‘Growing Pains’ Turns 40: Where’s the Cast Now?
Four decades ago, TV viewers met the Seaver family in the premiere of Growing Pains, which hit ABC on September 24, 1985. Joanna Kerns and Alan Thicke played parents raising a family in suburban New York: Maggie Seaver was reentering the workforce as a reporter, and Dr. Jason Seaver was moving his psychiatry practice to the house so he could keep an eye on their brood. Those kids were the hormonal Mike, bookish Carol, troublemaking Ben — and, later, new child Chrissy and, in the final season, homeless teen Luke, played by none other than Leonardo DiCaprio.
Growing Pains became a top 5 hit and ultimately aired seven seasons before ending its run in 1992, though the cast reunited for one TV movie in 2000 and another in 2004. And now that we’re hitting the show’s 40th anniversary, check in on the stars’ post-Pains careers below.
Alan Thicke (d. 2016)
Dr. Jason Seaver
Jim McHugh/ABC/Courtesy Everett Collection; Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Thicke continued acting after Growing Pains, starring in the short-lived sitcom Hope & Gloria between 1995 and 1996 and the shorter-lived comedy jPod in 2008. He also guest-starred on TV shows like How I Met Your Mother, This Is Us, and Fuller House. And in 2014, he created the mockumentary series Unusually Thicke, a fictionalized take on his family life.
Thicke died of a ruptured aorta in 2016 at age 69. “He was the best man I ever knew. The best friend I ever had,” son Robin Thicke said in a statement at the time, per ABC News. “Let’s all rejoice and celebrate the joy he brought to every room he was in.”
Joanna Kerns (72)
Maggie Seaver
Gene Trindl/TV Guide/ABC/Courtesy Everett Collection; Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Kerns has segued into directing, and her dozens of behind-the-camera credits include episodes of Army Wives, Pretty Little Liars, Jane the Virgin, The Goldbergs, and Chicago Med. “When I was acting, I was always fascinated by the difference in the quality of work by what director I had,” she explained to Variety in 2015. “With certain directors, I felt safe — I knew it was going to look fabulous. They would have not just a great storytelling sense, but also a great cinematic sense. That’s when I started to say, that’s what the camera can do.”
Kirk Cameron (54)
Mike Seaver
Jim Britt /ABC/Courtesy Everett Collection; Jason Davis/Getty Images for BRAVE Books
Cameron has turned his focus to evangelical Christianity, having cofounded the radio and TV ministry The Way of the Master in 2002, according to The Washington Post. Lately, Cameron is known more for his controversies than his career. In 2012, for example, he said on CNN he believed homosexuality was “unnatural … detrimental, and ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilizations.” Former Growing Pains costars Alan Thicke and Tracey Gold were among the celebs who decried his comments, per ABC News.
Then, in 2020, Cameron stoked outrage again by participating in maskless events during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a decision the Los Angeles County public health director called “very irresponsible and very dangerous,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Tracey Gold (56)
Carol Seaver
Everett Collection; Bobby Bank/Getty Images
For about a decade after Growing Pains, Gold starred in a series of thriller TV movies, including Lady Killer, Beauty’s Revenge, Stolen Innocence, A Kidnapping in the Family, and Face of Evil. Her most recent onscreen acting role came in 2016 with the family film All Hallow’s Eve.
In 2022, however, Gold returned to screen as a contestant on a ’90s celebrity edition of Worst Cooks of America and won the whole shebang. But just competing on the show was a win for Gold, she said, after her battle with anorexia during the 1990s. “I was proud of myself,” she told USA Today. “There was definitely a time in the early ’90s I couldn’t have even participated in the show because I couldn’t taste anything. So, it was a victory for sure.”
Jeremy Miller (48)
Ben Seaver
Warner Bros./Courtesy: Everett Collection; Credit Mike Pingel
Though Miller hasn’t had many high-profile roles after Growing Pains, he did get a recurring role on the BET+ drama series Angel in 2023. As for his offscreen life, Miller has been candid about his alcoholism, telling Fox News Digital in 2022 he’d been in recovery since 2011 and totally sober for the previous seven years.
In an interview on the Youngstown Studio podcast last month, Miller said his Growing Pains family helped bring him from the “brink of homelessness” after his catering company went under during the 2008 financial crisis. “All it took was a phone call to say, ‘Hey, Al [Thicke], I’m really struggling. Do you know anybody who might…’ and that’s all I had to say,” he revealed. “[Thicke] 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.”
Ashley Johnson (42)
Chrissy Seaver
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images; Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for GLAAD
While still a child actor, Johnson got regular roles on the TV shows Phenom, All-American Girl, Maybe This Time, and Kelly Kelly. Then, in her adult years, Johnson scored supporting roles on The Killing and Blindspot.
But Johnson is arguably more famous in gamer culture than in Hollywood these days: She provided the voice and motion capture for Ellie in the Last of Us video games, a job that got her a cameo in the HBO adaptation. She’s a cast member of the Dungeons & Dragons web series Critical Role, which led to her part in the animated TV show The Legend of Vox Machina, and she’s also the president of the Critical Role Foundation charity.
Leonardo DiCaprio (50)
Luke Brower
Warner Bros. Television/Courtesy Everett Collection; Joe Maher/Getty Images
DiCaprio, meanwhile, has become a Hollywood superstar, thanks to his roles in blockbusters Titanic, Inception, and The Revenant, the last of which earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor. He also received Oscar nominations for his performances in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Aviator, Blood Diamond, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. His newest film, One Battle After Another, arrives in theaters on Friday, September 26.
“He was so good,” Johnson said of Growing Pains-era DiCaprio in a new People interview. “You could tell so early on… I just remember everyone was like, ‘This kid is so good.’ Like, he had it. We felt it. He was great.”
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