All of those are true of the Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada-born Thicke.
That and a whole lot more.
Thicke was born Allan Willis Jeffery to Joan and William Jeffery, but took the name Thicke when his mother married physician Brian Thicke. He attended Elliot Lake Secondary School and went to the University of Western Ontario after graduation.
Early on, Thicke’s affability and charisma was apparent. He was elected Homecoming King and was a prominent member of his college fraternity.
After graduation, Thicke launched his broadcasting career as a writer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). His writing skills landed him work on a number of variety shows, including The Barry Manilow Special in 1977. Thicke was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on that show.
That led to a writing gig with legendary television producer Norman Lear. Lear hired Thicke to write for his satirical late night talk show Fernwood 2-Night, a spin-off of his mid-day soap opera parody, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.
Thicke lent his musical talents to a number of television show, writing memorable theme songs for Diff’rent Strokes and The Facts of Life.
He even wrote the original theme to Wheel of Fortune.
Night talk
Thicke eventually found his way back to Canadian broadcasting, hosting his own daytime talk show, The Alan Thicke Show. That show ran for three years: 1980 to 1983. Audiences loved the program. It was so popular that a primetime version, titled Prime Cuts, was created from daytime highlights.
Ratings success landed Thicke in Los Angeles at the helm of a late night version of his Canadian talk show, built for American audiences.
Marketing for the show was strong and every effort was made to give the program the power it needed to take on the competition, including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. But the final product couldn’t compete. By mid-season, many television stations had dropped the show. And by the end of the first season, Thicke of the Night ceased to exist.
Growing pains and game shows
Thicke stuck it out in L.A. and landed the role of a lifetime the next year. He took the lead as Jason Seaver in the ABC sit-com Growing Pains. Growing Pains was on the air for seven seasons.
After Growing Pains, Thicke returned briefly to hosting game shows, something he’d found success with in Canada in the 1970s and 80s, leading a game show title First Impressions and celebrity corker titled Animal Crack-Ups. Later in the 1990s and 2000s, Thicke hosted Pictionary and the All New 3’s a Crowd.
You can still find Thicke acting, composing, or hosting a new TV show, theme song or television event. He has hosted the Miss Universe pageant, appeared on the sit-com Hope & Gloria with talk show host and actress Kelly Ripa. He’s played the fictional talk show host Rich Ginger on the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful and has had several cameo appearances in TV shows and television movies.
Fast Facts:
- Thicke has two sons from his first wife, Gloria Loring. Son Robin is a popular singer and songwriter, best known for his hit, “Blurred Lines.”
- Thicke was married for a short time to Gina Tolleson and is presently married to model Tanya Callau.
- Is friends with hall of famer Wayne Gretzky.