elements of Canadian daytime television at the time.[21] By the late 1970s, Thicke frequently served as a guest host on The Alan Hamel Show, a popular CTV daytime talk program featuring celebrity interviews and variety acts.[22] Episodes under his hosting, such as those aired on March 24 and 25, 1980, showcased his rapport with guests like Ronnie Prophet and Bruno Gerussi.[22] When the series concluded, Thicke transitioned to his own syndicated daytime talk show, The Alan Thicke Show, which debuted in September 1980, was produced by BCTV in Vancouver, and aired nationally on CTV until 1983.[23] The program emphasized conversational interviews, musical performances, and comedic bits, drawing on Thicke's established style but struggling with ratings competition from U.S. imports.[24]Game Show Hosting
Thicke commenced his game show hosting career in Canada during the mid-1970s, leveraging his early broadcasting experience to front audience participation formats. His debut series was First Impressions, a half-hour CTV program taped at CFCF-TV in Montreal that aired during the 1976–1977 season, where contestants competed based on initial judgments of performers or items.[25] Around the same period, he hosted Face the Music on CHCH-TV, a musical guessing game that required teams to identify songs from brief clips or clues. Transitioning to American television amid rising fame from Growing Pains, Thicke hosted Animal Crack-Ups on ABC from August 1987 to 1990. Originally premiering in primetime before shifting to Saturday mornings, the series pitted four celebrities against animal-themed trivia and video clips, with winnings directed to animal charities; Thicke also composed and performed its theme song, "Animals Are Just Like People Too."[26] In subsequent years, he fronted revivals and adaptations of established formats. Thicke emceed the short-lived television version of Pictionary in 1997, adapting the drawing-based board game for broadcast with teams sketching clues under time pressure to score points.[27] Earlier in the decade, a pilot or limited run of the show had aired in 1989, though the primary series recognition stems from the later iteration.[28] He later hosted The All-New 3's a Crowd on the Game Show Network circa 2000, a couples' trivia contest introducing a disruptive third contestant to test relationship dynamics through questions on preferences and secrets.[29] Additional hosting included Celebrity Cooking Showdown, a competitive format pairing stars in culinary challenges, though details on its run remain sparse.[30]| Game Show | Years | Network | Format Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Impressions | 1976–1977 | CTV (Canada) | Judgment-based contestant competitions |
| Face the Music | c. 1976 | CHCH-TV (Canada) | Musical identification challenges |
| Animal Crack-Ups | 1987–1990 | ABC (US) | Celebrity animal trivia for charity |
| Pictionary | 1997 | Syndicated (US) | Drawing and guessing team gameplay |
| The All-New 3's a Crowd | c. 2000 | GSN (US) | Couples' trivia with intruder element |