Alex Carson
The 1969 television series The Brady Bunch became a massive hit with audiences upon it’s premiere and made stars of the actors and actresses tasked with portraying it’s titular family. While one might think that these stars would’ve grateful for the success of the show; they actually began to hate working on the program by the end of it’s five-season run. Because of this, many of it’s stars; including Maureen McCormick, Eve Plumb, Susan Olsen, and Robert Reed, rebelled in various ways. For Maureen, this rebellion included refusing to wear a bra for several episodes. Join Facts Verse as we explore why Maureen McCormick filmed these episodes of The Brady Bunch without a bra.
The Brady Bunch ended it’s original run over four decades ago. But it still remains a huge part of popular culture. The show followed the exploits of the titular Brady family; made up of two widowed parents and their respective children from previous marriages. The father was Mike Brady, as played by actor Robert Reed; while the mother was Carol, as played by actress Florence Henderson. Each parent carried over three children of the same gender from their previous marriage. With Mike having three sons and Carol having three daughters. That made six Brady children in total, each one portrayed by a different child actor.
One of the child stars that portrayed a member of the Brady family was Maureen McCormick; who portrayed eldest Brady daughter Marcia Brady. This made Maureen the eldest amongst the show’s female actresses. And it also meant that she had come of age by the time that the show had ended it’s five-season run. Given that she was coming of age over the course of filming the series; Maureen was perhaps the child star that grew to resent her time on the show the most. The Brady Bunch had a squeaky-clean image; and Maureen never had a lot of respect for the innocent vision of the show.
As Maureen got older, she saw that she was growing up, but her character wasn’t. She has shared that she would’ve preferred for the show’s writers to start incorporating some more mature storylines for the aging Brady children. According to Maureen, some of the more mature storylines she thought of that she felt would’ve perfect for the series included Mike and Carol Brady deciding to become swingers. Jan staying out all night, and her own character, Marcia Brady, hiding a boy from her parents inside her room.
Despite the wishes of Maureen McCormick when it came to the maturation of the show; The Brady Bunch’s writers were insistent upon retaining the tone that had made the series a hit with audiences initially. Because of this, Maureen decided that she was going to lash out against the show’s imposing innocence in a different way. Alongside fellow star Eve Plumb; who played her on-screen middle sister, Jan, Maureen pledged not to wear a bra during filming. Both actresses showed up for filming without bras on, and the fact went unnoticed for the filming of several episodes. However, series director Lloyd Schwartz eventually realized what was going on, causing him to reprimand the two actresses.
Neither Maureen McCormick nor Eve Plumb ever showed up to set without bras again after told off by Lloyd Schwartz. For a time, the director would even personally verify that the two actresses were wearing bras by placing his hand on their backs and feeling the straps. Something that likely wouldn’t go down so well on the set of a show nowadays. Though Maureen and Eve reprimanded for not wearing brassieres; they thought it was worth it because it alleviated the boredom that had begun to accumulate amongst them and the rest of the cast of The Brady Bunch.
Besides not wearing bras; the child stars of The Brady Bunch rebelled against their innocent images on the screen in other ways behind the scenes of the show. Maureen McCormick has shared that Barry Williams. The actor that played eldest Brady son Greg, used to smoke marijuana on the set of the show. She also shared that it was during the filming of an episode at a theme park in Cincinnati that young actress Susan Olsen drank alcohol for the first time. Susan played the youngest Brady daughter, Cindy.
When The Brady Bunch finally came to an end after five seasons in 1974; the stars that became famous because of it struggled to make a name for themselves outside of the show. The child stars couldn’t leave behind their image as the Brady children. For the aforementioned Susan Olsen, this meant getting into the pornographic industry… though not in the way that you’d expect! 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!
Although actresses Maureen McCormick and Eve Plumb close enough on the set of The Brady Bunch that they able to indulge in braless hijinks together. It has long since rumored that the two child stars never quite got along. In recent years, Eve Plumb has done her best to put these rumors to rest. However, Susan Olsen, the actress that played the third and youngest Brady sister; Cindy, remains adamant that the actresses that played her two elder sisters never quite had an amicable relationship.
If there’s any amount of negativity between the two former on-screen sisters that they had hiding over the course of the decades since The Brady Bunch came to an end. It appears that it resolved before the two appeared together in the recent miniseries A Very Brady Renovation. The miniseries brought all six former child stars from The Brady Bunch back together. And all for the special purpose of helping to renovate the house that had used as a set on the original series. Maureen McCormick and Eve Plumb appeared to get along swimmingly; though it could be that any drama edited out to protect their image!
Susan Olsen has also shared that other members of the cast didn’t get along well with Maureen McCormick during the filming of The Brady Bunch due to her demanding nature. Susan shared that Maureen was always the type to criticize others for things she personally didn’t like, such as eating fish. Apparently, Maureen’s very offended by the smell.
Long before former child star Susan Olsen reunited with her old on-screen siblings for A Very Brady Renovation; she found herself unwittingly getting into the porn industry. However, it wasn’t as a performer but as a sound effects artist. Her roommate involved in the industry, and Susan had a synthesizer. Susan’s roommate needed someone to produce spaceship sounds for a movie, and Susan’s synthesizer was capable of doing it. Susan agreed to take the job. Because of this, it can technically said that Susan got into porn after The Brady Bunch’s end. Making her the former Brady sibling that rebelled against the show’s innocent image most of all! Susan made $50 for her work on the film, which named Love Probe from a Warm Planet. According to Susan, she suggested the name herself.
The boredom and dissatisfaction that the stars playing the Brady children began exhibiting towards The Brady Bunch’s end mirrored by the actor that portrayed their on-screen father. Robert Reed portrayed the character of Mike Brady, and the actor had a background that was quite intimidating. Before taking the role of Mike Brady on The Brady Bunch; Robert had been a fairly serious actor that had studied his craft for many years. He worked alongside Julie Andrews in film and was an even bigger deal on the theater stage.
Several years before The Brady Bunch, Robert Reed acted in the series The Defenders. The series lasted from 1961 to 1965 and was a legal drama. Robert never wanted to be on The Defenders; but he had taken his role on the series in order to pay the bills. If he found the legal drama of The Defenders to be below his talents. He found the role of Mike Brady on The Brady Bunch to be even below that. Although he couldn’t keep himself from accepting the gig as the beloved patriarch due to the money that he was going to be making; Robert hated acting on The Brady Bunch from the very beginning. This hatred only got worse over the course of the show’s five-season run, to the point where he refused to participate in the series’ final episode.
All of the child actors on the set of The Brady Bunch viewed actor Robert Reed as a symbol of strength. With many of them considering the man to be a real-life father figure instead of just one on the television. If Robert treated the child actors on The Brady Bunch incredibly kindly, he didn’t show that same kindness to the show’s production staff. Robert let his distaste for the show’s material be known by providing numerous suggestions over the course of the series. According to director Lloyd Schwartz, Robert Reed criticized nearly every creative decision that was made regarding the show as soon as he began his tenure, and it only got worse and worse as the series went on.
Although fans certainly missed the presence of Robert in The Brady Bunch‘s final episode, the production staff was likely glad to have him gone early. Robert passed away in 1992 at the age of 59. He suffered from alcohol problems, including during his time on the series. These likely exacerbated his abuse of show’s creative staff and made him even more miserable about his job.
Although the child stars that played the Brady children on The Brady Bunch grew to resent the show’s innocent image by the time it came to an end, they put aside their resentment and embraced the series’ legacy later on in life by reuniting for the miniseries A Very Brady Renovation. Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Maureen McCormick and Eve Plumb didn’t wear bras for several episodes of The Brady Bunch, or are you surprised to learn that any of the show’s child stars would want to rebel against the successful series’ innocent demeanor? 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!
