Alex Carson
The Brady Bunch was a popular television series that debuted in 1969. And depicted the family life of a newlywed couple and their respective children from previous marriages. A number of talented child actors played the numerous Brady children, including Christopher Knight. Christopher Knight played Peter Brady, the middle child amongst the Brady boys. While the Brady children’s life as depicted in the hit series may have been idyllic, Christopher never quite satisfied with his life as a child star. Instead, the actor would’ve preferred if he allowed the chance to grow up out of the spotlight. Though Christopher’s time on The Brady Bunch ruined his childhood. He came to terms with the show’s legacy later on in life. Join Facts Verse as we explore how The Brady Bunch permanently ruined Christopher Knight’s childhood.
The Brady Bunch was a 1960s television series that followed the exploits of a couple made up of two widowed parents and their respective children. One of the Brady children Peter Brady, who was portrayed by child actor Christopher Knight. Peter was the middle child amongst the Brady boys, with there being three Brady kids of each gender. Christopher Knight forced into acting by his parents and didn’t enjoy his time filming The Brady Bunch very much.
Christopher Knight was only 12 years old when he began acting as middle child Peter Brady on The Brady Bunch. But he had been acting for five years previously. According to Christopher, one day, he was eating a meal, and his mother and father told him that he was going to begin going on auditions for commercials. Not feeling that he had much of a say in the matter or even understanding exactly what his parents meant. Christopher simply accepted this as fact.
It didn’t long into Christopher’s time as a child actor that he began to dislike the entire process of auditioning for and performing in commercials and television series. Christopher’s parents had also intended to make the young boy’s brother become a child actor. But Christopher’s brother never found any success. Christopher’s mother brought his brother along on auditions for many years in the hope that producers would eventually find a use for him, but they never did. Eventually, she stopped trying to get acting gigs for Christopher’s brother and focused just on Christopher’s burgeoning career. This was around the time that The Brady Bunch premiered. On the one hand, Christopher’s brother resented the amount of attention that his more successful sibling was getting. On the other hand, Christopher resented the freedom that his brother was getting.
During Christopher’s earliest days as a child star, he tried his absolute best to continue experiencing an average childhood. However, it soon became apparent that this wasn’t going to be possible. By the time that Christopher was performing his routine duties on The Brady Bunch. He didn’t even have time for traditional schooling. At the start of Christopher’s career as a child star. He would come home from school having made plans with friends only to find that his mother dressed up. And had a commercial gig planned for him. The events weren’t much fun for the young boy. As he had to sit beside his mother in the car for hours while she smoked and then perform at her command.
Christopher Knight paid his dues as a child performer for a number of years before receiving his breakout role on The Brady Bunch. Sadly, Christopher was too miserable to enjoy the success that he was seeing in his career. His parents were the ones basking in the child’s glory, as they had always wanted to be famous performers themselves. Having found themselves out of luck in their own entertainment careers. They had forced their children into the business in an effort to both live vicariously through them and pay the bills.
After it’s 1969 premiere, The Brady Bunch saw immense success over the course of it’s run. The show lasted for five seasons and has remained a part of popular culture in the many decades since coming to an end. In the time since the series initially aired, Christopher Knight has had a hard time dealing with it’s immense legacy. There are so many people who know the character Peter Brady but don’t even know the name of the actor that played him. In addition to the trauma of forced into acting at a young age. This lack of identity tormented Christopher into his adult years.
In his young adulthood, Christopher grew to resent the time that he had spent performing as Peter Brady on The Brady Bunch. As soon as he found himself back in school, he received unwanted attention from classmates that had seen the show. Whether the behavior of his classmates jovial or not, Christopher didn’t like that being given attention for the popular role that he had played instead of for who he really was. If you’re enjoying this video so far, be sure to hit the like button to show your support! Also, subscribe to the channel if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
Because Christopher Knight didn’t like the attention that he was getting from his classmates as a result of his time playing Peter Brady on The Brady Bunch. He initially reacted with vitriol. This caused the ribbing to turn into outright bullying. And making Christopher realize that he needed to try a different tactic when it came to dealing with people referencing his career as a child actor. From that moment on, Christopher began leaning into his classmates’ references to his time as Peter Brady. And which allowed him to get along much better with them. He realized that there was no getting rid of his past on The Brady Bunch. But that it didn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing!
Christopher’s father had been a Broadway actor that never managed to find success. He claimed to not have any respect for television actors, saying that they cared more about getting money than they did about making art. However, the man started singing a different tune after his child was raking in the cash thanks to his role on the successful series The Brady Bunch. Christopher’s family apparently caved in. And bought their first television in order to watch his performance on the debut episode of the show. It wasn’t until watching the premiere episode alongside his family that Christopher had seen the final product. Still, he didn’t yet realize the full extent of what he’d been roped into.
As one can imagine, the attention that Christopher got for portraying Peter Brady was a lot for the young boy to deal with. And so were the responsibilities of filming. The stringent filming schedule of the show prevented Christopher from attending traditional school during the time that the show being produced. And which impacted the young boy’s social skills. This is another part of why the boy ended up having some trouble during the time that he attended.
After The Brady Bunch came to an end, Christopher Knight continued acting for a number of years before officially giving up the career in the 1980s. Upon his retirement from acting, Christopher instead ventured into business. He began a new career as a sales manager, working at a company by the name of MarTec. Christopher rose through the ranks at the company, proving to be an incredibly valuable sales asset. He named the company’s top employee of the year the second year that he employed. And eventually found himself the first person to ever secure the company a $1 million contract.
Once Christopher Knight mastered the art of sales at MarTec, he felt it was time to tackle another mountain. In the 1990s, Christopher became the co-founder of a company by the name of Visual Software. The company became a pioneering player in the field of 3D imaging. Years later, Christopher founded a second company in the technology sector. And with this one being a software company by the name of Kidwise Learningware. Decades after his success as Peter Brady on The Brady Bunch. Christopher Knight was proving that there was little that he couldn’t do. While other former child stars found themselves stuck later on in life as a result of their childhood careers. Christopher Knight was able to make a name for himself outside of The Brady Bunch. However, the public still knows him best as Peter Brady.
After proving to himself and those around him that he had what it took to make a name for himself outside of The Brady Bunch. Christopher Knight returned to the public spotlight and began playing into his fame more and more into the new millennium. He could seen on the reality series The Surreal Life, during the filming of which he met his third wife. Christopher and this third wife would then receive their own reality series, titled My Fair Brady. Though the series was successful, the marriage wasn’t. Christopher Knight later got married a fourth time, in 2016. Although he has been married numerous times over the course of his life. Christopher has never had any children of his own.
Recently, Christopher Knight appeared alongside the rest of the former Brady children on a reality miniseries by the name of A Very Brady Renovation. The series featured the former stars helping a crew of experts renovate the house that was used as the set of The Brady Bunch over five decades ago.
Although Christopher Knight hated performing on The Brady Bunch as a child. And was forced into it by his parents. He later came to accept his time as Peter Brady on the beloved television series. Now it’s time to hear from you: were you surprised to learn that Christopher Knight hated portraying the character of Peter Brady on the 1969 television series The Brady Bunch. Or had you simply assumed that all child stars were miserable? As always, like this video to show your support. And subscribe and hit the notification bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
