Maureen McCormick, The Brady Bunch
Actress Maureen McCormick shot to stardom with her role as teenager Marcia Brady on the television sitcom The Brady Bunch. McCormick battled drug addiction after the series ended, and eventually overcame her addictions.
The Early Life and Career
Maureen Denise McCormick was born on August 5, 1956, in Woodland Hills, California, the youngest and only daughter of Richard and Irene McCormick. Her father was a schoolteacher, and her mother was a stay-at-home mom. She has three older brothers: Michael, Dennis and Kevin.
Beginning at a very early age, McCormick loved to sing and dance, and would often put on puppet shows for the neighborhood children. Her fairytale rise to fame started when she won the Baby Miss San Fernando Valley contest at the age of 6, which led to a call from talent agent Pat Domigan of the Jack Wormser Agency, who asked if she would like to be in show business.
McCormick landed her first major job in 1964, when she starred in a television commercial for Mattel’s newest doll, “Baby Pattaburp.” Later that year, she did another commercial for the company’s “Chatty Cathy” doll and was soon cast in the play Wind It Up And It Breaks, at the La Jolla Playhouse.
The Brady Bunch 1969-1974
In 1969, McCormick was chosen from a field of 1,200 children who auditioned to play the eldest of three towheaded daughters on the new TV sitcom The Brady Bunch, starring Florence Henderson and Robert Reed as newlyweds with a blended family. The show ran for five years.
In her book Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice, published in 2008, McCormick revealed that during the show’s fifth season, she almost lost her virginity to her onscreen brother and co-star, Barry Williams. She was 16 years old at the time; he was 19. “It would have happened,” she said, “but the timing was never right for us.”
In the meantime, McCormick graduated from William Howard Taft High School in Woodland Hills.
In 1981, the entire cast of The Brady Bunch, who had kept in touch casually over the years, reunited to make the TV movie The Brady Brides. After The Brady Bunch ended its run, McCormick found it impossible to shake off her pristine, good-girl image and found it difficult to get serious acting roles. She made guest appearances on the TV shows The Streets of San Francisco, Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Vega$, Happy Days, Donny & Marie and Fantasy Island, along with supporting roles in a string of B-rated films.
The Later Career of Maureen McCormick
Along with releasing a country-music album, 1995’s When You Get a Little Lonely, McCormick continued to surface in films and TV shows. Most notably, she joined the group of contestants for season 5 of VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club in 2007, ultimately winning the onscreen contest.
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