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TMZ: Alan Thicke Dead At 69, Celebs React Following Actor’s Sudden Heart Attack

By Kwao Saa
Published on: 05:38 PST, Dec 14, 2016

After TMZ announced the death of Alan Thicke, several celebrities have come out to pay their respects to the multi-talented actor fondly remembered for being an awesome dad on the 80s TV show Growing Pains.

News of Alan Thicke’s death broke on Tuesday. The Canadian-born actor, who also earned a name for himself as a talented songwriter, reportedly died after suffering from a heart attack. Thicke, 69, was playing hockey with his youngest son, Carter, when he collapsed, Los Angeles Times reported.

The incident reportedly happened in Burbank where Thicke and 19-year-old Carter go to play ice hockey weekly. According to TMZ, before Alan Thicke collapsed, he threw up after complaining of chest pain and nausea.

The actor, who collapsed while warming up with other players, was later stretchered away to the hospital after paramedics arrived at the rink located in Pickwick Gardens in Burbank.

“He definitely had some color to him, or not a whole lot of color,” Kyle Stavert, the rink’s operation’s manager, who called paramedics, told KTLA-TV. “But he was talking. He was alert. He even at one point made a crack to his son to take a picture of him on the stretcher, so he seemed to be in good spirits when he left.”

According to TMZ, paramedics transported Alan Thicke to Providence St. Joseph’s Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.

Alan Thicke, at right, his wife, Gina Tolleson, and son, Carter William Thicke. [Image by Katy Winn/AP Images]

Thicke, who would most memorably be remembered for his role as Jason Seaver’s dad in ABC’s long-running Growing Pains, had three sons; Brennan, Carter, and singer Robin Thicke. He was married to Tanya Callau.

Robin Thicke, 39, who described his father as a “gentleman” and “the greatest man I ever met,” said Alan’s last words were a compliment to Carter after the later struck a good shot.

Carter Thicke has since taken to Instagram to pay tribute to his father, Alan Thicke.

“Today I lost my best friend and my idol, and the world lost one of it’s finest,” he wrote. “I have never known a more kind, loving, hairy, and generous person in my life and I am forever grateful for the light that this man brought to my life and so many others. You will be missed every second of every day. You are a legend and I love you Pops. Until next time.”

Tributes from several celebrities who personally knew Alan Thicke have been flooding in via social media.

Tributes have also come from notable Canadian personalities, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and William and Anne Murray.

“Alan Thicke was proudly Canadian, never forgetting his roots as he soared to stardom. My deepest condolences to his family and friends,” Trudeau tweeted.

According to TMZ, Gilbert Gottfried, who was a frequent guest on Alan Thicke’s talk show Thicke of the Night in the 1980s, remembered his friend’s attempts at singing. The 61-year-old comedian, who once traded spouses with Alan Thicke on Celebrity Wife Swap, said they always made fun of Alan’s singing voice.

Actor Alan Thicke (L) and his son, singer Robin Thicke. [Image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]

Gottfried made a “spot on impression” of Alan Thicke’s singing in New York just hours after TMZ reported the liter’s death.

“Alan was a generous, kind and loving man. I am so blessed to have grown up with him,” Kirk Cameron, who also starred in Growing Pains, said in a statement.

TMZ reported that Alan Thicke’s organs would be donated. A company that deals in recovering organs was reportedly contacted soon after Thicke’s death was confirmed. Despite the report, Thicke’s family have not confirmed that his organs would be donated.

[Featured Image by Arthur Mola/Invision for The Hollywood Reporter/AP Images]

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