‘Brady Bunch’s Eve Plumb Talks About Working With Angela Lansbury and Lynda Carter
What To Know
- Eve Plumb, best known as Jan Brady from The Brady Bunch, has released a memoir.
- She began acting at age six, landed her iconic Brady Bunch role at eleven, and continued to work in television and film.
- In her book, Plumb discusses the challenges of writing about personal losses.
Eve Plumb, everyone’s favorite middle Brady child, has just released her new book Happiness Included: Jan Brady and Beyond about her life and career.
Plumb started her acting career at age six, working in commercials and guest appearances on shows such as The Big Valley, Lassie, Dick Tracy, It Takes a Thief, Family Affair, Gunsmoke, just to name a few. But it was in 1969 at age 11 years old when she became part of the new family TV show called The Brady Bunch. Plumb’s Jan Brady became a pop culture icon thanks to infamous lines like “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia” and, of course, Jan’s made-up boyfriend, George Glass.
After The Brady Bunch ended in 1974, she moved on to other projects, showing off her acting chops in such films as Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway, Little Women, and Secrets of Three Hungry Wives. Even as Plumb expanded her acting career, she continued returning to the Brady world as Jan in various movies and shows, including the TV movies The Brady Girls Get Married and A Very Brady Christmas, as well as the series The Bradys and The Brady Brides.
Plumb has continued working as an actress while also expanding her creativity through painting and a line of products available on her website. ReMIND magazine recently sat down with Plumb to discuss the Bradys, her passion for art, and her new book.
Credit: Mike Pingel
What was the hardest thing to write about in your book, and how has it been meeting your fans on your tour?
Some of the difficult things to write about in the book were the losses, the losses of pets and of family members. And that was also difficult when I went to do the audiobook because you’re reliving it and actually speaking about it. It’s always great to go out and meet people. It’s amazing how many people have come out and said hello. So that’s been good.
What do you want readers to take away after reading your book?
I would hope that I’ve answered their Brady questions for them, and I hope that they enjoy looking at the pictures, which I enjoyed adding to the book. It’s sort of like asking somebody over and making them look at my photo album from when I was a kid.
What was your first job?
The first job I did was the Final Touch fabric softener commercial. That was when my mom had been suggested by the children’s agent that moved in next door to us, to take me on a commercial audition. We went, and I got the job, and I’ve been working ever since.
I was reading on IMDb that you bought a house when you were 11 years old in Malibu.
Yeah, my mother actually had the real estate gene that she had passed down to me. When I was just in college, I was renting a house out in Encino, and she suggested we buy that. But we’d been going to Laguna for years, and so she wanted us to have a place to go on the weekend, and Malibu was closer. They decided to invest some of my money in it. And that was great, because I kept that house for many, many years. and then was able to sell that and buy other properties.
It’s the 50th anniversary of Dawn, Portrait of a Teenage Runaway. What do you remember about doing Dawn?
It was amazing. I was all of a sudden an adult and had to sort of get myself to the set and work 12 hours a day, and didn’t have to go to school every day on the set. So that was really different. The work environment was very different.
Everett Collection
There was a huge contrast between Jan Brady and Dawn.
Yes, it was all very different. It’s very different to be the star of the thing and have everybody paying attention to just me, no other children.
What is your favorite project you’ve done?
Well, it’s sort of hard to pick. Should I say the fabric softener (commercial) I did when I was six, or Dawn for a Teenage Runaway, or working with Edith Head on the costumes for Little Women? It’s sort of hard to say my favorite.
Painting is your passion. How did you start cultivating your painting and where can one buy an Eve Plum original?
I start with either small moments of my life, a coffee cup, or a restaurant chair. I’ve also been collecting more photographs for film noir paintings. I am represented by several galleries. You can look at eveplum.tv or plumbgoods.tv for the designs that we’ve placed on products. The galleries Bilotta Gallery in Florida, Bonner David in Arizona, New York handle my artwork sales.
How was it working on the Murder, She Wrote episode “Jessica Behind Bars” (Season 2 Episode 9)?
That was fun. I think that was another one of those shows that cast people that have been on TV. They just call up and say, “Would you like to be at work next week?” And you say, “Yes.” So that was great because I worked with Vera Miles and Yvonne De Carlo, that played the cook in the prison – she was great. She cracked herself up with her line, ‘My food is perfectly adequate.’ The highest praise she could give her food.
Yeah. And how was it working with Dame Angela Lansbury?
She’s another one of those actresses that is just no nonsense. She gets it done. She’s very, very pleasant and professional. So, it was a good week. It was a good five days.
Another thing that happened was that I have that crazy hair. I had gotten with the hairdresser and did my hair like that. (her character’s hair was big and frizzy). I managed to get it on film before producers saw it, and they were mad. Because it was crazy (hair) and it looked nothing like Eve Plumb. That’s the point, man. I’m Tug! Tug was the name of my character.
Everett Collection
How was it working on the Wonder Woman episode, “The Pied Piper” (Season 2, Episode 6)?
That was fun. I worked with Martin Mull (played Hamlin Rule) on that. He was hilarious. He was just great. One of the charming actors that you sit around on the set with him and he’s making jokes and stuff.
How was it working with Lynda Carter?
It was lovely. She had quite the challenge, I think, to be in a character like that where you have to be a super person, look like that, maintain that look, and to be the star of the show. She was great.
What’s next for you?
What’s next? Like I said, I’m going to probably start working on some more film noir paintings, see if I can get that jewelry line going. I would love to narrate some more audiobooks. I’m going to get my agent to help get me some of those.
One can keep up with Eve Plumb on her Instagram or on her official website.
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