Alex Carson
While talking about The Brady Kids from The Brady Brunch, most people often lump together all the kids who were a part of the cast as if they were all interchangeable. People often made the same mistake with The Beatles, especially during their early years. However, Lloyd J. Schwartz, a producer on The Brady Bunch, never shied away from accepting that although all the actors were extremely talented, there was something different about Eve Plumb.
While her co-stars Barry Williams, Christopher Knight, Maureen McCormick, Mike Lookinland, and Susan Olsen were all very talented in their own ways, the fact that Eve came from an entertainment background allowed her to stand out from the others in every scene. Eve’s sister was an established actress and her father was a music producer. Therefore, she came with an innate understanding of the entertainment world. She portrayed the middle-child syndrome with such ease and finesse that the viewers soon began to accept her as their favorite. After all, it has been 46 years since The Brady Bunch went off the air and many of us clearly remember Jan Brady and Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!
We agree that the entire cast of the show was undeniably very talented, but Eve Plumb certainly is our favorite Brady Bunch member. Why? We have our reasons. She portrayed the agony of being a middle child perfectly well. Then, she impressed us with her choice of the first film. She inspired a band’s name. And she is somehow also connected to the Batman theme. In this video, we tell you why is Eve Plumb our favorite Brady Bunch member.
Many of the Brady Kids Signed Record Deals, but Eve Plumb Was the First One to Sign One
Back in the 1970s, The Brady Kids were quite popular, and therefore, they did not have much of a problem signing their first album as a group. In 1970, The Brady Kids released their first album titled Merry Christmas from the Brady Brunch. The album was a success and provided The Brady Kids with the chance to launch their solo career as well. Barry Williams, who some of us better know as Greg Brady, dropped his first single in November of 1971. On the other hand, Maureen McCormick, who played Marcia Brady on the hit show, and Chris Knight, who played Peter Brady, got their big break in 1973. Even Mike Lookinland, inspired by the rest of the cast members, decided to foray into the world of singing with Love Doesn’t Care Who’s In It.
But guess who was the first of all The Brady Kids to sign a record deal? Yes, Eve Plumb. She recorded How Will It Be? with RCA Records in 1971.
Eve Plumb Chose a Blaxploitation Genre Film to Make Her Big-Screen Debut
For her big-screen debut, Eve Plumb chose Keenen Ivory Wayan’s I’m Gonna Git You Sucka. The film was a spoof on the seventies blaxploitation genre which was quite popular during the 70s. Eve Plumb’s big debut also featured several famous African-American actors, including Bernie Casey, Isaac Hayes, and Jim Brow. The film was also the debut film of the popular comedian Robin Harris. I’m Gonna Git You Sucka was made on a small budget of $3 million but the film earned $10 million in profits at the box office. This critically-acclaimed film was well-received by both the critics as well as the viewers, and further established Eve Plumb’s stature as a bonafide actress.
She Was a Part of Dick Tracy
Willian Dozierplayed a key role in filling ABC’s coffers with his original series Batman. In January 1966, in an attempt to replicate Batman’s success, Dozier started working on a TV version of the Dick Tracy comic strip. Chester Gould’s comic strip about a tough detective first appeared in Detroit Mirror on October 4th, 1931. The comic strip was an instant hit and was eventually made into various film serials and feature films. To convince the network, Dozier shot a pilot. The opening credits of this pilot featured Eve Plumb as Bonnie Braids. The pilot featured her both as a cartoon as well as herself. Though NBC came very close to picking up the series, the series was never picked up.
She Started Making Smart Investment Decisions at the Young Age of 11
Not many 11-year-olds think of the future and make real-estate investments that they know would bring huge returns in the future. But Eve Plumb was never your average child actor — she was always too smart for her age. When she was only 11, Eve, with the help of her parents, bought a Malibu beach house for $55,350. This property sat nicely on the exclusive Escondido Beach. The flat-roofed bungalow that Eve put up for sale in 2016 had three bedrooms spread over 850 square feet of space. Guess how much did the 1950s blue cottage sell for? $3.9 million. Even if you adjust the figure for inflation, the house still sold for 10x its original value. It was proposed that the new property coming up in the area will have three bedrooms spread over 3,500 square feet of space and 2.5 bathrooms.
Eve Plumb will forever be our favorite Brady Bunch member. Investing in real estate at the right time is only one of the many wise decisions that Eve made in her life. She also said no to The Brady Bunch Hour for a very good reason and though many thought she was making a mistake at the time, she shut her critics down. And if that’s not impressive enough, she even inspired a band’s name. We will give you more details in a while, so stick around. Meanwhile, if you are enjoying this video, do not forget to like and subscribe to our channel.
Here’s How Her Father Is Connected to the Ever-Popular Batman Theme
Since we are talking about Batman, it is important to highlight the connection between the Batman theme and Eve Plumb’s father. Batman Theme is the title song that accompanied the 1966 classic TV series, Batman. The theme instantly reminds one of the spy films and continues to be extremely popular even today. Hundreds of famous artists have done covers of the Batman Theme, which was originally created by Neal Hefti. The theme was produced by Neely Plumb, Eve’s father.
Neely Plum was a saxophone maestro turned music producer with RCA. Other than producing the Batman Theme, the man is also remembered for producing artists likes Carol Burnett and Don Johnson. He also produced his daughter’s first record alongside RCA. The man earned five gold records for producing various hit artists and soundtrack albums.
Like Eve, Her Sister Was Also an Accomplished Actress
Eve Plumb certainly comes from a very talented family. If her father was a saxophone artist turned music producer, her elder sister was a talented actress like Eve. Flora Plumb was 14 years older than Eve. While Eve played Clarence Williams III’s wife in I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, Flora worked with him in The Mod Squad, the popular crime drama series that ran between 1968 and 1973. Flora appeared in the episode titled Home Is the Streets. Like Eve, Flora was also an accomplished actress who made her mark through films, such as The Wild Wild West, Lou Grant and Quincy, Young Lawyers, and Marcus Welby. In 2010, she appeared in Guild Wars 2 as the voice of Oska. She also taught directing and acting at the Los Angeles County High school for the Arts for 25 years. Unfortunately, she passed away in July 2018.
She Inspired the Name of a Music Band
You know you are cool when a band decides to name itself after you! Yes, Eve Plumb inspired the name of a 90s music band. Eve’s Plum was a New York City-based grunge-pop music band that hit the music scene in the 1990s. The band’s first single was called Blue and it featured Jan Brady’s face on the record. The band, however, did not do very well and broke up in 1998. In fact, most people who have heard of the band know of it because of Colleen Fitzpatrick, who was Eve’s Plum’s frontier. Colleen later left the band and gained popularity as Vitamin C.
She Also Has a Spoken-Word Record to Her Credit
Patrick Williams was a music composer, arranger, and conductor whose music accompanied various popular TV shows including The Bob Newhart Show, Columbo, Lou Grant, and The Streets of San Francisco. In 1974, Pat Williams created a record called the California Love Story and he made Eve Plumb a part of this. Eve had a spoken word bit in the record and it was rather enchanting.
She Made the Partridge Family and the Brady Bunch Come Together
Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, which narrates the story of four March sisters — Amy, Beth, Jo, and Meg — as they journey from childhood into womanhood, continues to be incredibly popular today. The book was published under two different volumes in 1868 and 1869 and since then inspired many adaptations. In fact, every genre has its own adaptation of this iconic book. From Katherine Hepburn to Winona Ryder and Kristen Dunst, many famous actresses have been a part of various Little Women adaptations. Of course, Eve Plumb had to have her name on this list. In 1978, a miniseries based on the book was created and featured many famous faces from the television world. Eve Plumb played Beth and Susan Dey of The Patridge Family played Jo March. William Shatner and William Schallert were also a part of this project.
She Did Not Reprise Her Role in the Brady Bunch Hour
The success of The Brady Bunch led to the variety show The Brady Bunch Hour. The variety show seemed like a good way to make money off the popularity of the original cast. Therefore, it is not very surprising that many of The Brady Kids reprised their role in the show. However, The Brady Bunch Hour will always be remembered for ‘fake Jan’ played by Geri Reischl.
Eve Plumb had agreed to do a few episodes of the show. However, the producers wanted her to commit for a full season. Eve Plumb, on the other hand, wanted to get into serious acting and therefore, wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment. In the end, the producers threatened her with an ‘accept it all or walk out’ contract, and Eve decided to walk out. Many people thought the actress was making a huge mistake. However, it looks like she knew what she was doing. The same year, she impressed her fans with her portrayal of a prostitute in the made-for-television drama film titled Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway.
So, do you agree with us when we say Eve Plumb will always be the coolest Brady Bunch Kid? Or, do you have your other favorites? Who did you like the most and why? Please share with us, we would love to hear from you. Before you move to the next Facts Verse video, do not forget to like and subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon to stay updated on all our latest videos.
