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Alan Thicke
BIOGRAPHY

Alan grew up in the rough-and tumble gold mining town of Kirkland Lake, Ontario, in the far north of Canada. "There were two ways a guy could get out of town, " he muses," play hockey or get a girl pregnant. I wasn't good enough at either". consequently Alan entertained is way out, doing stand-up comedy and singing in a rock-and-roll band.

After attending the University of Western Ontario with the intention of becoming a minister or a doctor, Alan graduated in English and Psychology before beginning his show biz career as an all-night disc jockey.

His television career began behind the scenes as a writer for the Canadian Broadcasting Company. That talent soon led to the U.S. where he wrote and/or produced TV specials for Bill Cosby, Flip Wilson, Richard Pryor, Bobby Darin, Kenny Rogers, Olivia Newton-John, Anne Murray and Barry Manilow, as well as the revolutionary comedies Fernwood 2 Night, America 2 Night, and the NBC movie The Secret She Carried.

Alan has seven Emmy nominations (five as a writer, two as an actor). He has produced the mid-70's NBC game show Celebrity Sweepstakes and Wizard of Odds (for which he brought his friend Alex Trebek from Canada to host) and has written over 45 television themes including, Facts of Life, Different Strokes, and Wheel of Fortune.

From 1980-1983, he hosted The Alan Thicke Show, a talk-variety series that remains the biggest hit in the history of Canadian daytime television. The success of that series spawned Thicke of the Night, a late night show which lost its challenge to Johnny Carson's venerable Tonight Show. It was a difficult year for Thicke who, as he puts it with characteristic wry humor, was "divorced and canceled in the same day."

In 1985, Alan's role as psychiatrist and father Jason Seaver on ABC-TV's hit series Growing Pains propelled him into the international spotlight as one of television's most beloved father figures. The series reigned for seven years earning Alan numerous awards including a Golden Globe nomination for best actor.

Alan then turned 180 degrees to become Dennis Dupree, a hilariously pompous TV talk show host on the hit NBC series Hope and Gloria.

Other starring roles include the Disney Channel's Not Quite Human trilogy. Alan has played dramatically against type in bad guy roles including Obsessed, Shadow of the Bear, Any Place But Home and The Windsor Protocol. Leading ladies have included Kelly LeBrock (Betrayal of the Dove), Michelle Phillips (Rubdown) and Sharon Stone (Calendar Girl Murders).

One of the most sought-after host in the business Thicke emceed the 1987 Emmy Awards, ABC's Disney Christmas and Easter Parades, ABC's Fall Preview Special, ABC's Animal Crack-Ups, the Miss Universe, Miss World USA and Miss USA pageants, Showtime's Comedy All-Stars, Olympics Kick-Off Gala, TV's Funniest Families, NBC's Worlds Greatest Magic and the Emmy nominated Pictionary.

Alan's early training in musical theater paid off in 1997 when he co-starred with Jason Alexander in Promises Promises and just recently ended a critically acclaimed role as Billy Flynn in the musical Chicago.

Recently, Alan has revisited his writing craft to create sitcom pilot scripts for studios including Castle Rock and Warner Brothers as well as television movie, When Love Grows Old for the Family Channel, a feature film, The Noone Hour for Steve Tisch Productions, and the comedy Beauty Queens Must Die for Allegro Films. He wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for The Toronto Sun chain in Canada and the book How Men Have Babies-The Pregnant Father's Survival Guide for a Father's Day 1999 release.

Alan is proud to have been named "Father of the Year" by organizations including The Father's Day Council of Los Angeles, The Muscular Dystrophy Association, and The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.

Two of the most important elements of Alan's like have been his two grown sons, Brennan and Robin. In August of 1994, Alan married Gina Tolleson a television reporter and not incidentally, Miss World '91. They spend recreational times at tennis, golf and ski tournaments and nurturing their most creative production Carter William Thicke, born July 10, 1997.

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