Alan Thicke (born Alan Willis Jeffrey, March 1, 1947 – December 13, 2016) was a Canadian actor, songwriter, and game and talk show host. He hosted a daytime talk show in Canada, before briefly hosting a late night US talk show, Thicke of the Night.
Aside from his most famous role as Dr. Jason Seaver in the 1985-92 sitcom Growing Pains, he has composed many Theme Songs, including some for the Game Show genre...and not just title themes, either, as Thicke typically wrote the prize and commercial cues as well.
His brother Todd also composed game show themes (for the mid 80s revivals of Let's Make a Deal and Split Second (1972)) and has been a producer and writer of America's Funniest Home Videos since it began in 1989.
His son Robin broke out in The New '10s as a pop star.
Thicke died on December 13, 2016 after suffering an aortic dissection while playing ice hockey with his youngest son Carter.
Hosted or starred in:
- Growing Pains (1985-92)
- Animal Crack-Ups (1987-90; game show about animals)
- Miss Universe and Miss USA (1988 pageants)
- The World's Greatest Magic 2 (1995) (host; replaced by John Ritter)
- Hope And Gloria (1995-1996)
- Pictionary (1997-98)
- All-New 3's A Crowd (1999-2002; toned-down revival of the 1979-80 Chuck Barris original)
Composed music for:
- Diff'rent Strokes (also sang the theme)
- The Facts of Life
- The Wizard Of Odds (1973-74; notable for being the first American game show hosted by Alex Trebek)
- Celebrity Sweepstakes (1974-77)
- The Joker's Wild ("Joker's Jive", main theme for the last CBS year {1974-75} and closing theme for the first syndicated year {1977-78})
- Blank Check (1975; the 1974 pilots used Quincy Jones' "Chump Change", the main theme of Now You See It, so the series used a soundalike)
- Wheel of Fortune (1975-83 music package, including the Blank Check theme; replaced on August 8, 1983 by compositions from series creator Merv Griffin, also a talented songwriter)
- Whew! (1979-80)
