Beloved sitcom dad Alan Thicke passed away suddenly from a heart attack today at the age of 69. The Canadian actor was best known for playing Jason Seaver on ABC's Growing Pains from 1985-1992, but had also hosted a Canadian daytime talk show, The Alan Thicke Show, on the CBC from 1980-83, and had had a successful career as a composer of TV theme songs in the 1970's. The best known of these were the themes to the sitcoms Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life. He went on to make various guest appearances on TV shows throughout the years and hosted many TV events, including game shows and beauty pageants. He is survived by his wife and his three children, including pop star Robin Thicke.
Opening to Growing Pains Season 3: (confession: I've always had a weird affinity for this show's theme song and opening credits- I watched it in reruns as a kid but the song was particularly memorable to me for some reason)
