The Only Major Actors Still Alive From The Brady Bunch
Anyone who grew up in the 1970s can tell you the story of a lovely lady, who was bringing up three very lovely girls, and a man named Brady, who was busy with three boys of his own. Of course, one day, the lady met this fellow, and the rest is TV history. When Carol Martin (Florence Henderson) married Mike Brady (Robert Reed), all six of their children came together, along with their trusty maid Alice (Ann B. Davis), to become the sitcom family known as "The Brady Bunch."
"The Brady Bunch" is one of the most beloved and memorable sitcoms of all time. The adolescent antics of Greg (Barry Williams), Peter (Christopher McKnight), Bobby (Mike Lookinland), Marcia (Maureen McCormick), Jan (Eve Plumb), and Cindy (Susan Olsen) made for plenty of comedy and drama as the bunch dealt with the trials and tribulations of a blended family, sibling rivalries, growing up, and everything in between. By today's standards, it's certainly cheesy, but it's wholesome, charming, and has all the staples of a classic TV series.
Despite airing from 1969 to 1974, "The Brady Bunch" has endured through multiple generations, thanks to endless syndicated reruns that have allowed plenty of new, younger viewers to experience the show just as their Baby Boomer and Generation X parents did so many decades ago. Since the series came to an end nearly 50 years ago, not everyone from the main cast is still with us. But here's a full list of the major actors from "The Brady Bunch" who are still alive.
Barry Williams (Greg Brady)
Greg Brady was played by Barry Williams. As the oldest sibling of all the Brady kids, Greg was often the one leading family meetings between the brothers and sisters and acting as the spokesman for all of them. Greg was also one of the more popular boys at Westdale High School, and though he could easily be considered a big-man-on-campus, that never really resulted in him being a prototypical jock jerk, no matter how good he was at sports. Even his reputation as "the Casanova of Clinton Avenue" wasn't something that turned him into a complete douchebag, though a very short-lived career as a groovy rock star known as "Johnny Bravo" made him a little too big for his britches at one point.
As for Barry Williams, "The Brady Bunch" came in his young career after the actor appeared in shows like "The FBI," "Gomer Pyle USMC," and "Adam-12." Following "The Brady Bunch," Williams would make guest appearances in classic shows like "Three's Company," "General Hospital," "Murder, She Wrote" and "Full House." In the more modern television era, Williams guest starred in the likes of "Scrubs," "That '70s Show," and "According to Jim.
But over the years, Williams couldn't help but reprise his role as Greg Brady several times, whether it was the unfortunate animated series "The Brady Kids" or the hokey variety show "The Brady Bunch Hour," more modern TV movies like "The Brady Girls Get Married" or "A Very Brady Christmas," or the disastrous, more dramatic '90s sequel series "The Bradys," which lasted only six episodes and saw the remaining episodes combined into TV movies. Like several "Brady Bunch" cast members, Williams also made a cameo in "The Brady Bunch Movie," as a record producer who encounters the film's version of Greg Brady.
More recently, Williams has entered the reality television circuit with appearances on "The Masked Singer" and "Dancing with the Stars."
Maureen McCormick (Marcia Brady)
Marcia Brady, played by Maureen McCormick, was the oldest of the Brady girls, but she was still roughly a year younger than Greg. Marcia was quite popular, and she is frequently viewed as one of the prettiest girls at West Dale High School. Not only is she a fantastic student, but she ran for class president, landed the lead in the school play, and became the head cheerleader. However, her achievements and popularity don't always keep her from lacking confidence in herself. She was particularly concerned about her looks, especially when she got braces and had her nose smashed by a stray football pass in the backyard. But she did end up landing The Monkees member Davy Jones for the junior prom, so that certainly boosted her confidence.
Maureen McCormick had a career similar to that of Barry Williams, having appeared in shows like "Bewitched," "I Dream of Jeannie," and "My Three Sons" before "The Brady Bunch" made her a star. However, McCormick has a larger roster of guest appearances on television afterward, including the likes of "Happy Days," "The Love Boat," "Fantasy Island," and the original "Vega$." But where McCormick outshined Williams was building more of a film career, having appeared in "Skatetown, USA," "The Idolmaker," and "Texas Lightning," to name a few.
McCormick admittedly endured more hardship in her career due to an addiction to cocaine and quaaludes, which she has addressed publicly. Her addictions had a significant impact on her career, even causing her to botch an audition for "Raiders of the Lost Ark." But McCormick would reprise the role of Marcia in many of the "Brady Bunch" projects that followed, though she (perhaps luckily) missed out on "The Bradys" sequel series due to having an infant daughter, so Marcia was played by Leah Ayres in the show.
In more modern TV history, she appeared in shows like "Scrubs" and "The Brothers Garcia." But in recent years, McCormick also found her way over to "Dancing with the Stars," and she's guest starred on shows like the reboot of "Fantasy Island" and the animated series "The Loud House," as well as appearing in sparsely seen, low-budget movies like "Rock, Paper, Dead" and "Christmas Land."
Christopher Knght (Peter Brady)
Peter Brady was second oldest from the boys' side, but the third oldest sibling overall, and was played by Christopher Knight. Peter sometimes lets his crowning achievements inflate his ego, like when he's called a hero after rescuing a girl from being injured by a falling shelf. But he also takes criticism to heart, like when a boy at a party tells him that he has no personality, and he tries to remedy the situation by taking on the persona of classic movie star Humphrey Bogart, giving us the famous "pork chops and applesaush" line. Peter turns out to be a decent detective, which helps him become a good school reporter, but he also struggles with puberty changing his voice as he grows up.
As for Christopher Knight, his early career had him appearing in "Mannix" and "Gunsmoke" before joining "The Brady Bunch." Like his young co-stars, this led to more TV work with roles in "The Bionic Woman," "Happy Days," and "CHiPs." Knight would also return as Peter Brady in many of the "Brady Bunch" projects that followed.
But Knight found more reality TV show fame than any of his peers when he appeared on the fourth season of the VH1 series "The Surreal Life," a C-list celebrity version of MTV's "The Real World" and "Road Rules." During his time on the show, he met "America's Next Top Model" cast member Adrianne Curry, which resulted in a romance that led to a marriage, which was documented on the reality show "My Fair Brady." But Knight and Curry divorced in 2011, and he married another woman in 2016.
Back on the acting side, Knight made a cameo in "The Brady Bunch Movie" as a high school teacher and popped up in "The Last Sharknado: It's About Time." But he also appeared on "The Masked Singer" in 2022, as well as the 2023 documentary "Truelove," about a young girl with Williams syndrome.
Eve Plumb (Jan Brady)
Jan Brady, played by Eve Plumb, was very clearly the misfit of the Brady kids, mostly because she felt like she was always being overshadowed by Marcia, Marcia, Marcia. Jan's frustration even extended to being overshadowed by the youngest sister, Cindy. At one point, she drastically tried to change her appearance with a curly black wig, one of the most memorable moments in the show's history. Though Jan did have many talents, and she was voted most popular girl at Fillmore Junior High, her insecurities were always her defining trait, lest we forget her imaginary boyfriend George Glass.
Before "The Brady Bunch," Eve Plumb appeared in classic TV shows like "Lassie," "Mannix" and "Gunsmoke." Following stardom from the sitcom, Plumb guest starred in "Wonder Woman," "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island," "Murder, She Wrote," "The Facts of Life," and she also starred in a miniseries adaptation of "Little Women." Much like the rest of her co-stars, she would reprise her Jan Brady role in almost all of the spin-offs, TV movies, and sequels that followed. However, she did not star in "The Brady Bunch Hour" variety show on ABC. She wasn't actually trying to disassociate herself from the show, but she didn't want to commit to a five-year option for additional shows, so she opted not to participate, and Jan was played by Geri Reischl.
Away from "Brady Bunch," Plumb appeared in films like "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka" in 1988 and "Blue Ruin" in 2013. On the small screen, Plumb has recently popped up in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "The Path," "Blue Bloods," "Bull," and Pete Holmes' HBO series "Crashing." But thus far, she's avoided diving into reality TV, with the exception of one particular project, but more on that later.
Mike Lookinland (Bobby Brady)
Unlike the rest of his "Brady Bunch" co-stars, Mike Lookinland had never worked in film or television before being cast as Bobby Brady. As the youngest boy and second youngest sibling overall, Bobby's antics and worries were always a little more childish, especially since he was so close with his sister Cindy, the youngest of the Brady kids. Bobby was always trying to excel at something, whether it was selling magazines, an ice cream eating contest, or trying to beat a teeter-totter world record. But he also had genuine struggles too, such as when he thought Carol may not love him as much because he's a step-child, and he had some real insecurity about being shorter. Plus, he became strangely obsessed with the outlaw Jesse James at one point.
Mike Lookinland didn't have nearly as active of an acting career as his peers following sitcom success. Aside from always being down to reprise his role as Bobby Brady, Lookinland also appeared in "Little House on the Prairie" and the film "The Towering Inferno." But the actor ended up partaking in some behind-the-scenes work, by being a production assistant on "Halloween 4: The Curse of Michael Myers" and an additional first camera assistant on "Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers." Lookinland also worked as a camera operator on various productions for a few years, such as "The Rage" and "The Way of the Gun." Lookinland would have had a small appearance as a cop in "The Brady Bunch Movie," but his scene was cut.
In recent years, Lookinland stopped by "The Masked Singer" as part of a group appearance with Christopher Knight and Barry Williams, but he's mostly been retired from show business and now operates a decorative concrete company in Salt Lake City, Utah. However, he did come out of retirement in 2021 by starring in the Lifetime Christmas movie, "Blending Christmas," along with "Brady Bunch" co-stars Barry Williams, Christopher Knight, Susan Olsen, and Cousin Oliver himself, Robbie Rist.
Susan Olsen (Cindy Brady)
Cindy was the youngest of the Brady kids, and she was easily the most adorable, largely because of her blonde curls and cute lisp, a real speech impediment that Olsen struggled with for a while. Though she was the baby of the family, Cindy didn't like being treated like it, despite the fact that she was always carrying around her Kitty Karry-All doll when she was younger. One episode even saw her lose Kitty Karry-All, and she was desperate to find her. Cindy was also notoriously bad at keeping secrets, and she had a habit of tattling on her siblings.
Susan Olsen's career was even more brief than Mike Lookinland, though she did appear in "Gunsmoke," "Ironside" and "Julia" before finding sitcom fame. Otherwise, she's the cast member who veered the most away from show business after "The Brady Bunch." Though she would return as Cindy in "The Brady Kids," "The Brady Bunch Hour" and "The Bradys," she opted not to take part in "The Brady Brides" and "A Very Brady Christmas."
Olsen's other most prominent roles were in guest appearances on "Pacific Blue" and "The Young and the Restless," and she appeared as herself on "Space Ghost: Coast to Coast." But as noted above, she did return to acting in the Lifetime Christmas movie "Blending Christmas." Olsen would have appeared in "The Brady Bunch Movie" as a reporter for a newspaper called "The Tattler," but the scene didn't make the final cut. Rumors of Olsen becoming an adult film star are not true, though Olsen addressed where they likely came from, revealing on Twitter that she provided sound effects for the adult film "Love Probe From a Warm Planet."
Olsen did have a brush with reality television though, in "Gimme My Reality Show," in which celebrities competed to get their own reality show. It might sound desperate, but Olsen used the show to make a statement about animal rescue. She also hosted a talk radio show called "Two Chicks Talkin' Politics" on LA Talk Radio for a time. But she dug back into "The Brady Bunch" to write the coffee table book "Love to Love You Bradys: The Bizarre Story of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour."
A Very Brady Renovation
"The Brady Bunch" itself also got into the reality television arena with "A Very Brady Renovation," a series chronicling the interior renovation of the real Studio City, California house that was used for the exterior shots of the Brady family house in the original series. Barry Williams, Maureen McCormick, Christopher Knight, Eve Plumb, Mike Lookinland, and Susan Olsen all reunited to partake in the series that completely revamped the interior of the real-life house to look like the sets from "The Brady Bunch," with the help of some HGTV personalities. Released in 2019, it's the most significant and most recent reunion of the surviving members of "The Brady Bunch" cast, but sadly, it's not currently available for streaming.
No longer with us
Though all of the Brady kids are still with us, the older members of "The Brady Bunch" cast have sadly passed on.
Florence Henderson was the most recent to pass away in 2016 at the age of 82 due to heart failure, following a decorated career in film and television, the latter that spanning late night, morning, and prime time. Henderson was always associated with the role of Carol Brady, and she made plenty of cameos as herself on various shows, such as "The Muppet Show" and "Caroline in the City." In addition to returning for many "Brady Bunch" projects, she also made a cameo in "The Brady Bunch Movie" as the Brady family's grandmother. Just a few days before her death, she was supporting Maureen McCormick in her appearance on "Dancing with the Stars."
Ann B. Davis, who played the Brady's wonderful maid Alice, passed away in 2014 at age 88 after complications from a subdural hematoma following a fall in her bathroom. "The Brady Bunch" gave her the most success, and she also reprised her role in spin-offs, TV movies, and sequels that followed. She can also be seen in "The Brady Bunch Movie" as a trucker named Schultzy who convinces Jan to stop running away from home.
Finally, Robert Reed passed away in 1992 at age 59 following a battle with colon cancer. Reed was also HIV-positive, which significantly contributed to his death. But Reed was a private person and never revealed his diagnosis to the public until his death was announced. This followed Reed's secretive personal life during his fame, where he kept his homosexuality a secret from the public, though it was something that the cast of "The Brady Bunch" was always aware of.
Even after all the members of "The Brady Bunch" have left this mortal coil, they will always be remembered for their contributions to entertainment.