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Here’s the story of how a show started as a typical formulaic sitcom, but grew into a syndicated monster. From the time Greg Brady got high to the reason Cindy Brady started balding, here’s a quick rundown of all things Brady you probably didn’t know.
1. In real-life, Jan gave Marcia the complex
Maureen McCormick played Marcia, the eldest Brady daughter, and the object of lust of many a teenaged boy during the tenure of The Brady Bunch. What the public didn’t know, however, was that “Mo” always felt inferior to Eve Plumb, who played middle sister Jan. Eve had longer, blonder, more luxurious hair. Eve developed curves before Maureen did (and took pleasure in flaunting her blossoming physique by going braless under her tight-fitting tops in later seasons). The very slender Mo also felt that she had a bit of a tummy “pooch” and during the time the entire cast was en route to Hawaii for an exciting “on location” three-part episode, all she could think about was her horror at having to appear on camera in a bikini. Watch those Hawaii episodes when they rerun and you’ll see that Maureen always manages to hold a beach towel or robe in front of her lower torso in any bathing suit scenes.
2. Barbershop of Horrors: Why Cindy started balding
With the parents in place, the team of brown-haired boys and blonde girls made the final cut, with one exception. For the role of Bobby Brady, the youngest boy, producers favored Mike Lookinland, who had strawberry-blond hair. He was hired only after his parents agreed to let Miss Clairol do her thing on their son’s locks. Savvy viewers will note how Bobby’s hair color varied between dark brown and jet black before the make-up folks found just the right shade of hair dye for him. Susan Olsen had a different problem; she was a natural blonde, but producers felt the youngest Brady wasn’t blonde enough. They ordered eight-year-old Olsen’s hair to be bleached regularly to give her that adorable towhead look. When her hair began falling out in clumps during the second season, a tearful Susan complained to Sherwood Schwartz, who immediately ordered the staff to leave “Cindy’s” hair alone.
3. Gene Hackman almost Played the Lead
The producers started testing kids to fill the roles of the six Bradley children. Since the parents hadn’t yet been cast, they had to have two full sets of kids at the ready – one set with dark-haired boys and blonde girls, and another set with the opposite coloring. The first choice to play Ma Bradley was character actress Joyce Bulifant (who would later go on to play Murray’s wife on The Mary Tyler Moore Show). However, once comedic actress Ann B. Davis was cast as Alice, the producers decided that a more “serious” actress was needed to play the mother. Florence Henderson ultimately got the job, but was forced to wear a wig during the first season because her own hair had been cropped short when she co-starred in an off-Broadway revival of South Pacific. For the role of Mike Brady (the family’s surname had changed by this time), producers were debating between a then-unknown Gene Hackman and Robert Reed. They finally chose Reed because he had marquee value from his co-starring role on the popular series The Defenders.
4. Greg Brady liked to get high
In one first season episode, Greg Brady succumbed to peer pressure and smoked a cigarette. The on-camera coughs and chokes of a novice smoker were a true acting stretch for Barry “Greg” Williams, who’d been inhaling a pack of Marlboros per day since the age of twelve. Williams’ “smoking” experience was not limited to tobacco. Like many teens in the 1970s, Barry was known to occasionally share a doobie among friends. He’d been sparking up one afternoon (on one of his days off ) when he received a call from the studio that certain scenes of the “Law and Disorder” episode needed to be re-shot. Barry dutifully reported to the set, but it became obvious to all present that something was not quite right with Greg Brady. Aside from his stumbling over nothing in the driveway, there was the glazed look in his eyes and the stilted delivery of his few lines regarding Dad’s purchase of a boat that tipped the producers off and caused furious re-writes to reduce Greg’s part in this episode.
5. The Brady Bunch might never have made it without Lucille Ball
Back in 1965, producer Sherwood Schwartz was browsing through the Los Angeles Times when a sidebar caught his eye; it was a “filler piece” statistic box that stated 31% percent of all marriages at that time included a child from a previous relationship. He grabbed a notepad and started scribbling ideas – the types of sibling rivalries that could emerge in “blended” families, the problem of a parent showing his “natural” children favoritism, etc. From his notes he developed a concept for a TV series he called Yours and Mine. He shopped his script to the three major networks and was turned down each time. Three years later, United Artists released a film called Yours, Mine and Ours, starring Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda, which told the story of a widow with eight children who married a father of ten. The film did well at the box office, and suddenly ABC was interested in Schwartz’s script (then called The Bradley Brood).
6. Robert Reed’s Hard Life
Robert Reed’s homosexuality had been an unspoken secret on the Brady Bunch set. In the early days of rehearsals, Florence Henderson commented to the producers about Bob’s reticence in kissing scenes. With many years of theater on her resume, she had an intuition when it came to fellow actors and boldly asked Sherwood Schwartz at one point “Is there something wrong with me, or is Bob Reed gay?” According to close friends, Robert Reed led a tortured life and was a self-hating homosexual – he thought of his sexual preference as an “illness” or “disorder” and tried to suppress it. Despite his antagonism towards Sherwood Schwartz, Reed doted on his TV “family” and even treated the entire clan (at his own expense) to a trip aboard the QEII to England, so that they could see Shakespeare’s birthplace. He was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1992 and was also HIV positive. He’d remained in close contact with Florence Henderson over the years and asked her (from his hospital bed) to break the news of his illness to the “kids.” After hearing the news, each of the Brady siblings phoned Bob to chat with him one last time, and they all traveled to Skokie, Illinois, to attend his funeral.
If you have any unanswered Brady questions, I’m always amenable to a Part Deux!
Comments (22)
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I could have sworn when I watched an episode of The Brady Bunch that there was a mention that all of the kids were adopted. Was this ever mentioned or am I just imagining things?
posted by Anna on 11-5-2008 at 11:02 am
You’re imagining things. The theme song even explains it, if you listen to the words.
Maybe Greg got high and said he was adopted.
posted by Merlin on 11-5-2008 at 11:18 am
?I could have sworn when I watched an episode of The Brady Bunch that there was a mention that all of the kids were adopted. Was this ever mentioned or am I just imagining things?”
I always thought Mike adopted the girls because they all had the last name Brady.
posted by KerriH on 11-5-2008 at 11:28 am
What happened to the girls’ father and the boys’ mother? Were they deceased? Divorced? I think I’ve seen every episode, and I don’t remember any mention of the missing parents.
posted by JingerCat on 11-5-2008 at 11:29 am
The girls may have been adopted.
posted by Sara on 11-5-2008 at 11:37 am
Are you perhaps thinking of the episode for the spinoff of Kelly’s Kids (which never made it past the Brady episode) in which “friends” of the Bradys (Ken Berry & Brooke Bundy) decide to adopt a young boy, only to end up adopting his two best friends too (who happened to be African American and Asian America — imagine the shock of the neighbors).
I could go for part dos! (or maybe I should help you write it…I know way too much about the Bradys)
posted by Beth on 11-5-2008 at 11:39 am
In the first episode, Bobby has a picture of his mom,,and that was all. She died but they never said from what. I don’t think they ever said anything about the girl’s dad.
posted by Paul on 11-5-2008 at 11:48 am
I’m sure Kara will follow up, but the kids weren’t adopted. The three boys were Mike’s real sons (their mom passed away). Carol was indeed the mom of the three daughters as well, but they never hinted at the disposition of the father. In fact, few relatives of either family ever came to visit very often… Cousin Oliver being the exception at the very end of the series’ run.
As for whether Mike “officially” adopted the girls and Carol “officially” adopted the boys, I’m fairly certain that was never discussed, but it was certainly implied. None of the kids ever refer to having a “stepmom” or “stepdad.”
posted by Sandy on 11-5-2008 at 11:50 am
I always thought Jan would grow up to become the “prettiest” Brady woman, but I was wrong. Florence Henderson still tops that list.
posted by Sandy on 11-5-2008 at 11:52 am
Okay, I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade here, but I’d like to request there NOT be a part dos. I was never a fan of TBB and this theme has been enough for me.
posted by Bri on 11-5-2008 at 12:07 pm
Sandy’s right about adoption never being discussed but definitely implied. However, the word “stepmother” was used–in an early episode when Bobby feels that Carol has become an evil stepmother. She makes him sweep out the chimney and wear hand-me-downs, prompting him to attempt to run away from home. All is resolved, of course.
BTW, Florence Henderson has always maintained that Carol Brady was a divorcee, though it was never specifically mentioned. Her maiden name was Carter, and her first married name was Martin…just for the record.
posted by loripop on 11-5-2008 at 12:12 pm
I have often thought that the architecture profession must have had a major spike during the Brady Bunch years.
Like people who flock to crime investigation today becaues they see shows like CSI, or into the paleontology profession because of Jurrasic Park, Mr. Brady seemed to have a great job.
He could afford 6 kids, and a live-in maid. Mrs. Brady didn’t have to work, and they had an incredible house for the 70’s. I figure this is true since every architect I have ever met was told on the first day of school they better not choose this profession because of the money.
P.S. Do more Brady Stuff. Bri can just ignore them. :o)
posted by Morris on 11-5-2008 at 2:31 pm
Here is something funny… The Brady kids went on tour after they sang a couple of times on the show.
Many fans wondered why the Partidge Kids didn’t tour like David Cassidy, since their whole show was about a singing group, but ironically their child actors didn’t actually sing.
Q: Didn’t the Partidge Family and the Brady Bunch premiere on the exact same night?
posted by Morris on 11-5-2008 at 2:36 pm
Yeah, they only said anything about step-parents in the beginning. I think I remember something about the kids fighting or something and Mike saying “the only steps in this house are those” and pointing to the staircase. Is this accurate? And I’m up for part two!
posted by Megan on 11-5-2008 at 3:03 pm
I think I read a couple of years ago about the house they used for the exterior shots. It sold for an astonishingly high price, but I can’t remember what it was.
My next door neighbors are named Mike and Carol. I enjoy that every time I say hi to them.
posted by Johnny Cat on 11-5-2008 at 6:39 pm
All the kids shared the same last name, so the the girls would have to have been adopted.
posted by Zach on 11-5-2008 at 9:24 pm
Carol’s husband was supposed to be dead. There was an episode that brought the “husband” back, but I don’t remember the details. We’re talking about an episode I didn’t even finish watching something like over 30 years ago.
posted by Michael on 11-11-2008 at 7:18 pm
The house they used for the exterior shots- I read that the owners put up a fence to keep out people who were looking for the Bradys.
posted by Sara on 11-17-2008 at 9:23 pm
I read that too, in a book called “Sitcom Style” (which every true TV-holic should own!) The house is somewhere in North Hollywood, they say. It’s a split-level, but since the set designers went for a two-story set the show had to attach a fake window to the house to make it appear two-story.
posted by VM on 11-22-2008 at 5:51 pm
Cool find and share! Gene Hackman as Mr. Brady? I love Gene, but the show wouldn’t have been the same. Hate to say it, but glad he didn’t get the job.
posted by Time Tracker on 11-26-2008 at 3:38 am
I always wondered why Mike Brady, in designing their “dream home,” only included one bathroom for a family of 8.
posted by Pam Moore on 12-2-2008 at 4:09 pm
Loved and love the Bradys, always. ;) Nope, Partridge Family debuted a year later on ABC, in September 1970, after Brady Bunch debuted in September 1969. The Partridges aired just for 4 years, though, so that both shows were cancelled in the spring of 1974 and ended their respective primetime runs with repeats during the first week of September ‘74.
posted by Italo on 1-5-2009 at 7:57 pm