Imagine yourself in this situation: you're 17 years old and the star of a hit network television show, millions of teen girls sleep with your fabricky likeness, and you can have any girl in the world. For Kirk Cameron, the star of TV's "Growing Pains," at that age, THAT was his life.

The Making of Kirk Cameron started in 1968, when a 25-year-old rising middle-school gym coach named Rob Cameron met a 17-year-old rising high school graduate named Barbara Bausmith. Before the year was up, Barbara was pregnant with Rob's baby.

If this were 2011, Rob Cameron would be registered as a sex offender for life in the state of California, but in 1969, the year of Woodstock, Free Love, and Neil Armstrong's eventual walk on the moon, in an effort to prevent the baby from being labeled a "bastard" (dictionary term: an out-of-wedlock baby), Rob proposed to Barbara, and the two were lawfully wed on June 22, 1969.

3 1/2 months later, on October 12, 1969, in Panorama, California, a baby boy, Kirk Thomas Cameron, arrived.

Within 5 years, Rob and Barbara were expecting again; this time, a girl, Candace Helaine Cameron, arrived on April 6, 1975 in Panorama, California.

In 1979, a few months after Kirk's 9th birthday, the Camerons' neighbor, Fran Rich (whose son, Adam, was born on October 12, 1968 in Brooklyn, New York, a FULL year before Kirk was born, and was in his 2nd season as the youngest of 8 children on the ABC dramedy "Eight is Enough"), suggested that Kirk follow Adam into the child-acting business; Kirk auditioned for a Count Chocula commercial and began appearing in several commercials over the next year.

2 years later, In 1981, Candace, age 5 (about to turn 6), followed her big brother Kirk into a series of commercials. Later that year, at 11, Kirk graduated from his stint in commercials to small roles on network television shows such as "Lou Grant" & a short-lived 1982 sitcom version of "Herbie, the Love Bug."

At age 13, Kirk Cameron was cast opposite rising teen film actor C. Thomas Howell ("The Outsiders") on a short-lived ABC drama series called "Two Marriages." Although the show folded after 8 months, Kirk, age 14, was about to cement his status into permanent teen idoldom.

In Winter 1984, 26-year-old writer Neal Marlens conceived a situation comedy pilot called "Growing Pains," which Neal based on a true story--his own--growing up in Long Island, New York as a teenage boy 10 years earlier. Neal rechristened the Marlens family the Seavers, after his childhood baseball idol Tom Seaver. The following fall, not long before his 15th birthday, Kirk Cameron auditioned for the part of the character directly based on Neal Marlens--the eldest teenage son, Mike Seaver.

Kirk was an hour late at his audition for the show, even begging the casting directors not to close the doors just yet to let him audition.

After his audition, 15-year-old Kirk turned to the casting directors and asked, "Is this a comedy show or what?" To which they responded, "I think he just got himself the part."

Kirk was cast as Mike Seaver alongside 31-year-old actress Joanna De Varona (born February 12, 1953 in San Francisco, California, who had just come off a failed 1984 sitcom, "The Four Seasons," as well as a failed marriage to Richard Kerns, with whom she had an 8-year-old daughter, Ashley); 8-year-old actor Jeremy Miller (born October 21, 1975 in West Covina, California, previously the voice of Linus on various late '70s Peanuts specials); 38-year-old failed talk show host Alan Thicke (born Alan Jeffrey on March 1, 1947 in Kirkland Lake, Canada, whose wife, Gloria Loring, divorced him right after the failure of his late-night talk show, "Thicke of the Night"; they had 2 sons--10-year-old Brennan and 7 1/2-year-old Robin; Alan had also beat out 150 other men for the part of Seaver dad Dr. Jason, a psychiatrist, so his being cast was a belated 38th birthday present for him in March 1985); and 15-year-old actress Elizabeth Ward (born circa 1969).

In March 1985, the "Growing Pains" pilot was shot on the Warner Brothers Studios lot in Burbank, California; afterwards, the producers gave 15-year-old Elizabeth the boot and replaced her with 16-year-old actress Tracey Gold (born May 16, 1969 in New York City, New York, who had previously appeared on a short-lived 1983 sitcom called "Goodnight, Beantown" and was "Benson" actress Missy's real-life big sister).

All the scenes shot originally with Elizabeth Ward were replaced with Tracey Gold in the scenes during the summer of 1985.

That fall, on September 24, 1985, "Growing Pains" debuted on the ABC Television Network, airing Tuesday nights at 8:30 p.m. after the Tony Danza vehicle "Who's the Boss?" (then in its 2nd season).

Though its ratings struggled during its 1st season, along with Neal Marlens leaving the show in January 1986, more than halfway through that season, with the team of Dan Guntzelman, Steve Marshall, and Mike Sullivan taking over for Neal, the show ended that season at #17 in the Nielsens.

By his 17th birthday, October 12, 1986, Kirk Cameron was a bonafide household name and teen idol, but after a Sweet 16 celebration (OK, so Kirk shaved a year off his true age to make himself a year younger for his part), his parents, Rob & Barbara, sat him and Candace down and told them both, "We're splitting up. Mom is living in a different place now," and Rob and Barbara soon divorced after 17 years and 2 celebrity kids together.

The following summer, after "Growing Pains'" 2nd season wrapped (and soon after 11-year-old Candace shot the "Full House" pilot before her 12th birthday in 1987), Kirk Cameron was cast alongside British actor Dudley Moore in "Like Father, Like Son," which, when released theatrically later that year, was a box-office smash.

Not long before he turned 18, by his own admission, Kirk sat in his parked car on the streets of Van Nuys, California, and asked himself, "If there's a God, show me. I need to know." He had spent the majority of his youth a devout Athiest (meaning believing there is NO God). Soon after, 17-year-old Kirk Cameron turned away from his life-long Athiesm beliefs to a follower of God & Jesus Christ.

In his 2008 memoir "Still Growing," Kirk admitted that telling that to his "Growing Pains" producers & employees would make him seem like fair game in Power Playing, being seen by the press & the general public as a "punk kid trying to change the premise of the show," something Kirk admits to not seeing at all, but rather as a constructive, honest way to try to improve the show.

One example: in a scene where Mike Seaver was supposed to open up a key to his girlfriend's apartment, Kirk Cameron flatly refused to do the scene as written. As a direct result, a new script was written with the scene thrown out.

In 1988, 18-year-old Kirk graduated from Chatsworth High School (where he attended every 4th week during break from filming on "Growing Pains," where he was tutored on the set for 3 hours Monday-Friday). Soon afterwards, he bought a house in Simi Valley, California as a rite of passage.

Eventually, the house burned down not long after Kirk had moved out.

In 1989, at the start of taping of "Growing Pains'" 5th season, Kirk Cameron, just shy of age 20, met and fell in love with a 24-year-old actress/former model named Nancy Mueller, who, under the stage name Chelsea Noble, was cast on the show as Kate MacDonald, a potential love interest of Mike's at the community college where they both attended--an event that transferred quickly to off-screen as well.

On July 20, 1991, less than 2 years after their first meeting, 26-year-old Nancy Mueller and 21-year-old Kirk Cameron were married in Nancy's hometown of Buffalo, New York, in a private ceremony attended by immediate family members of both parties only.

As one might expect, the cast of "Growing Pains," according to the show's "E! True Hollywood Story" episode, were furious for not being invited--nor much less being told in advance, "We want you to know that we're getting married and we want you to respect the fact that you guys aren't invited."

3 months earlier, on April 24, 1991, Kirk Cameron inadvertently caused more trouble when he called the President of ABC from his home, stating that his employers, Dan Guntzelman, Mike Sullivan, & Steve Marshall, were "pornographers" (in Marshall's case, sadly correct, as Marshall pled guilty to possession of child pornography and earned a maximum 7-year prison sentence).

The following fall, at the start of Season 7, new writers and producers were hired--all of whom deemed Kirk, by this point about to become age 22, "too old" for teen idoldom. A 16-year-old actor born November 11, 1974 in Hollywood, California named Leonardo DiCaprio was cast as Luke Brower, a 15-year-old homeless teenager taken in by the Seaver family after Mike discovered that Luke, his star pupil at the inner-city school where he taught for college credit, was homeless.

Though Season 7 of "Growing Pains" ended at #27 out of 102 prime-time network television shows in the Nielsen ratings (in spite of moving from Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. to Saturday nights at 8:30 p.m.), it wasn't enough for Judge A.C. Nielsen, who ruled the show "Canceled!" Why? Because A.C. was tired of 22-year-old Kirk's religious beliefs.

3 years later, in Spring 1995, "Full House," on which Kirk's sister Candace portrayed eldest daughter D.J. Tanner, was canceled--in this case, because it was deemed "too pricey" to produce.

Soon after that show's cancellation, Candace met and fell in love with Russian pro hockey player Valeri Bure, who she'd wed, at age 21, on June 22, 1996, 27 years after her parents married. Valeri was 22 when they were married.

Before that, however, Candace appeared in a made-for-TV movie called "No One Would Tell," broadcast in Spring 1996, not long after she turned 21, in which Candace portrayed Stacy Collins, a high-school student regularly abused by her boyfriend (played by Fred Savage, born July 9, 1975 in Chicago, Illinois, late of ABC's "The Wonder Years"). One scene featured Candace appearing totally naked in a shower scene after Stacy was bruised and beaten by her boyfriend--who, by movie's end, was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life without parole.

In August 1995, 25-year-old Kirk, just shy of age 26, was cast in a sitcom vehicle created for him by former "Happy Days" star Scott Baio (born in Brooklyn, New York on September 22, 1960, having just turned 50 in 2010). The aptly titled "Kirk" starred Cameron as Kirk Hartman, a 24-year-old aspiring cartoonist whose parents had left him and his 3 siblings--2 sisters and a brother--orphans after the parents passed away.

When Hartman's grandmother, who'd raised the younger siblings, moved to Florida, she left them under Hartman's care.

Included in the cast was Kirk's real-life wife, Nancy Mueller, as Elizabeth Waters, a potential love interest of Hartman's.

The show lasted only 15 months on the WB Network until November 1996, after which Kirk & Nancy retired from showbiz--sans the occasional acting gig in such Christian films as the "Left Behind" direct-to-video/DVD trilogy and the 2008 theatrical Christian movie "Fireproof."

In early 2003, 33-year-old Kirk teamed up with 53-year-old author Ray Comfort (born December 1, 1949 in New Zealand and raised British) to start a ministry dubbed "The Way of the Master."

Within 2 years, Kirk, age 35, transferred his job status from actor to full-time preacher.

On February 22, 2010, Kirk faced a tragedy when his old friend and former "Growing Pains" castmate Andrew Koenig (born August 17, 1968 in Los Angeles, California), whose father, Walter (born September 14, 1936 in New York City, New York), was best known as Pavel Chekov on the original "Star Trek" series broadcast from 1966-1969 on NBC, was, at age 41, reported missing in Vancouver, Canada; just 3 days later, on February 25, 2010, Andrew Koenig, age 41, was found dead in a Vancouver area park, having taken his own life--a suicide.

Less than 2 weeks later, on March 10, 2010, 38-year-old Corey Haim (born December 23, 1971 in Toronto, Canada) was found unconscious by his Israeli-born mother, Judy. Haim was pronounced dead later that day, and was reportedly too poor at the time of his death to afford a funeral, so Corey Feldman (born July 16, 1971 in Chatsworth, California), with whom Haim appeared in a number of teenage '80s flicks (thus earning them the distinction of being known as "The Two Coreys"), donated money to have a funeral for Haim, who was laid to rest in his hometown of Toronto, Canada.

After Haim's death, 40-year-old Kirk Cameron admitted that he and Corey Haim, along with River Phoenix (who had died 17 years earlier of a fatal drug overdose), would often go on the same auditions together as young kids and teenagers--and that's how he knew Haim.

Today, at age 41, when he's not delivering television sermons on TBN and local stations across the United States, Kirk Cameron and Nancy Mueller will be celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary next July--and they are the proud parents of 6 kids between ages 7 and 15--the eldest 4 are adopted, while the youngest 2 are biological.

Candace, age 35, isn't doing too bad, either--celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary next June, she and Val are the proud parents of 3 children between ages 9 and 12. Candace's memoir, "Reshaping It All," will be released in bookstores nationwide in January 2011.