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Growing Pains Star and TV Host Alan Thicke Dies at 69

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Dec 13 23:21 – CP_PB – The Canadian Press

Alan Thicke, a versatile performer who gained his greatest renown

as the beloved dad on a long-running sitcom, has died at age 69.

Carleen Donovan, who is a publicist for Thicke’s son, singer

Robin Thicke, said the actor died from a heart attack on Tuesday in

Los Angeles. She had no further details.

Thicke was a Canadian-born TV host, writer, composer and actor

well-known in his homeland before making his name in the United

States, most notably with the ABC series “Growing Pains.”

On that comedy, which aired from 1985 to 1992, Thicke played Dr.

Jason Seaver, a psychiatrist and father-knows-best who moved his

practice into his home so his wife could go back to work as a

reporter. Along with his clients, he had three (later four) kids

under foot, including his oldest son, Mike, played by breakout

heart-throb Kirk Cameron, who served as a constant source of comedic

trouble for the family.

Born in Ontario, Canada, in 1947, Thicke was nominated for three

Emmy Awards for his work in the late 1970s as a writer for Barry

Manilow’s talk show, and later for a satirical take on the genre in

the variety show “America 2-Night.”

He composed several popular theme songs, including the original

theme for “The Wheel of Fortune” and other shows including “The

Facts of Life” and “Diff’rent Strokes.”

Perhaps his boldest assault on the U.S. market was as a virtual

unknown taking on the King of Late Night, Johnny Carson. “Thicke of

the Night” was a syndicated talk-music-and-comedy show meant to go

head-to-head against NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny

Carson.”

It premiered in September 1983 with great fanfare, boasting an

innovative format and regulars including Richard Belzer, Arsenio

Hall, Gilbert Gottfried and Fred Willard. But all too quickly, it

was evident that Carson wasn’t going to be dethroned, and the

ambitious “Thicke” disappeared into the night after one season.

In the 1990s and beyond, Thicke stayed busy as a celebrity TV

host and with guest shots on dozens of series, including “How I Met

Your Mother” and, this year, the Netflix series “Fuller House”

and the NBC drama “This Is Us.”

Celebrities who had crossed paths with Thicke, whether through

music, acting or simply as friends, expressed their sorrow at news

of his death.

“I grew up watching him and got to know him through Robin. He

was always so kind to me,” John Legend posted on Twitter.

“You were a part of my family and hockey family. You will be

greatly missed. My heart hurts,” Candace Cameron Bure tweeted.

“RIP dear friend and gentleman,” posted Marlee Matlin.

Thicke’s fellow Canadians also responded quickly.

William Shatner tweeted that he was saddened by his friend’s

loss, and singer Anne Murray’s Twitter post said she was “shocked

and devastated,” recalling him as a friend as well as a writer and

producer of many of her TV specials.

The Edmonton Oilers also weighed in.

“RIP to one of the great ones, Alan Thicke,” was posted on the

hockey team’s website, with a photo of a young Thicke and Wayne

Gretzky on the ice.

Like any good Canadian, Thicke was a hockey fan, frequently

attending LA Kings games. He took credit for introducing the sport

to celebrity friends.

He began playing at age 5, but acknowledged he wasn’t very good

at it.

“You were expected to play,” he said in 1998. “I was never

good enough for the big time, but I always had fun at it.”

In 2003, Thicke received 30 stitches and lost five teeth after he

was struck by a puck while practicing for a celebrity fundraising

hockey game. “I won’t be playing any leading men roles in the next

couple of months,” he joked after the accident.

He had the satisfaction of seeing his musical skills passed down

to son Robin, a successful singer-songwriter and producer who, with

brother Brennan, was born to Thicke and the first of his three

wives, Gloria Loring.

In an email, Loring described Thicke’s passing as “a shock. We

were all just together for Thanksgiving. He was funny, talented and

deeply devoted to his family.”

Thicke also leaves a son, Carter, from his marriage to second

wife Gina Tolleson. He had been married to Tanya Callau since 2005.

___

AP Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney in Los Angeles and AP

Music Writer Mefin Fekadu in New York contributed to this report.

_____

AP Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney in Los Angeles and AP

Music Writer Mefin Fekadu in New York contributed to this report.

President Todayville Inc., Honorary Colonel 41 Signal Regiment, Board Member Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Award Foundation, Director Canadian Forces Liaison Council (Alberta) musician, photographer, former VP/GM CTV Edmonton.

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Business

Donald Trump appoints Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone as special ambassadors to Hollywood

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From LifeSiteNews

In a surprise post on Truth Social, Trump announced, ‘It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California.’

In an unexpected move, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has selected Mel Gibson, along with Sylvester Stallone and Jon Voight, to be “special ambassadors” to Hollywood in his next administration.

“It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California,” Trump announced on his social media platform Truth Social on Thursday.

Elaborating on his decision, Trump continued:

They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!

These three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest. It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!

All three of the Hollywood stars are baptized Catholics and have, to varying degrees, professed and defended their beliefs both in God and in conservative principles more generally.

The appointments come just days after Gibson, who is well-known as an outspoken Catholic actor and director, appeared on the popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast, making headlines for defending the resurrection of Christtalking about the post-Vatican II crisis in the Catholic Church, and speaking candidly about the important role his faith has played in his life. Gibson’s house was also one of many to have burned down in the fires ravaging Los Angeles, describing it as a form of “purification.”

Similarly, Stallone, who talked about his return to Christianity in the early 2000s after drifting away in his younger years, was also in the news recently for saying for the first time publicly that he is the survivor of abortion.

As for Voight, he was raised Catholic and attended the Catholic University of America, and is well-known for holding conservative views and talking openly about his belief in God. He is also the father of famous actress Angelina Jolie.

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Censorship Industrial Complex

UNESCO’s New Mission: Train Influencers About Combatting Online “Misinformation”

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The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is now incorporating teaching influencers how to “fact check” into its activities.
UNESCO claims that influencers have become “primary sources of news and cultural information” around the world – which prompted it to carry out a survey into how these online personalities verify the “news” they present.

Related: World Leaders Sign New Censorship Declaration at UN Event While Secretary-General António Guterres Pushed for Increased Online Censorship

Citizens in UN member-countries may or may not be happy that this is how their taxpayer money funding the world organization is being spent these days. But UNESCO is not only conducting surveys; it is also developing a training course for said influencers (which are also interchangeably referred to as content creators in press releases).

It’s meant to teach them not only to “report misinformation, disinformation and hate speech” but also to collaborate with legacy media and these outlets’ journalists, in order to “amplify fact-based information.”

The survey, “Behind the screens,” was done together with researchers from the US Bowling Green State University. 500 influencers from 45 countries took part, and the key findings, UNESCO said, are that 63 percent of them “lack rigorous and systematic fact-checking protocols” – but also, that 73% said they “want to be trained.”

This UN agency also frames the results as showing that respondents are “struggling” with disinformation and hate speech and are “calling for more training.”

UNESCO is justifying its effort to teach influencers to “rigorously” check facts by referring to its media and information literacy mandate. The report laments that mainstream media has become “only the third most common source (36.9%) for content creators, after their own experience and their own research and interviews.”

It would seem content creators/influencers are driven by common sense, but UNESCO wants them to forge closer ties with journalists (specifically those from legacy, i.e., traditional media – UNESCO appears very eager to stress that multiple times.)

Related: United Nations Development Program Urges Governments to Push Digital ID

Under the guise of concern, the agency also essentially warns creators/influencers that they should be better aware of regulations and “international standards” that pertain to digital media – in order to avoid “legal uncertainty” that exposes them to “prosecution and conviction in some countries.”

And now, UNESCO and US-based Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas have launched a one-month course which is currently involving 9,000 people from 160 countries. The goal is to train them to “address disinformation and hate speech and provide them with a solid grounding in global human rights standards.”

The initiative looks like an attempt to get “traditional” journalists to influence the influencers, and try to prop up their outlets, that are experiencing an erosion in trust among their audiences.

If you’re tired of censorship and surveillance, subscribe to Reclaim The Net.

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