Alan Thicke

Alan Thicke
Occupation(s)	Actor, songwriter, game show host, and talk-show emcee

Alan Thicke (born March 1, 1947) is a Canadian actor, songwriter, game show host and talk-show emcee. He is best known for his role as Jason Seaver, the patriarch on the ABC television series Growing Pains.

Biography

Personal life

Thicke was born Alan Willis Jeffrey in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, the son of Joan, a nurse, and William Jeffrey, a stockbroker. His mother later re-married to Brian Thicke, a physician. He graduated from Elliot Lake Secondary School in 1965 as the homecoming king. He attended the University of Western Ontario, where he worked as a disc jockey. He is a member of the Delta Upsilon international fraternity. Alan is an avid hockey fan and player.

Thicke has been married three times. His first marriage to Days of Our Lives actress, Gloria Loring, (1970 to 1983) produced two sons: Brennan and Robin Thicke. His second marriage to Miss World 1991 pageant winner, Gina Tolleson, (1992 to 1999) produce a third son – Carter Willam. He is currently married to Tanya Callau.

His son, Robin Thicke, is a platinum-selling musician.

TV appearances

A clip of what appeared to be a Thicke-hosted Canadian game show from the early '70s, Face the Music, was screened when Thicke was a guest on Later with Bob Costas. He also hosted a Canadian game show out of CFCF-TV in Montreal called First Impressions in the late '70s. In the 1980s, he hosted a Saturday morning game show called Animal Crack-Ups. Then in 1997, he also hosted a television version of the board game Pictionary. In the early 2000s, he hosted All New 3's a Crowd on Game Show Network.

Thicke was also the host of 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 spin-off entitled Prime Cuts, which consisted of edited highlights from the talk show. Based on the success of his talk show, Thicke was signed to do an American late night talk show Thicke of the Night. Although it helped launch the careers of Arsenio Hall and Louie Anderson, it was a spectacular failure against The Tonight Show.

Thicke also made a cameo appearance in a holiday Lexus commercial in the late '90s where he played various characters, including a golden retriever and a black woman. He also appeared on the American television series Hope & Gloria, which lasted 35 episodes. In 2004, Thicke hosted the Miss Universe Canada pageant. In April 2006, he hosted Celebrity Cooking Showdown on NBC which teamed celebrities with famous chefs in a cooking competition.

Thicke also had a quick cameo in the 2007 movie Alpha Dog, starring Emile Hirsch, as the father of the lead character's girlfriend. Thicke endorsed the popular early '90s beverage, Boku. In August 2006 and 2007, Thicke made a few appearances as talk show host Rich Ginger on The Bold and the Beautiful.

As of January 8, 2008 Thicke is appearing in a major supporting role as Jim Jarlewski in the television series adaptation of Douglas Coupland's Jpod. In a role perhaps capitalizing on his earlier successes portraying a typical sitcom father, this role diverges in the grandiose and modern problems the family faces, grow-ops and human trafficking for instance, yet retains an upbeat and humorous tone.

According to the Washington, DC social website, Thicke will be honored at a Club Beer Party event as the Canadian Performer Of The Year of 2007.

He has also appeared in a cameo on How I Met Your Mother in Robin Sparkles' music video "Sandcastles in the Sand" on the episode of the same name, "Sandcastles in the Sand". The episode aired on Monday April 21, 2008.

Music from game shows

Some of these theme songs were credited to Stan Worth, another game show music composer, because of his involvement in working with Alan Thicke. The Wizard Of Odds and Wheel Of Fortune are examples of shows with Stan Worth as being the sole composer listed in the credits, even though Alan Thicke composed their theme songs.

• The Wizard of Odds (1973), composed and sang the theme song.
• The Joker's Wild (1972), composed the closing theme song from 1974 to 1975 called "The Joker's Jive". This theme was also used between 1977 to 1978.
• Celebrity Sweepstakes (1974), composed the second theme song called "The Stars Come Out".
• Blank Check (1975), composed the theme song entitled "Hip Check" which was used on every episode except the pilot.
• The Diamond Head Game (1975), composed the theme song entitled "Diamond Head".
• Wheel of Fortune (1975), composed the theme song called "Big Wheels". Except for the first three pilots, the tune was used in every episode until 1983.
• Stumpers! (1976),
• Whew! (1979),
• All-Star Blitz (1985),
• Animal Crack-Ups (1987), composed the music with his son Todd Thicke called "Animals Are Just Like People Too". Alan sang the music.

Music from sitcoms

These theme songs were also composed with the assistance of his former wife Gloria Loring:

• Diff'rent Strokes (1978)
• The Facts of Life (1979)
• Hello Larry (1979)

Books

• How Men Have Babies: The Pregnant Father's Survival Guide (1999) - ISBN 0-8092-2806-8
• How To Raise Kids Who Won't Hate You (2006) - ISBN 0-5958-4288-7

External links

• Template:Tvtome person
• Alan Thicke at IMDb
• Template:Ymovies name
• Official site
• Official MySpace Page
• Website "Growing pains" (French)
• Alan Thicke Feb. 2008 Interview

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