Alan Thicke dead at 69

Actor Alan Thicke has died at the age of 69.
The Canadian television icon, most famous for his role as psychiatrist Jason Seaver in hit U.S. sitcom Growing Pains, reportedly suffered a heart attack while playing hockey with his 19-year-old son, Carter, on Tuesday (13Dec16).
According to TMZ, Alan was transported to Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, where doctors pronounced him dead.
Alan is survived by his widow Tanya Callau and his three sons – Carter, Brennan, and singer Robin Thicke.
In addition to Growing Pains, Alan also hosted popular game shows, and appeared in a number of other hit U.S. comedies. He also wrote the theme songs for programmes such as Diff’rent Strokes and Wheel of Fortune.
He most recently appeared in Fuller House, Netflix’s reboot of the hit 1980s family sitcom Full House.
In what is now his final tweet, he gushed about the success of the new show, writing: “Season 2 Fuller House looking good. I even like the ones I’m not in!”
The tweet was posted on Tuesday.
Among the first celebrities to pay tribute to Thicke after the sad news broke via TMZ, newsman Larry King called the actor “A wonderful talent, a wonderful man.”
Quizzed about his illustrious decades-long career by Smashing Interviews Magazine earlier this year (Jun16), Alan revealed his key to success as a host, actor and songwriter was taking on an adventurous approach with every project he worked on.
“I’d like to think I’ve tried just about everything,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything I haven’t done. There are several things I’d like to do better.
“The great thing about the entertainment business is that you never know. There’s always that opportunity just around the corner of some other challenge or thing you get invited to do; then you can raise your game.”