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Mar 4, 2020 · In 1985, child actress Tracey Gold won the role of Carol Seaver on the ABC sitcom, "Growing Pains." What fans did not realize was that the then-16-year-old had been battling an eating disorder since the age of 11, and her work on the show would exacerbate it.
- Manuela Cardiga
Apr 22, 2016 · Tracey, shown here circa 1985, struggled with anorexia in her teens. A few seasons into "Growing Pains," she was dieting compulsively and lost a significant amount of weight.
Aug 12, 2023 · Tracey Gold, who played Carol Seaver on Growing Pains, struggled with anorexia during her time on the show, which made acting challenging. Gold's eating disorder became public knowledge when she had to leave the show for in-patient treatment, and the media spread the news.
- Journalist
May 3, 2022 · Tracey Gold had problems with anorexia nervosa while growing up, but after seeing a therapist, she maintained healthy eating habits as a teenager. That is, until she gained some weight between Seasons 3 and 4 of Growing Pains, where she played the middle child, Carol Seaver.
- Tracey Gold Was Not The Original Carol Seaver
- What Was ‘Growing Pains’ About?
- Tracey Gold Battled with Anorexia For Years
- The ‘Growing Pains’ Star Admits She Almost Starved Herself to Death
Gold began her career in the entertainment industry at the age of four when she appeared in a Pepsi print ad. Later, she appeared in the movie Shoot the Moon, as well as two short-lived TV series, Shirley and Goodnight Beantown. As a pre-teen, she landed the role of the youngest daughter in the Gimme A Break!pilot starring Nell Carter. But when the...
Growing Painswas an ABC family sitcom that ran from 1985 to 1992. It starred Alan Thicke and Joanna Kerns as Jason and Maggie Seaver. They were the parents of three at the beginning of the series – Mike (Kirk Cameron), Carol (Gold), and Ben (Jeremy Miller). In season 5 they welcomed a fourth child, Chrissy (Ashley Johnson). And, in the final season...
Back in the 1980s, anorexia was not a condition that many people knew about. That started to change with the death of Karen Carpenter in 1983. But the public awareness and knowledge about the eating disorder took time. Gold says she remembers thinking about dieting as young as seven years old. After seeing the TV movie The Best Little Girl in the W...
In October 1988, the 5’3″ Gold started a medically-supervised 500 calorie-per-day diet and went from 133 pounds to 110 pounds. But the fat jokes didn’t stop. Between 1989 and 1991, Gold says she became obsessed with food and her weight. She starved herself to her lowest weight, which is estimated to be 80 pounds. Her skeletal appearance led to her ...
- Senior Writer
Nov 8, 2011 · Tracey Gold became the face of anorexia nearly 20 years ago when she admitted she had the disease and left Growing Pains. Now she’s back with a Lifetime series, Starving Secrets, that helps...
May 8, 2024 · Tracey was seen in 166 episodes of the series, and the only time when she was absent (her character was sent to studies in London), the truth is that Tracey was recovering from anorexia, an eating disorder characterized by starvation, low weight, vomiting on purpose because of a fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin.
