Kirk Cameron introduced considerable tension on the set of Growing Pains
The situation comedy Growing Pains debuted in 1985 and became a hit, with a young Kirk Cameron emerging as a breakout character, Mike Seaver. Cameron was a 14-year veteran of sitcoms and commercials, though a relative unknown to the general public. During the program’s early years he became a teen idol, appearing in the venerable magazines, Tiger Beat, 16, Teen Beat, and others of a similar vein. Cameron later professed to have been an atheist when his fame began, a position he only adopted after having become a self-described “born again” Christian. Following his conversion his newly-found religious beliefs led to changes on the set of the hit program, and tensions with his fellow performers and producers. He rejected scripts, storylines, and eventually the identification of “born again”, preferring to describe himself as having found God.
Cameron slowly withdrew from the show and personal relations with the cast, which had once been close. “Kirk went through a slow-withdrawal – a fade to black”, fellow actor Alan Thicke later said. Kirk insisted on changes to scripts and even personnel, refusing to involve himself in anything which did not line up with his fundamentalist beliefs. That his decisions affected the careers of his fellow cast members was immaterial to him, and the strain on the set was noticed by all. In 1991 Cameron, in a telephone call to the President of ABC Entertainment Robert Iger, referred to producers Dan Guntzelman, Steve Marshal, and Mike Sullivan as little more than pornographers. All three resigned. The following year the floundering once hit program was canceled. Cameron went on to a career as an evangelist and maker of Christian themed entertainment.