Kirk Thomas Cameron (born October 12, 1970 in Panorama City, California) is an American actor who is best known for his role as Mike Seaver on the sitcom Growing Pains.
He became a born-again Christian during his time on the show and argued with the producers over the show's scripts, going so far as to call them "pornographers", ultimately leading to the end of the show since he had become increasingly difficult to work with. Since Growing Pains ended, he has become active in evangelical Christianity and has taken controversial positions on issues such as creationism and homosexuality, along with starring mostly in conservative, Christian-themed films since.
His sister is actress Candace Cameron Bure.
Filmography:
- Goliath Awaits (1981): Liam
- Lou Grant (1982): Joey (1 episode)
- Growing Pains (1985–92): Mike Seaver (167 episodes)
- The Best of Times (1986): Teddy
- Like Father, Like Son (1987): Chris Hammond
- Full House (1988): Cousin Steve (1 episode)
- Listen to Me (1989): Tucker Muldowney
- The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1995): Dexter Riley
- Kirk (1995–96): Kirk Hartman (31 episodes)
- Left Behind: The Movie (2000) and its sequels: Cameron "Buck" Williams
- Touched by an Angel (2001): Chuck Parker (1 episode)
- Family Law (2002): Mitchell Stark (1 episode)
- Fireproof (2008): Caleb Holt
- Saving Christmas (2014): As Himself
Tropes associated with the actor:
- Dull Surprise: His mode of acting is pretty much "if you don't see him talking, you don't see him acting".
- Streisand Effect: A fairly notorious example in the case of Saving Christmas. Kirk was unhappy with the critics' negative assessment of his movie (mostly concerned with the poor production quality and Insane Troll Logic used in his arguments) and posted a call-to-action online for his fans to bombard review sites with positive reactions. When the general public got wind of this, they were less than happy with his attempts to rig the review scores and the movie was universally panned. This essentially trashed any goodwill he had left from Growing Pains and he has since faded into relative obscurity.
- Wag the Director: He's done this pretty much most of his acting career. In Fireproof, he refused to do a kissing scene with his co-star Erin Bethea because he felt it would violate his Christian principles, so his wife Chelsea Noble was used as a stand-in for that scene.
