Printable Biography of Alan Thicke

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Alan Thicke grew up in the rough-and-tumble gold mining town of Kirkland Lake, Ontario, in the far north of Canada. After attending the University of Western Ontario with the intention of becoming a minister or a doctor, Alan graduated with a degree in English and psychology before beginning his show business career as an all-night disk jockey. His television career began behind the scenes as a writer for the Canadian Broadcasting Company. That talent soon led to the U.S. where he wrote and/or produced TV specials for Bill Cosby, Flip Wilson, Richard Pryor, Bobby Darin, Kenny Rogers, Olivia Newton-John, Anne Murray and Barry Manilow, as well as the revolutionary comedies Fernwood Tonight, America 2 Night and the NBC movie The Secret She Carried.

Thicke has seven Emmy nominations (five as writer, two as an actor). He produced the NBC game shows, Celebrity Sweepstakes and Wizard of Odds and has written over 45 television themes including, Facts of Life, Diff'rent Strokes and Wheel of Fortune. From 1980-1983, he hosted The Alan Thicke Show, a talk-variety series that remains the biggest hit in the history of Canadian daytime television. The success of that series spawned Thicke of the Night, a late night show which lost its challenge to Johnny Carson's venerable Tonight show.

In 1985, Thicke's role as psychiatrist and father Jason Seaver on ABC-TV's hit series Growing Pains propelled him into the international spotlight as one of television's most beloved father figures. The series reigned for seven years earning Alan numerous awards including a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. Alan then turned 180 degrees to become Dennis Dupree, an hilariously pompous TV talk show host on the hit NBC series Hope and Gloria.

Thicke's early training in the musical theater (in a group that included Lorne Michaels and Gilda Radner) paid off in 1997 when he co-starred with Jason Alexander to rave reviews as the philandering Sheldrake in the L.A. production of Promises, Promises (Neil Simon/Burt Bacharach). After garnering rave reviews from that he made his Broadway debut in 1998 starring as Billy Flynn in the Tony Award winning musical Chicago. Thicke's concert and club act mixes music and stand-up comedy and is booked around the country, including annual stints at the main showrooms in Las Vegas and Atlantic city. Thicke relishes the variety of his work life, adding corporate and collegiate speaking engagements to his agenda of appearances.

Thicke is proud to have been named "Father of the Year" by organizations including The Father's Day Council of Los Angeles, The Muscular Dystrophy Association and The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.