Kirk Cameron

[poof]

The year was 1968. Vietnam was at war with America; Richard Milhous Nixon, aged 55, was elected President that November; and earlier that year, a 24-year-old middle-school teacher & gym coach named Rob Cameron met and fell in love with 17-year-old high-school senior Barbara Bausmith.

Before the year ended, Rob and Barbara learned they were expecting a baby; as was more common than it is now, to avoid their baby from being born illegitimate, Rob and Barbara married on June 22, 1969.

3 1/2 months later, a baby boy, Kirk, was born on October 12, 1969.

The new family settled in the San Fernando Valley subdivision of Los Angeles, California, where by 1974, Rob and Barbara were expecting again.

This time, a baby girl, Candace, was born on April 6, 1975.

In 1979, at the request of Barbara's friend and Cameron family neighbor Fran Rich (whose 10-year-old son, Adam, was in his 2nd season on the hit 1970s family dramedy "Eight Is Enough," and who also shared a birthday with Kirk), Barbara began taking 9-year-old Kirk and 3 1/2-year-old Candace out to audition for various commercials, with Kirk booking his first audition for a Count Chocula commercial; the following year, 5-year-old Candace made her debut in a NEVER-broadcast Mutual of Omaha commercial.

By 1982, after a few more years of commercial bookings, 12-year-old Kirk had graduated to bit parts on network television shows such as "Lou Grant," "Bret Maverick," and a short-lived sitcom adaptation of the hit 1969 Disney movie "Herbie, the Love Bug"; that same year, per the December 3, 1986 issue of People Magazine, Kirk earned partial facial damage as a result of a skiing accident -- which, on the upside, gave him his signature smirk.

The following year, 13-year-old Kirk made his regular series debut on a short-lived drama series called "Two Marriages."

In 1984, just before his 15th birthday, Kirk auditioned for a part in a situation comedy pilot called "Growing Pains," which was created by 27-year-old aspiring writer Neal Marlens, who based the pilot on a true story, his own, growing up in Long Island, New York, where Neal's mother was a psychiatrist, and his father served as manager for the local newspaper, New York Newsday.

Neal rechristened his real-life family the Seaver family (in honor of pro baseball player Tom Seaver) and gave his family an '80s twist, with the father becoming an at-home psychiatrist and the mother returning to work after 15 years as a stay-at-home mom for the fictional Long Island Herald.

Joining 15-year-old Kirk in the cast were 38-year-old Alan Thicke (born Alan Jeffrey on March 1, 1947 in Kirkland Lake, Canada); 32-year-old Joanna Kerns (born Joanna DeVarona on February 12, 1953 in San Francisco, California); 15-year-old Elizabeth Ward; and 9-year-old Jeremy Miller (born on October 21, 1975 in West Covina, California).

The pilot was shot in April 1985 and was picked up as a regular series for the Fall 1985 TV season; however, Elizabeth Ward was cut from the show, and 15-year-old Tracey Gold (born Tracey Fisher on May 16, 1969 in New York City, New York), who had earlier auditioned and didn't get it, was chosen to replace Elizabeth for the series; as a result, all of Elizabeth's scenes were reshot with Tracey in her place later that summer.

"Growing Pains" made its debut on September 24, 1985 on the ABC Television Network, airing Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. after "Who's the Boss?"

The ratings were very low, and in January 1986, midway through the first season, creator Neal Marlens left the series and was replaced as showrunner by Dan Guntzelman, Mike Sulllvan, and Steve Marshall, who helped the ratings climb to #17 in the Nielsens by the end of its rookie season.

That Spring, 10-year-old Candace auditioned for a situation comedy pilot for the ABC Television Network called "Full House," for which she was cast the following July, 3 months after her 11th birthday.

That October, soon after his real-life birthday, Rob and Barbara sat Kirk & Candace down and told them that they were getting divorced.

The folliowing Summer, after completing Season 2 of "Growing Pains," 17-year-old Kirk was cast opposite British actor Dudley Moore (born on April 19, 1935 in Dagenham, England; died on March 27, 2002 in Plainfield, New Jersey of pneumonia) in a big-screen comedy movie for TriStar Pictures (now Columbia/Sony) called "Like Father, Like Son," where the 2 actors, as Chris Hammond and Dr. Jack Hammond, switched brains, with a bit of help from Chris's best friend, Clarence, a.k.a. "Trigger" (Sean Astin, who was born Sean Patrick Duke on February 25, 1971 in Santa Monica, California).

During a break from filming, 17-year-old Kirk was invited by his then-girlfriend, aspiring actress Leanna Creel, to attend her local Church where her father was pastor; soon after the Church invitation, pertaining to his parents' impending divorce, Kirk, per his 2008 memoir "Still Growing" (co-authored with his friend Lissa Halls Johnson), said to himself, "If there's a God, I need to know," and turned his life from a lifelong Atheist to a follower of Jesus Christ.

Soon after, Kirk & Candace's parents, Rob and Barbara, reconciled and eventually remarried, and Candace's pilot "Full House" made its debut on the ABC Television Network on September 22, 1987.

In May 1988, weeks after his 17-year-old character Mike Seaver graduated from Thomas E. Dewey High School, 18-year-old Kirk Cameron graduated high school in real life from Chatsworth High School (as Candace would eventually in 1993), the school he attended every 4th week when he wasn't filming "Growing Pains" (as is custom with child & teen actors in today's world).

Soon afterwards, 18-year-old Kirk bought his first house in Simi Valley, California (per "Still Growing"), which burned down after he moved out.

In 1989, just before his 20th birthday, Kirk met and fell in love with 25-year-old aspiring actress/model Nancy Mueller (born on December 4, 1963 in Buffalo, New York), known professionally as Chelsea Noble, who was cast on "Growing Pains" as Kate MacDonald, a potential love interest for Mike Seaver--a role that would transition off-screen as well.

By February 1991, Kirk and Nancy were engaged to be married, and on July 20, 1991, they were married in Nancy's hometown of Buffalo, New York, in a private ceremony attended by immediate family only--which upset the cast of "Growing Pains" because they weren't even invited to the wedding.

On April 24, 1991, just after the 6th season of "Growing Pains" ended, Kirk called the President of the ABC Television Network, calling his employers "pornographers" (partially true, as Steve Marshall pled guilty in early 2010 to possession of child porn and earned a 7-year prison term in Arkansas).

Soon after that fateful call, ABC execs decided that the upcoming 7th season of "Growing Pains" would be its last, thus canceling the series.

That Fall, a 16-year-old actor & recent high-school dropout named Leonardo DiCaprio (born on November 11, 1974 in Los Angeles, California) was cast as Luke Brower, a 15-year-old homeless teenager taken in by the Seavers.

Simultaneously, Dan Wilcox was hired as showrunner for the 7th season.

Despite the last season, the show ended very well (per the Complete Directory of Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, published by Ballantine Books and authored by Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh) at #27 in the Nielsen ratings out of 102 prime-time network TV shows -- despite being moved from Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. to Saturday nights at 8 p.m.

3 years after "Growing Pains" ended its run, 25-year-old Kirk Cameron returned to series television in a self-titled sitcom for the WB Television Network created by Scott Baio; the series ended its run 15 months later.

The following year, just after her 21st birthday, after a 1-year courtship, Candace Cameron married 22-year-old pro hockey player Val Bure (born on June 13, 1974 in Moscow, Russia); they are now the parents of 3 children, a teenage daughter, Natasha, age 13, and 2 boys, 11-year-old Lev and 9-year-old Maks, and currently reside in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

In the year 2000, months after turning 30, Kirk Cameron officially retired from acting (except for the 2 "Left Behind" sequels, the 2nd "Growing Pains" reunion film and the 2008 Christian film "Fireproof") and embarked on a new career -- as an evangelical preacher.

In 2002, months after 9/11, 32-year-old Kirk teamed up with 52-year-old author Ray Comfort (born on December 5, 1949 in Christchurch, New Zealand), a minister since 1972, to combine their ministries.

Kirk & Nancy are the proud parents of 6 children between ages 8 and 15 -- the oldest 4 are adopted and the youngest 2 are biological.

Kirk & Nancy reside primarily in Agoura Hills, California, though they also have a home in Jonesboro, Georgia.

[robyrob]

not this nonsense again

[Zoneboy]