Carter Thicke (left) with his stepmother Tanya Callau and his father, the late Alan Thicke. (Getty)
Carter Thicke is the son of the late Alan Thicke and Thicke’s second wife, former beauty queen Gina Tolleson. It was Carter who was playing hockey with his father when he died Tuesday at age 69. Thicke died of a heart attack.
Carter posted a tribute to his father on Twitter, saying goodbye to the Growing Pains actor.
Carter is a 19-year-old with ambitions to become an actor like his father. He was featured on the reality series Unusually Thicke with his father and Thicke’s third wife, Tanya Callau.
Here’s a look at Carter’s life.
1. Carter Was Playing Hockey With His Father When His Father Suffered a Heart Attack
Alan Thicke (right) with his son Carter and third wife, Tanya. (Getty)
According to TMZ, which first reported Thicke’s death, Carter and his father were playing hockey together at an ice rick in Burbank, California, where they typically play. The two were on the ice at around 11 a.m. when his father started feeling chest pains and got nauseous.
An ambulance arrived at the rink at 11:30 a.m. and rushed him to Providence St. Joseph’s Medical Center around noon. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Darin Mathewson, vice president of Pickwick Gardens, placed the 911 call after seeing Thicke collapse. Mathewson told Entertainment Tonight that the actor was “coherent” when the ambulance arrived and was talking with Carter.
“He said he had pain in his chest, but his color was not good. He was a little grey,” Mathewson told ET. “When the ambulance got here they checked his vitals … and they put him on the gurney, sat him up.”
NBC Los Angeles reports that Thicke joked to Carter that he should take a picture while paramedics were rolling him out. Mathewson confirmed this in his interview with ET. “When he went by us, he gave us the thumbs up, like, ‘I’m doing good guys, I’m good,'” Mathewson recalled in the ET interview.
#BREAKING: @Alan_Thicke joked to son “you should take a picture” as paramedics wheeled him out, employee to @NBCLA
Carter’s older brother Robin told the Los Angeles Times that one of the last things his father did was congratulate Carter on a great shot on the ice rink. Robin called his father “the greatest man I ever met.”
2. Carter Co-Starred on ‘Unusually Thicke’ With His Father & Stepmother
Beginning in 2014, Thicke, Tanya Callau and his son, Carter, have been featured in an unusual reality show about their lives called Unusually Thicke.
The show was unique in that it used the reality show format to give audiences a fictionalized look at Thicke’s life. His other sons – “Blurred Lines” singer Robin Thicke and Brennan Thicke – made occasional appearances. John Stamos, Bob Saget, David Hasselhoff and Wayne Gretzky also made cameo appearances on the show.
Usually Thicke originally aired on Pop in the U.S.
Carter also appeared in the 2013 episode of Celebrity Wife Swap, where Thicke swapped wives with comedian Gilbert Gottfried. He was also in an episode of Celebrity Family Feud with his father and appeared in It’s Not My Fault And I Don’t Care Anyway (2015) with his father.
3. Carter Is Hoping to be an Actor, Just Like His Father
Carter is really active on Twitter and is currently studying at USC. He calls himself an actor and writer in his Twitter bio.
Carter often shares funny moments from Unusually Thicke and quips from his father. “‘Stay calm, have my back, don’t pee your pants, we’re gonna be ok,’ – Advice from America’s Dad, @Alan_Thicke,” Carter wrote in one Tweet.
Carter also live-tweeted the show when new episodes aired.
4. Carter’s Mother is Former Beauty Queen Gina Tolleson
Alan Thicke with sons Carter and Robin. (Instagram/Carter Thicke)
Carter’s mother is Thicke’s second wife, Gina Tolleson. Tolleson was named Miss World America 1990 and Miss World 1990. She was born in South Carolina.
Tolleson and Thicke were married from August 1994 until September 1999.
According to a 1999 People Magazine report on the couple’s divorce, they had amicably decided to have joint custody of Carter.
“We have to dedicate ourselves to making his life perfect in every way, except for one—he won’t know his parents together. For that I will grieve the rest of my days,” Thicke said in an interview with People at the time.
Tolleson is currently the executive editor for Santa Barbara Magazine.
5. Thicke Said He Didn’t Micro-Manage Carter as a Parent & Didn’t Ask About His Son’s Sex Life
Alan and Carter shared a love of hockey. Here’s the two at the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals. (Getty)
In an interview with The Huffington Post, Thicke said that he never tried to “micro-manage” his children as a parent.
“I try not to micro-manage and have a bit of a don’t ask, don’t tell approach that relates to Carter’s sex life at least — kids don’t really want to talk to their dads about the details of that,” Thicke explained to the Huffington Post. “I’ve never confronted him and asked, ‘Are you a virgin? Are you sexually active?’ I assume that he will be sooner or later so we talk about respecting women and being faithful in relationships… no surprise pregnancies… and STD’s.”
When it comes to social media, Thicke told the Huffington Post, “I try to have my voice heard loudly in the cacophony of other influences whether from television and the Internet or social media… I want my voice to be heard in terms of the standards and values that I try to pass on to my kids.”