Jeremy Miller, the child actor best known for playing Ben Seaver on seven seasons of Growing Pains, has opened up about some life pains of his own.
The actor sat for an interview recently with Scott Austalosh of the Youngstown Studios podcast, where he wasn’t shy about discussing some addiction struggles and some economic ups and downs. Indeed, he said that after the financial crisis of 2008, he was “on the brink of homelessness,” only to be rescued by some of his old colleagues.
“My catering company went under, and I was really struggling,” he said, adding, “I mean, really struggling, on the brink of homelessness.” His TV dad and brother were quick to lend a hand.
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“Things got really bad, and Alan [Thicke] and Kirk [Cameron] were the only two who stepped up to help me,” he explained. “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,” he said.
He continued, “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.”
Miller, who also spent some years voicing the part of Linus van Pelt in various Peanuts projects, keeps an active schedule with conventions and appearances, but is, indeed, available for your celebrity chef needs. You wanna take private cooking classes with Ben Seaver? You can make that happen!
Concerning the multitalented Alan Thicke (you knew he cowrote the theme songs to The Facts of Life and Diff’rent Strokes and the soft rock gem “Sara,” right? His son Robin’s musical prowess didn’t come from nowhere!), Miller had nothing but kind words of remembrance.
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“Alan was one of the most caring, generous, and loving men you could ever know,” he said about the Ontario-born actor and host, who died in 2016 at the age of 69. “In between every take, it was hard to get a scene done because we were rolling on the floor laughing.”
He 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.”
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You can listen to Miller’s very open interview on the Youngstown Studio podcast, below.
