5 Surprising Things About Florence Henderson – TV’s Carol Brady
When Florence Henderson died 10 years ago on November 24, 2016, all of the major news outlets took the time to acknowledge the passing of “America’s Mom.” For better or worse, Florence will forever be thought of as Carol Brady, the character that she played for five seasons on the classic TV show, The Brady Bunch.
Truth be told, however, Florence was so much more than just that. In fact, remove The Brady Bunch from her resume and Florence’s life is still nothing short of extraordinary. So, with all that said, here are five things that you might not know about this wonderful lady:
1 Florence worked with her father in the fields at the age of 8 and sang for extra cash in grocery stores by the time she was 12.
Growing up during the Great Depression as the youngest of ten children, her family faced immense financial struggles. As you might guess that type of upbringing gave Florence the tenacity and dogged determination that she needed in life to be successful.
Despite her immense talent, performing wasn’t always easy for young Florence. Discussing that period of her life, the online fan site Bradyworld.com points out that “all of the attention she received as a young child made her somewhat uncomfortable and she would sometimes close her eyes while singing so that she didn’t have to look at all the adults watching her.”
2 Florence started her career on stage with roles in plays like Oklahoma! and South Pacific.
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Audiences and critics alike were captivated by her magnetic stage presence, proving she had the chops to be a genuine theatrical star. If musical theater had been Florence’s end goal, I have to believe that she would’ve become known as one of Broadway’s all-time greats, but she had other hopes and dreams.
3 Florence knew that television was in her future, breaking through all sorts of gender barriers.
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Florence made her debut on NBC’s Today Show in 1959. Times were different then; As a “Today Girl”, Florence was only allowed to cover the weather and some light news. But still, this lady was on the move.
4 Long before Joan Rivers, Florence became the first woman to host The Tonight Show way back in 1962.
Stepping into the shoes of the legendary Jack Paar as a guest host was a huge milestone in late-night television. She handled the pressure with both wit and warmth, proving that women were more than capable of carrying a major late-night talk show.
5 Florence truly knew how to keep a secret.
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Florence was Robert Reed‘s confidant and dear friend. Early on during the making of The Brady Bunch, Florence sensed that there was something different about her co-star, and it wasn’t long before he shared his secret with her. Of course, this was an era when most gay actors were not willing to come out of the closet, and because of that, Florence never betrayed Robert’s trust.
In a recent article in Parade magazine, journalist Andrea Reiher shared this quote from Florence about her co-star, “He was a very proud man, a wonderful actor, and a wonderful human being who happened to be gay.”
Want more? Here are 5 more things you didn’t know about TV’s favorite mom!
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TVs Top Moms
May 2022
Celebrate top TV moms from the ’50 to the ’90s including 8 things you didn’t know about Donna Reed plus weird and wacky TV moms.
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