Alan Thicke was an actor, composer, writer, producer and author whose long and varied career included starring on the popular comedy series Growing Pains, composing the theme songs for several other television programs and hosting his own late-night talk show.

Thicke broke into the entertainment industry in the late 1960s, in his native Canada. Early credits included writing for the variety series The Tommy Hunter Show and the comedy spoof That's Show Biz. In the years that followed he worked extensively as a writer for talk and variety shows, including The Paul Lynde Show, The Bobby Darin Show and The Barry Manilow Show, for which he received an Emmy nomination, as well as satirical comedies such as Ferwood Tonight and America 2-Night, the latter of which earned him two more Emmy nominations.

As an actor, Thicke made his most enduring impact as Dr. Jason Seaver, the psychiatrist patriarch of Growing Pains, which ran for seven seasons on ABC. The cast included Joanna Kerns as his wife, Maggie, and Kirk Cameron as his oldest son, Mike. His performance garnered him a Golden Globe nomination in 1988.

His other acting credits included The Love Boat, Murder, She Wrote, Hope & Gloria, Married...with Children, 7th Heaven, Yes, Dear, How I Met Your Mother and many others.

In addition, the versatile Thicke wrote or co-wrote theme songs for the game shows The Joker's Wild, Celebrity Sweepstakes, Wheel of Fortune and The Wizard of Odds, as well as for the hit comedies Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life.

He also served as a producer on numerous TV programs — including his two talk shows, The Alan Thicke Show and Thick of the Night — and he wrote two books, How to Raise Kids Who Won't Hate You and How Men Have Babies: The Pregnant Father's Survival Guide.

 Thicke died on December 13, 2016, in Burbank, California. He was 69 years old.