TORONTO – Tom Green remembers watching Alan Thicke’s homegrown talk show as a kid in Pembroke, Ont., in the early 1980s.
Green was only about seven but was entranced with Thicke’s baritone-voiced charm, humour and ease with guests, he recalled Wednesday, a day after Thicke died of a heart attack in Los Angeles at age 69.
“It was one of the first shows that I remember watching that was in the format of something that I grew to love and wanted to emulate, seeing him sitting behind a desk and doing hilarious and funny interviews during the day on Canadian TV,” Green said in a phone interview.
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“My show started as a public-access show and I was very inspired by his show that he produced called ‘Fernwood 2 Night,’ which was a hilarious parody of an independent, public-access show.”
Years later, Green found himself face-to-face with his inspiration, as Thicke became a frequent guest on his Internet show and then on “Tom Green Live” on AXS TV.
“We’ve lost a legendary Canadian show business and entertainment icon,” said Green. “I know he was quite proud of being Canadian and he was quite proud of being a pioneer in the Canadian entertainment industry.”
Many of Thicke’s peers echoed Green’s description of a humble workhorse who was a champion for Canada, where he grew up in Kirkland Lake, Ont.
“He would come to Canada a lot and he was always pitching shows,” said John Murray, vice-president and executive producer of Toronto-based Insight Productions.
“They weren’t necessarily Canadian but he never lost touch with the Canadian business. He would sometimes pitch you a show because he knew it might be right for the Canadian TV landscape, or it might be something he knew a network might be interested in here.”
Edmonton writer-director Chris Craddock last saw Thicke about two weeks ago at the Whistler Film Festival in B.C., where they celebrated the Canadian premiere of their offbeat comedy “It’s Not My Fault and I Don’t Care Anyway.”
“Even then he was going so hard,” he said. “He had a flight delay, came into town, caught the screening, did a talkback, did a thing. He was always going 100 miles an hour and I think that’s the way that he liked it.”
Before Thicke became a star in the U.S., with roles including wholesome patriarch Dr. Jason Seaver on “Growing Pains,” he worked on various TV programs in Canada. It was while he was working at the CBC that he met American singer Gloria Loring, who was performing at the Royal York Hotel. The two eventually married and moved to California, where they had two sons, including pop star Robin Thicke.
They divorced in 1984 but remained friends.
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“I learned so much from being around him,” said Loring, noting she recently saw him at a family gathering at Robin’s home for U.S. Thanksgiving.
“He was such a go-getter and had this sense of ‘I can do whatever needs to be done.’ I think his greatest asset was his willingness to work hard and his sense of humour.”
While he established roots south of the border, he continued to return to Canada for various events and to participate in — and pitch — a wide range of projects.
Craddock said he recruited Thicke for the Edmonton-shot “It’s Not My Fault and I Don’t Care Anyway” after getting him to do a guest spot on his Canadian series “Tiny Plastic Men.”
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He was a “hungry artist” who craved grittier roles. He relished the chance to play a self-help guru who takes his philosophy of “perfect selfishness” to a whole new level when his daughter is kidnapped.
It was a role that flew in the face of the great American dad image he had on “Growing Pains” and was an ironic one he embraced later in his career.
“Alan was a funny guy and had a real sense of humour,” said Craddock. “He was aware of his image. The irony wasn’t lost on him, so he did a lot of ironic turns.”
Thicke’s recent “Unusually Thicke” reality/sitcom hybrid series was another example of that, as was a project Murray was developing with him a few years ago.
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Murray said it was a scripted buddy comedy series called “We Met in Rehab” and focused on an aging iconic TV dad who meets a younger rock star in rehab.
It was close to getting picked up by one network, and while it didn’t get the green light, Insight hasn’t given up on the premise, said Murray.
“He was just really a pleasure to work with,” he said. “Obviously he was well known and iconic and famous but he was very, very down to Earth, he was really easy to work with, he treated you like an equal and he was always very enthusiastic about everything you did.
“He was very proactive, he had a lot of energy, oh my God. He was just always thinking up new shows.”
Loring said Thicke died after having “a major cardiac event” while playing hockey with 19-year-old son Carter.
“He died the way any good Canadian should — playing hockey with his son. Family and hockey, there it is. Hard work on the side, but family and hockey.”
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