GROWING PAINS and CHICAGO Star Alan Thicke Passes Away at 69

Variety reports the sad news that Alan Thicke, perhaps best known for his role as Jason Seaver, the father on the ABC television series Growing Pains, died on Tuesday, December 13th. He was 69. Thicke's manager confirmed the actor's death.

Thicke, who was the father of singer Robin Thicke, suffered a heart attack while playing hockey with his son Carter. He was immediately brought to Providence St. Joseph's Medical Center in Burbank, Calif., where he later died.

In the late 1970s, Thicke was a frequent guest host of The Alan Hamel Show, a popular daytime talk show on Canadian TV. He went on to host his own popular talk show in Canada during the early 1980s, called The Alan Thicke Show. In the 1980's Thicke played Jason Seaver, a psychiatrist and father, on THE FAMILY sitcom Growing Pains, which ran on ABC from 1985 until 1992.

In 1996, he made his Broadway debut as Billy Flynn in the Broadway revival of CHICAGO. He went on to play the role in the 1st National U.S. Tour. In 2012, he starred in the original musical QUEEN FOR A DAY at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts.

Thicke also had a successful career as a TV theme song composer, often collaborating with his then-wife Gloria Loring on these projects, which included the themes to the popular sitcoms Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life. He also wrote a number of TV game show themes, including The Wizard of Odds, The Joker's Wild, Celebrity Sweepstakes, The Diamond Head Game, Animal Crack-Ups (which he co-wrote with his brother Todd Thicke and Gary Pickus), Blank Check, Stumpers!, Whew!, and the original theme to Wheel of Fortune. Thicke was a popular songwriter. He co-wrote "Sara", a solo hit for Bill Champlin and included on the latter's Runaway album (1981).

Below, check out the TV theme songs for "Diff'rent Strokes" and "The Facts of Life", both composed by Alan Thicke:

Below, celebrities react to the passing of Alan Thicke on social media:

Photo Credit: Michael Cooper www.coopershoots.com