Actor Alan Thicke dead at 69

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Actor Alan Thicke dead at 69

Postby radiofan » Tue Dec 13, 2016 7:35 pm

Actor Alan Thicke dead at 69
Canadian-born TV star best known for role on Growing Pains
CBC News Posted: Dec 13, 2016 9:16 PM ET Last Updated: Dec 13, 2016 9:16 PM ET


Alan Thicke, the Canadian-born actor best known for playing the dad on the '80s sitcom Growing Pains, has died. He was 69.

Thicke, who was born in Kirkland Lake, Ont., went on to be an actor, talk show host and a songwriter who penned the theme songs for famous shows including Diff'rent Strokes and Wheel of Fortune.

Most recently, he starred in the film I Don't Care and It's Not My Fault Anyway, which premiered Dec. 2 at the Whistler Film Festival in B.C.

He leaves behind his wife, Tanya, and sons Brennan, Carter and pop star Robin.

More to come

http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/al ... -1.3895472
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Re: Actor Alan Thicke dead at 69

Postby Rich Elwood » Wed Dec 14, 2016 12:49 pm

I met Alan in 1978 when he was producing the Rene Simard Show in Vancouver. He was a very nice guy and incredibly supportive of Canadian talent. There were a few Vancouver actors and writers who found work on the Simard show via Alan, me being one of them.

Later, I was fortunate to do several episodes of The Alan Thicke Show, a daytime, national talk show that evolved from the Alan Hamill show on the CTV Network. Many young actors, musicians and especially comedians got their first "network shot" on that show. Often, many of the Thicke Show guests came to Punchlines to either perform or watch what was going on there. Jay Leno, Jerry Sienfeld, Pat Paulsen, The Unknown Comic, George Wallace, Jimmy JJ Walker, Tom Dreesan, Rosie O'Donnell, Fred Willard, Kreskin, Ryan Stiles, Colin Campbell, Brad Garrett, Howie Mandel and Jim Carey were among the many comics who did the Thicke Show and performed at Punchlines Comedy Club. It was quite an era!

My condolences to the Thicke family and to my friend Todd, Alan's brother who remains a great friend to this day.

He was too young!

RIP Alan and thanks for all of your kind support to all talent especially Canadian over the years.
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Re: Actor Alan Thicke dead at 69

Postby Neumann Sennheiser » Wed Dec 14, 2016 3:17 pm

Rich Elwood wrote:Often, many of the Thicke Show guests came to Punchlines to either perform or watch what was going on there. Jay Leno, Jerry Sienfeld, Pat Paulsen, The Unknown Comic, George Wallace, Jimmy JJ Walker, Tom Dreesan, Rosie O'Donnell, Fred Willard, Kreskin, Ryan Stiles, Colin Campbell, Brad Garrett, Howie Mandel and Jim Carey...It was quite an era.


Quite an era indeed! I recall before I had even heard of Brent Butt, I went at the urging of a friend, to catch his act at Punchlines. "..the guy is going to be HUGE" they proclaimed.."He's the funniest young man in Canada"..and they were right, of course.

On another night, a large crew of us dropped in on a rare night off from a nearby movie-of-the-week film shoot. Harland Williams was in the movie, Bob Sagat was directing. They both did a set with mega-legend Robert Wagner discreetly watching from the back of the room; no one noticed him, or even if they did, left him to his privacy on a night out in Vancouver. We were always that kind of town.

Thanks for all the hard work you put in Rich, in making Punchlines such a great comedy club. It is missed.
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Re: Actor Alan Thicke dead at 69

Postby Tom Jeffries » Wed Dec 14, 2016 5:49 pm

Punchlines was a blast.

Rich did a masterful job.....
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Re: Actor Alan Thicke dead at 69

Postby Rich Elwood » Thu Dec 15, 2016 10:23 am

Thank you Tom & Nuemann for your kind thoughts!

Those years (70's & 80's) were great years for radio and entertainment in Vancouver. Many nights I can recall taking the stage at Punchlines to MC the show and celebrities would be in the audience. One night I came out to start the show and Kirstie Alley (Cheers) was sitting ringside. Stephen Williams from 21 Jump Street was a regular visitor and a wonderful man. Peter DeLouise sat in with the No Name players (the house improv group) a couple times. So did Ed Begley Jr. I did my Jack Webster impression with Ed who was kind enough to join us onstage a couple times. He said "that's a funny concept, a gruff to the point Scotsman doing a talk show." I explained that he actually existed and did a talk show on TV here. Ed watched Webster the next morning and loved him! I still chuckle at the night Charles Haid (Andy Renko) from Hill Street Blues left his seat, jumped onto stage and did about 10 minutes of pretty funny stuff. There were many more and all were here doing the Alan Thicke show or other projects that were happening in Vancouver at the time.

The music scene was great here as well. Powder Blues, Trooper, Chilliwack, Jim Byrnes Band, Loverboy and so many others rounded out the roster of bands you could see in clubs. Many of whom also got shots on The Thicke Show.

Again, thanks for everything Alan!! RIP.
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Re: Actor Alan Thicke dead at 69

Postby jon » Thu Dec 15, 2016 6:02 pm

SIGN-OFFS:
Alan Thicke, 69, Dec. 14, in Burbank, CA. Born in Kirkland Lake, ON, the actor, writer, producer and composer began his broadcasting career as a copywriter and all-night DJ at CFPL-AM in London, ON while attending the University of Western Ontario. He wrote for CBC television in the 1960s and by 1969 had his first regular role on television as part of the variety show It’s Our Stuff. By 1977, Thicke was working as a producer in American television, earning his first Emmy nomination for The Barry Manilow Special. In the late 70s, he returned to Canada hosting his first Canadian game show on CFCF-TV in Montreal called First Impressions and was a frequent guest host of daytime talk show The Alan Hamel Show. That led to his own talk show The Alan Thicke Show, which ran on CTV from 1980 to ‘83. His attempt to move to late night American television wasn’t as successful with Thicke of the Night cancelled in 1984 after 18 episodes. Thicke became best known for his role as TV dad Jason Seaver on the popular ABC sitcom Growing Pains. He was also an accomplished composer for television, writing the themes for Diff’rent Strokes, The Facts of Life and the original theme for Wheel of Fortune, among other television series.
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