‘Growing Pains’ alumna Ashley Johnson has revealed that she was almost kidnapped by a gunman on the set of the ’90s sitcom.
The 42-year-old told the surprising story during an appearance on the Weird Kids podcast earlier this month, recalling how she was walking with her mother when a man grabbed her and started running.
At the time, live studio audience members were “within 5 feet” of the star when they exited the trailer.
What’s even more alarming is that a fan had written a letter to the show before the kidnapping attempt, stating that he was going to come to the set, grab a gun, and kill some of the cast members.
Johnson recalled. “So I remember walking with my mom and a guy jumped out of the line and grabbed me and picked me up and started booking me. And all I remember is that after a while somehow the security guard pounced on him.”
“The security guys came out and tackled him, and I remember him just flying through the air,” she continued.
Johnson said she was “naive” during the incident, but remembers being upset because the kidnappers took one of her shoes, thinking she was in trouble.
“He obviously ended up going to prison,” she said. “He had a gun.”
“And, you know, they captured him and saved me,” she continued.
Johnson played Chrissy Seaver on Growing Pain from 1990 to 1992. The incident happened during her first year of filming, so she was only 6 or 7 years old at the time.
The actress appeared on the ABC comedy’s fourth season, playing the youngest child of Dr. Jason Seaver, played by the late Alan Thicke, and his wife Maggie (Joanna Kearns). Her on-screen siblings included Mike (Kirk Cameron), Carol (Tracy Gold), and Ben (Jeremy Miller).
The show ran for seven seasons from 1985 to 1992.
Outside of Growing Pains, Johnson is best known for voicing Gretchen Grandler in Recess and Gwen Tennyson in the Ben 10 universe, as well as starring in Blindspot and providing the voice and motion capture for Ellie in the video game The Last of Us.
Mr. Schick died of a heart attack in December 2016. He was 69 years old.
Cameron, Kearns, Gold, Miller and his “Growing Pain” co-stars attended the memorial service in Los Angeles.
Leonardo DiCaprio, who played Luke Brower, a homeless boy taken in by the Sievers in the show’s seventh and final season, also paid tribute to Thicke at the memorial service.
