‘Brady Bunch’ mother Florence Henderson dies

In the digital age when cable TV, satellite TV, streaming services, podcasts and Internet shows provide us with a gazillion and one choices, it’s nearly impossible for a program to break through the niche universe and become a huge hit that is watched by a majority of the American public. But even before the Brady Bunch, she was a star in musical theater.

Her death was unexpected. She also said the show was hard work and the cast embraced it. He went to the University of Utah and became a camera technician for nearly 20 years, including shooting the TV series “Everwood” and the film “Way of the Gun”, starring James Caan.

“We are all in a state of shock”, said Pressman, who spoke with the actress Wednesday night.

That blurred line between Florence Henderson and Carol Brady is the reason there has been an outpouring of grief over Henderson’s death on Thursday from heart failure.

In 1974, near the end of her run on “The Brady Bunch”, Henderson was on the dais for one of Martin’s legendary Celebrity Roasts from the MGM, honoring Jack Benny. Here are his words of the lovely lady. Our family loved her dearly and she will always be considered a member of our family. Williams, who played oldest Brady son Greg, did not really date Florence Henderson, who played Brady matriarch Carol, but, Williams told Variety on Friday, “anything that is semi-salacious and “Brady” in the same sentence, and you’re off to the races”. “She was very gracious, always”.

“She said, very specifically, ‘You kids, be good to your fans, love your fans, ‘” he recalled.

“She accepted [the role] pretty much immediately”, Chellappa said, adding that she had welcomed the opportunity to “express the range she could play”.

“Her fame was such an approachable kind of fame and she had a big hug for every single one of them”. She was also something of an accidental style icon.

“I don’t ever remember not singing”. In 1952, composer Richard Rodgers chose her for the lead role of Laurey in a touring production of “Oklahoma!”. Her voice carried her to a successful Broadway career, and eventually she began landing high-profile television gigs.

Becoming something of a media personality beyond the realm of acting, she had also served as a host of the “Today” show, in a position started in 1959, where she would talk to audiences about fashion and the weather.

In Williams’ book, “Growing Up Brady”, he mentions going on a date with Henderson as a teenager. Even in grief and medical complications and the normal turbulence of a life well-lived, Henderson never took anything for granted. Henderson later married hypnotherapist John Kappas, who died in 2002. “I have four children”. They were married for 29 years. With her support, he nailed the audition and got the part.

As the decades passed, she continued to be a presence through cameos and guest appearances.

But she remained happily resigned to her best-known role as the soothing mother with all the right answers on “The Brady Bunch”. Both were contestants on Dancing with the Stars, Henderson having competed in 2010.