Growing Pains star Jeremy Miller — who portrayed Ben Seaver in the beloved ’80s sitcom — recently revealed that two of his costars once saved him from becoming homeless.
During an August 21 sit-down with Scott Austalosh for the Youngstown Studios podcast, Miller, now 48, opened up about some growing pains of his own while filming the series. Growing Pains aired from 1985 to 1992 ABC and also starred Alan Thicke, Joanna Kerns, Kirk Cameron, and Tracey Gold.
“After 2008, when the big economic crash happened, my catering company went under, and I was really struggling,” Miller shared on the podcast. “I mean, really struggling — on the brink of homelessness, things got really bad.”
“And Alan and Kirk were the only two who stepped up to help me,” he continued. “Alan set up interviews with all of his restaurateur friends in Santa Barbara and a few other places, and got me connected to different places where I could utilize my chef skills and earn some money to help take care of my family.”
In the interview, Miller explained, “And all it took was a phone call to say, ‘Hey, Al, I’m really struggling. Do you know anybody who might…’ and that’s all I had to say,” the actor recalled. “He 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.”
Although the former child actor didn’t elaborate on how his onscreen brother, Cameron, who played Mike Seaver, helped him during the difficult time, Miller delved further into Thicke’s character during his chat with Austalosh.
“Alan was one of the most caring, generous, and loving men you could ever know,” he said of Robin Thicke‘s father, who died in 2016 at age 69. “In between every take, it was hard to get a scene done because we were rolling on the floor laughing.”
Miller added, “He would call just to check up on me, make sure everything’s going good. But he really did fill that father role. He was my other dad.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Miller opened up about his alcohol addiction after starring on Growing Pains as a coping mechanism for past trauma and anxiety.