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“Growing Pains” star Joanna Kerns loved her television husband Alan Thicke until his death following their “unrequited romance.”
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The actress was a divorced full-time mother to her only child.
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In her 70s, she is still gorgeous and lives her best life with a grown daughter who looks just like her.
Joanna Kerns once confessed that she always knew “Growing Pains” wouldn’t last forever, but she vowed to enjoy each moment. One of the people she co-starred with was Alan Thicke, who starred as her television husband.
Alan, a Canadian actor, played Jason Seaver on the 1980s sitcom. Joanna bonded with her castmates by she clicked more with her on-screen husband, whom she featured alongside for seven years; however, the duo never went out on a romantic date.
Tracey Gold (Carol), Alan Thicke (Jason), Jeremy Miller (Ben), Joanna Kerns (Maggie), and Kirk Cameron (Mike) on season 3 of “Growing Pains” on October 14, 1987 | Source: Getty Images
Alan confessed that he and the actress “had chemistry, which our unrequited romance preserved for the entire show.” Joanna once admitted that pretending to love Alan’s character on the show daily and yearly led her to see his faults, but she also learned to accept him as he was.
The actress revealed that they had a connection she couldn’t explain. She loved him off stage and believed marriage was what she’d described, and felt it was the capability to love someone without judgment but to have the strength to “remain separate.”
Joanna Kerns and Alan Thicke posing together for a “Growing Pains” episode that would air on September 18, 1987 | Source: Getty Images
Her nickname for Alan was “Al,” and she called him that because it annoyed him. The actor believed the nickname was an old man’s one, and he hated it, but his cast members loved it, and it unfortunately stuck.
One thing Alan loved more than anything was his sons, Brennan, Robin, and Carter. Despite his marriage, Joanna loved Alan until his death in December 2016, when he suffered a heart attack while playing hockey with Carter, then 19,
