Actor Alan Thicke, a native of Northern Ontario who became a TV star playing sitcom dad Jason Seaver on Growing Pains, died Tuesday in Los Angeles, reportedly after falling ill while playing hockey.
Mr. Thicke, the father of Blurred Lines singer Robin Thicke and two other sons, was 69. He is survived by his wife, Tanya Callau.
Mr. Thicke was an entertainer with flexible talents, comfortable on camera as well as behind the scenes creating music for others. Although successful in the United States, he never forgot his Canadian roots and relished the achievements of other Canadians in the U.S. entertainment industry.
“Now the place is lousy with Canadians; they are everywhere. It used to be a very small, somewhat exclusive club. Happily now, it is not so much,” he said of Hollywood in 2011 to the Alumni Gazette at his alma mater, the University of Western Ontario.
On Growing Pains, Mr. Thicke played a psychiatrist working from home while raising four children with his wife, played by Joanna Kerns.
The series ran from 1985 until 1992.
Born in Kirkland Lake, Ont., Mr. Thicke graduated with a bachelor of arts from London’s University of Western Ontario. After leaving Western, he got a job at the CBC working for Lorne Michaels, who would go on to create and lead the U.S. TV show Saturday Night Live.
Eventually, he ended up as host of the syndicated Thicke of the Night talk-show series for the U.S. market in September, 1983. It lasted only nine months, but within two years he was before the cameras as Jason Seaver – his signature role.
Mr. Thicke said the series saved his life.
“I was on a dramatically, universally hated talk show when I first went public in the States,” he told the UWO Alumni Gazette. “I was so happy to recover from that career suicide with a sitcom. I will always be happy for that.”
Upon being inducted to Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2013, Mr. Thicke said he liked to work hard.
“I think I have an exemplary work ethic – one which has given me a pleasantly varied career, and one propelled by healthy insecurity. It makes you proactive, in terms of projects and writing,” Mr. Thicke told The Globe and Mail.
“You don’t sit around and wait for the phone to ring.”
In recent years, he did cameos on the series How I Met Your Mother and Fuller House.
But he also made his mark in music, starring on Broadway and composing for such artists as Lou Rawls, Johnny Cash and his son, Robin. He also wrote for Canadian singer Anne Murray, who remembered him Tuesday after news of his death.
“A friend for many years, he wrote & produced so many of my TV specials,” she wrote on Twitter.
During his career, Mr. Thicke worked with many in show business, and they paid their respects Tuesday night.
“So sad is the passing of Alan Thicke. Such a good husband, father, brother and friend. He will be deeply missed. Rest in peace dear Alan,” comedian Bob Saget, who has a recurring role in Fuller House, wrote on Twitter.
Many in the professional hockey community respected Mr. Thicke for his decades of support for the game of his homeland, and the way he used his celebrity to help promote the game for U.S. fans.
“The NHL family is sad to learn of the passing of longtime hockey fan Alan Thicke,” the NHL tweeted from its official account.
Earlier this month, Mr. Thicke received the Canadian Icon Award from the Whistler Film Festival, an honour reserved for someone whose work expands beyond Canadian borders, but who remains a “beloved ambassador of the Canadian spirit.”
Shauna Hardy Mishaw, executive director of the Whistler Film Festival, said Mr. Thicke was a gracious guest when he took the stage to accept his award.
“He shared stories we’d only dreamed of, how he’s rubbed elbows with some of the great entertainers of our time,” she said. “He really demonstrated an enduring humility.”
In gratitude to the Whistler festival, Mr. Thicke tweeted, “Thanks to Whistler Film Fest for the Icon Award. I promise to try and stay iconic.”
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