Actress Tracey Gold opens up about the challenges she faced with an eating disorder during her time on the hit television show 'Growing Pains.' She details how the studio's pressure to control her weight, coupled with jokes about her appearance on the show, exacerbated her struggles. Gold reveals how she felt powerless to speak up against the hurtful comments and how her experience on the set reflected a prevalent misogyny in Hollywood.
As her character Carol Seaver on television's, ' Growing Pains ' dealt with the perils of adolescence, actress Tracey Gold struggled with her own problem: a debilitating eating disorder . The studio's actions - which included asking her to lose weight and subsequently gain some back, as well as writing jokes about her weight into the show - made it difficult for Gold to separate herself from her character.
However, in the same way art influenced reality, Gold says it was her TV mother, Joanna Kerns, who would ultimately look out for her, pressuring the crew to help get her healthy. After three seasons, Gold noticed the writing on the show 'became a little edgier,' as the program angled to 'be funnier' and 'stay on top.' A member of the cast, but only a child, Gold said she felt she did not have much say in the direction of her character. 'One thing you have to know about being a child actor. I always say this when I talk to kids who want to be child actors, I'm like, you have to be the best person on that set. You watch the adults messing up. You watch the adults, you know, laughing, forgetting their lines. They are allowed to do that. You, as a child actor, you need to get there. You need to know your lines. You shut your mouth and you do your job,' she explained. 'The ambiance on a set is that way. So when these jokes would come in, I really had no voice, so I would sort of just be like, I don't think I'm allowed to say anything. But I had power, a little bit, because Carol Seaver was all of a sudden, she was mine and I had created her and I was known for her, so all of a sudden I also felt protective of her a little bit.' Gold said at the time, she was not hyper-fixated on her weight, so jokes were easier to accept, although after going on hiatus one summer, things changed. 'I came the freshman 15 basically, and then the jokes accelerated when I came back and became meaner,' she recalled. 'It was out of my character to speak up, but it was hurting me, and I was sensitive to it. And I knew I had gained a little bit of weight, and I had never had that problem before.' Although she had struggled in the past with disordered eating, the catalyst then had been different. 'It was about staying childlike, you know, scared of hitting puberty.' Gold found herself negotiating with the crew, many of whom were men. 'Whether I like it or not. The set did have an element of misogyny to it because they're always bringing in the beautiful actress of the week … a few years older than me and coming in and, you know, dolling them up and sexualizing that and all of those things,' she said. 'It was a boys club. It really was a boys club.' 'They would say, you don't have any brothers, so you don't know what this is like. This is what brothers and sisters do to each other,' said Gold, who grew up with four sisters. Although the jokes continued to hurt, 'It'd be like a joke like, ‘Here comes wide load.’ And you're not talking just about Carol anymore. You're talking about me, Tracey Gold. And now I have to be in front of an audience that's laughing at me and my body and my weight.' The studio eventually called Gold's father, who was her agent, and requested she lose weight. 'That was a blow,' Gold said, who would end up on a 500 calorie diet. 'So within a month I had lost 20 pounds. Easily,' she said. 'I did it and I did it quietly, and I didn't tell anyone I was doing it. I just went and did it. And all of a sudden, everybody's coming up to me on the set, you know, everywhere, kind of going, ‘Oh my god, you look so good, you look so beautiful, you look so amazing.’' 'At that time, I think everybody … meant well, but in my view of it, it was like, was I that embarrassing before? Was I absolutely kidding myself that I could go on National TV, be Carol Seaver, and I really was that person they were saying those jokes about?' Things then shifted - for the worse. 'Something hit me, and I'm like, 'I will not be the butt of anybody's joke again,'' she said. The actress would go days without eating. 'I would make negotiations with myself. But as I'm doing this, I'm getting lower and lower and lower in weight. But you know, you're in Hollywood, and everybody just kept giving me compliments. And it was making furious that everybody was complimenting me because he knew I was sick,' she said of her husband Roby Marshall, whom she was introduced to by Kerns. The couple married in 1994, two years after the show ended. Her weight influenced the show. 'And then all of a sudden, the jokes came about Carol's working out. Carol becomes homecoming quee
Tracey Gold Growing Pains Eating Disorder Hollywood Misogyny Child Actors
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Tracey Gold says she told Growing Pains writers fat jokes about her character were 'hurting my feelings'Tracey Gold, who publicly struggled with eating disorders, says she told 'Growing Pains' writers that fat jokes about her character hurt her feelings.
Read more »
Gold Stocks: A Potential Outperformance Opportunity in 2024This article discusses the potential for gold and gold stocks to outperform in 2024 amidst market uncertainty. It analyzes the performance of GLD and GDX, highlighting the underperformance of gold stocks compared to gold. The article suggests that a 'catch up' trade could be in play, with gold stocks closing the gap with stronger gold prices. It also identifies Kinross Gold Corp. (KGC) as a top performer within the gold space.
Read more »
Equinox Gold Sets Record for Gold Production in 2024Equinox Gold Corp. achieved record-breaking gold production in 2024, exceeding previous highs. The company attributed its success to the Greenstone mine.
Read more »
Calibre Delivers Record Q4 Gold Production, Valentine Mine on Track for First Gold in 2025Calibre Mining Corp. announces record fourth-quarter gold production of 76,269 ounces, exceeding full-year guidance. The company also provides an update on the Valentine Gold Mine in Canada, stating that it remains on track to produce first gold in the second quarter of 2025. Exploration activities at Valentine have yielded significant gold mineralization, prompting the addition of more drill rigs in 2025.
Read more »
White Gold Corp. Reports Significant Increase in Mineral Resources at White Gold ProjectWhite Gold Corp. announces a technical report outlining a substantial increase in mineral resources at its flagship White Gold Project in Yukon, Canada. The report, prepared by Dr. Gilles Arseneau, P.Geo., reveals a total of 1,203,000 ounces of gold in the indicated category and 1,116,600 ounces in the inferred category.
Read more »
Gold Entrapment: How Earth's Vulcanoes Drive Gold to the SurfaceScientists have uncovered the mystery behind gold's journey from Earth's mantle to the surface. A specific type of sulfur, under extreme pressure and temperature, acts as a catalyst, enabling gold to bond and be transported by volcanic activity. Subduction zones, where tectonic plates collide, are key areas for this process, explaining the concentration of gold deposits near volcanoes.
Read more »