GROWING PAINS Star’s TV Dad Stepped Up When He Was on ‘Brink of Homelessness’

Published: September 3, 2025

By Michaela Gordoni

GROWING PAINS star Jeremy Miller was on “the brink of homelessness” when his TV dad Alan Thicke stepped in.

“He was just one of the most amazing men,” said Miller, who played Ben Seaver on the show.

Thicke died in 2016 at the age of 69.

In 2008, “my catering company went under, and I was really struggling,” Miller said. “I mean, really struggling on the brink of homelessness.”

Both Thicke and his other GROWING PAINS co-star, Kirk Cameron, who starred as his brother, helped him out.

“Things got really bad, and Alan and Kirk were the only two who stepped up to help me,” he said. “Alan set up interviews with all of his restaurateur friends in Santa Barbara and a few other places and got me connected to different places where I could utilize my chef skills and earn some money to help take care of my family.”

@youngstownstudio

Jeremy Miller starred as Ben Seaver in the ’80s/’90s sitcom hit “Growing Pains.” In this Youngstown Studio interview clip, Jeremy talks about the late, great Alan Thicke and shares a heartwarming story about the legendary TV dad and actor. #growingpains #alanthicke Full interview: https://loom.ly/C3leuWM

♬ original sound – youngstownstudio – youngstownstudio

“All it took was a phone call to say, ‘Hey, Al, I’m really struggling. Do you know anybody who might —’ and that’s all I had to say,” Miller said. “He was on the phone for the next two days, making connections and doing everything he could to try and help me. That was just the kind of guy he was.”

Miller said Thicke’s death was a shock because the actor was the image of life.

“I mean, all of us, we really thought he was gonna be the next Dick Clark, you know? 102 and still going. Because he was so full of life and so full of energy.”

He said Thicke had “no cartilage in his knees” and “a fused vertebrae in his back,” but he was “still out there playing hockey with his son.”

Thicke was playing hockey with his 19-year-old when he collapsed of chest pains. He died that day after an aortic dissection, from a ruptured aorta, HCA Healthcare Today reported.

“He was just such a kind, generous, and amazing man. And him and I would talk probably once a month, once every two months,” Miller recalled. “He would call just to check up on me, make sure everything’s going good. But he really did fill that father role. He was my other dad.”

“As close as I am to my real father, I was almost as close to Alan. He did step into that role in a prominent way,” Miller added.

Cameron, a Teddy Bear Award® winner, also thought a lot of Thicke.

“He’s really nice and funny, and seems like he’s going to be a really cool dad,” Cameron recalled in 2016 of his first introduction to Thicke.

“We were a family,” he said. “We laughed and cried together, shared birthday celebrations, Christmas parties, holidays and worked together with the crew as a team to make a really special TV show. We weren’t just a TV family. In many ways, we were a real family.”

Their familial relationship continued until Thicke’s death.

“Alan was…a seasoned dad through and through,” he said. “He was always available on set and off to talk with me, to listen and understand, to give advice, calm my teenage nerves and even share my excitement when something great happened … just like a good dad.”

Thicke is deeply missed today, and his legacy lives on through the people, like Cameron and Miller, who he’s impacted.

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