Tracey Gold: No More Growing Pains Tracey Gold was born in New York City and was raised by her mom, an ad executive, and her stepfather, an actor. As a child, Gold tagged along to one of her stepfather's auditions for a Pepsi commercial and, much to his surprise, the little girl was cast instead. By age six, Gold was regularly appearing in print ads, TV shows and movies. Entering adolescence while in the spotlight wasn't easy for the young actress; by the time she was 12, Gold began obsessing over her weight and eventually succumbed to the early stages of anorexia. In 1984, the 16-year-old Gold landed her big break: a role on the TV sitcom ""Growing Pains,"" about a quirky family raised by a stay-at-home dad and a working mom. The show's popularity skyrocketed, but Gold's personal life was about to plummet. After several seasons of shooting the hit series, Gold, then 19 years old, began to put on weight; fat jokes subsequently began appearing in the scripts. When producers asked her to
