Stars From The Brady Bunch You Didn't Know Died
"The Brady Bunch" may have ended in 1974, but the sitcom's popularity endures. Why, you may ask? Constancy seems to be the answer. Entertainment Weekly describes the series as "a picture of stability," noting that even when the world seems to be going off the rails, the Bradys have always offered a safe place to land. Sherwood Schwartz, the series' creator, reiterated the idea in 1992, saying, "People who are now 28 and 30 saw it every day, five times a week. The impact on them is exponential."
As such, the series has become something of a cultural touchstone. Doing better in syndication than it ever did in its original run (per The Salt Lake Tribune), "The Brady Bunch" is still regularly watched by tons of viewers on streaming platforms and cable networks. While all of its original episodes (and the half-dozen specials and movies) are readily available, many of its original stars are no longer with us.
Here, we've compiled a list of "Brady Bunch" stars you may not know have died. From familiar faces to one-off guest stars, these actors helped to bring the Brady universe to life.
Robert Reed
The quintessential TV dad, Robert Reed was beloved by fans for being exactly what they believed a father should be — kind, caring, and understanding. Off-screen, however, he was a very different man than his character. A stickler for detail, Reed was known to berate the directors and writers over the smallest things. His intense nature would often cause drama on the set, yet he was never replaced, thanks to his close relationship with his cast mates. According to the New York Post, he was like a surrogate father for the Brady kids, taking them on vacation to England and buying them expensive Christmas gifts.
It turns out, much of his frustration may have stemmed from the fact that he was a closeted gay man. When he died in 1992 of colon cancer, his death certificate listed HIV as a contributing factor, essentially letting the world in on the secret that he wasn't heterosexual. In a 2000 interview with ABC News, co-star Florence Henderson said, "I think had Bob not been forced to live this double life, I think it would have dissipated a lot of that anger and frustration. ... I had a lot of compassion for him because I knew how he was suffering."
In spite of everything, Reed's fellow actors remember him fondly. In the same ABC News interview, Christopher Knight said, "He was the picture of what I wanted to become as a person in his sort of strength." Susan Olson chimed in, "Bob remains to this day my shining example of how an adult should be with kids."
Florence Henderson
Florence Henderson, America's mom, was exactly like her on-screen counterpart. Kind, giving, gracious, and nurturing, she was as wholesome as the show she starred in. In an interview with the Television Academy, Henderson described Carol Brady as "the kind of mother that everyone wishes they had. That was the way I portrayed her, anyway, so totally different from my mother."
Henderson was the youngest of 10 children. Her father was an alcoholic and her mother was an absentee parent, a far cry from the idyllic family she was a part of on TV. So she drew from other life experiences to inspire her character. As she explained to the Television Academy, "There were certain things that I brought to the role ... my experience as a young parent, the fact that I understood kids, I felt close to them, relationships. I was really the only one on the set that was married, that had children, that had an ongoing relationship." The star added, "I think, In a way, that I sort of became the stability of the show. And I think Sherwood saw that, that I could be very funny, but I could also bring the empathy or what is necessary for a show like that to make it."
In 2016, she died of heart failure. Maureen McCormick remembered her, tweeting, "Florence Henderson was a dear friend for so very many years & in my [heart] forever. Love & hugs to her family. I'll miss u dearly #RIPFlorence"
Ann B. Davis
Equal parts funny and wise, the Bradys' housekeeper, Alice, was effectively a third parent for the brood. Ann B. Davis told People (via The Hollywood Reporter) that she and her co-stars "got along beautifully." Despite the obvious chemistry between the veteran performer and the child actors, Davis also said, "I basically don't do that well with children." There was something special about the Brady cast, and Davis famously had them all crafting needlepoint creations with her!
Davis didn't originally set out for showbiz. The New York Times reported that she studied at the University of Michigan with plans to be a doctor. Her brother's performance in "Oklahoma!" changed her mind, leading Davis to earn a theater degree and initial work onstage before relocating to Los Angeles.
Long before she started looking after the Brady household, Ann B. Davis found plenty of success as a comic actor — she played similar characters on series including "The Bob Cummings Show" and "The John Forsythe Show." But Alice was where she really shone. Writer-producer Lloyd Schwartz, son of "The Brady Bunch" creator Sherwood Schwartz, told the "The Morning Call," "Dad didn't create Alice. She was Ann B's own creation. He just wanted a funny housekeeper. But he got a whole lot more. America got a whole lot more. I got a lot more. I got a lifetime friend."
In 2014, Davis died after entering a coma from a fall in the bathtub. She was 88 years old.
Allan Melvin
Sam the butcher, Alice's jovial, well-meaning, if occasionally a little dopey, boyfriend, was played by Allan Melvin. A veteran character actor, Melvin had previously held roles on many series, including "The Andy Griffith Show," "All in the Family," "Archie Bunker's Place," "Gomer Pyle: U.S.M.C.," and "The Dick Van Dyke Show," before signing on to "The Brady Bunch."
While the role wasn't his favorite (that honor goes to "The Phil Silvers Show," his wife told Variety), Melvin was beloved by the "Brady Bunch" cast. In an interview with the Television Academy, Ann B. Davis remembered him fondly, quipping, "Oh, isn't Sam wonderful? Allan Melvin, neat guy. ... He was just a nice, open, big guy, and it was fun to play with him." She commented that none of the replacement Sams (Melvin retired before some of the later movies and specials were shot) ever measured up to the original.
At the age of 84, in 2008, Melvin died of cancer. In addition to his on-screen work, the beloved actor worked on Broadway and voiced Hanna-Barbera's Magilla Gorilla.
Imogene Coca
Every family has that one kooky relative, who, by unapologetically marching to the beat of their own drum, manages to embarrass their too-cool-for-school teenage kin. Great-aunt Jenny was that relative for the Brady kids. Played by veteran comedian Imogene Coca, Jenny is a wealthy world-traveler who teaches her nieces and nephews that true beauty comes from within (a life lesson that's dispelled over a single episode, of course).
In real life, Coca, who was described by The New York Times as a "saucer-eyed, rubber-faced comedian," was just as worldly and cool as her on-screen character on "The Brady Bunch." She starred alongside Sid Caesar on "Your Show of Shows" for five seasons, delighting audiences of some 25 million people every Saturday night. She parlayed that success into guest-starring roles on a number of sitcoms, "Grindl," "Bewitched," and "Under the Yum Yum Tree."
The work came naturally to Coca, who was the daughter of two vaudeville performers and began her own song-and-dance act at the tender age of 11. From there it was turns in nightclubs and variety acts before she booked her first job on television and became an instantaneous superstar. In 2001, she took her last bow and died at the age of 92.
Vincent Price
"The Brady Bunch" had a tendency to cast their guest stars in roles that are predictable, considered within the larger scope of each star's body of work. Case in point: Vincent Price. A horror movie icon, Price played the villain in dozens of low-budget films — "The House of Wax," "Pit and Pendulum," and "Masque of the Red Death," to name a few. The actor said in 1971 (via The New York Times), "The best parts in movies are the heavies. The hero is usually someone who has really nothing to do. He comes out on top, but it's the heavy who has all the fun."
When it came to his appearances on "The Brady Bunch," it's not all that surprising that Price also elected to play a heavy. In the famous Hawaii vacation saga, Price is the evil Professor Hubert Whitehead, who, after thinking the boys are trying to steal his artifacts, holds them all hostage in a cave. He only appeared in two episodes, but the cast remembered his time on set fondly. When asked about his favorite guest stars, Christopher Knight, who played Peter Brady, told USA Today, "Working with Vincent Price was an honor."
In 1993, at 82 years old, Price died of lung cancer.
Ken Berry
Ken Berry has a unique role in "The Brady Bunch" history. In one singular episode, he played a neighbor of the Brady family named Ken Kelly, who was the adoptive father of three kids of different races. The Season 5 episode was actually meant to be a backdoor pilot for a spin-off series called "Kelly's Kids" that never made it to air (Vulture called the proposed spin-off "a pretty bland attempt at continuing 'The Brady Bunch.'") The plot resurfaced in Schwartz's brief 1980s sitcom, "Together We Stand."
Despite the fact that "Kelly's Kids" wasn't picked up, Berry told the Archive of American Television that he'd had a "fun" time working on the episode. Even though the proposed spin-off didn't happen for him, Berry "thought it was excellent" and said the regular Brady actors "were all terrific." And his career didn't suffer from the dropped option. He went on to star in his own series called "The Ken Berry 'Wow' Show," along with "F Troop," "Mayberry R.F.D.," "Mama's Family," and feature and television films. Many of these roles and a host of others (including several Las Vegas stage shows), were the realization of a childhood dream to become a dancer and performer.
In 2018, the The New York Times reported that he died at the age of 85.
Jack Collins
For every Hollywood success story, there are a dozen stories like that of Jack Collins. A talented actor with a lengthy filmography, Collins never found himself cast in roles larger than bit players or supporting characters. He did well enough to make a living, and worked in a number of popular shows, including "Bonanza," "The Addams Family," "Bewitched," "I Dream of Jeannie," "The Odd Couple," and "The Partridge Family," but never became a household name or the star of his own series.
On "The Brady Bunch," Collins played Mike Brady's boss, Mr. Phillips. The role was a recurring one, with Mr. Philips' name popping up whenever a work issue arose. However, the actor only ever made three on-screen appearances for the series (all in Season 2), in the episodes "Call Me Irresponsible," "Coming-Out Party," and "Double Parked."
Before and after "The Brady Bunch," there was Broadway. Stage roles in "Counsellor-at-Law," "The Trojan Woman," and even "Ziegfield Follies of 1943" were where he got his start. He returned to his theatrical roots with "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "Jimmy" while still performing on television.
In 2005, Jack Collins reportedly died at the age of 87, and the cause of his death was never made public.
Natalie Schafer
Natalie Schafer actually made a name for herself on another 1960s sitcom: "Gilligan's Island." She played Lovey Howell, the millionaire's wife who finds herself stranded alongside her fellow three-hour tour passengers. Russell Johnson, her cast mate on that series, remembered her to the Television Academy as being "a New York actress, for many years in the theater" and a "beautiful woman" who was "very funny" with a "dry sense of humor." He went on to talk about how easy she was to work with, and how well she, and the entire cast, meshed.
Despite the show's success, Schafer and her colleagues didn't earn that much money from the project, her co-star Dawn Wells revealed to Forbes. That fact was likely the encouragement she needed to continue accepting guest roles in other series, even after achieving a certain level of fame. The roles she took, like Mike Brady's difficult client Penelope Fletcher in "The Brady Bunch," were almost always funny and light-hearted ones that allowed her to showcase her natural comedic timing.
Off-screen, Schafer invested in Hollywood real estate, doing so well for herself that she was able to leave $1.5 million to The Actors Fund. The gift from her estate resulted in a wing of the program's retirement home being named in her honor following her death.
In 1991, she died from cancer. Natalie Schafer was 90 years old, and she also left her poodle "a fat chunk of her estate," per The Seattle Times.
Davy Jones
One of the bigger celebrities to pop up on "The Brady Bunch," Davy Jones was a member of The Monkees, singing lead vocals on many of their songs and starring in the eponymous television show. In 1971, he appeared as himself in the episode titled "Getting Davy Jones," in which Marcia (the president of her school's Davy Jones fan club) convinced him to play her senior prom. Rolling Stone reports that "oddly enough, the single appearance on 'The Brady Bunch' wound up being the most famous thing he ever did outside of the Monkees."
By the time the episode aired, The Monkees were falling out of popularity, but you wouldn't have known it by the reaction the actors gave him. And it seems some of it was truly genuine, not just the over-the-top enthusiasm. When Jones died of a heart attack in 2012, Maureen McCormick eulogized him to Rolling Stone, saying, "Davy was a beautiful soul who spread love and goodness around the world. He filled our lives with happiness, music, and joy. He will live on in our hearts forever. May he rest in peace."
Herbert Anderson
If it's not been made obvious by this point, "The Brady Bunch" casting directors had a penchant for wholesome characters and the actors who played them. Herbert Anderson is a perfect example. Best known as the father in "Dennis the Menace," Anderson was regularly and easily recognizable by viewers of the era. The Tampa Bay Times tells of one 1992 interview, where the actor recalled, "A waitress once came up to me and said, 'I used to dream I'd have a father like you.'"
But Mr. Mitchell wasn't Anderson's only role. A prolific TV guest star for two decades, he also made appearances on "Bewitched," "The Waltons," "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," and "Gunsmoke." Additionally, as reported by TCM, Anderson was an accomplished stage performer, getting his big break in the musical "Navy Blues" and winning roles in productions of "Excuse My Dust" and "Spring Reunion."
On "The Brady Bunch," Anderson played Dr. Cameron, the medical professional who comes to treat the Brady boys' measles in "Is There a Doctor in the House?" An incredibly expressive actor, Anderson stole every scene he appeared in. In 1994, Anderson died at the age of 77, two months after suffering a stroke, according to The New York Times.
E.G. Marshall
A character actor who frequently portrayed knowledgeable professionals, E.G. Marshall played Marcia's principal in Season 2 of "The Brady Bunch." In the episode titled "The Slumber Caper," Marshall lays down the law, sentencing Marcia to a week's worth of detention after finding an unflattering portrait of a teacher among her possessions.
The punishment wasn't the first time Marshall had worked the justice system. He had previously won two Emmy Awards for his role in "The Defenders," a series about the intricacies of our legal system (and coincidentally, a project where he worked with Robert Reed!). Outside of TV, Marshall found success with the "12 Angry Men" movie, the 1995 film "Nixon," and the original Broadway run of "Waiting for Godot," which he proclaimed, according to The New York Times, was "a real theater piece" that "stirred up" a world that had gotten "too flaccid, too passive, too dull."
An original member of the Actor's Studio, Marshall took his craft seriously. TCM notes, "One of Marshall's strengths as a performer was the intelligent authority he brought to parts." The star was also a hit in his role hosting "CBS Radio Mystery Theater."
In 1998, The New York Times reported that Marshall had died in his Bedford, New York, home at the age of 84.
Denise Nickerson
There weren't many notable child actor guest stars on "The Brady Bunch," but Denise Nickerson was one of the few to make the cut. Nickerson had played Violet Beauregarde in the 1962 version of "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory," a job that would wind up being her most famous role. Speaking about the role, she told People, "I'm a very fortunate lady to have been chosen to be part of something that brings smiles to so many faces."
A few years later, on the sitcom, she played one of two girls Peter Brady makes a date with on the same night. The guest spot was one of the last roles Nickerson ever took. In 1978, she retired from acting to become a nurse (via Deadline). At that point, Nickerson lived a private life but would interact with her fans through cast reunions and conventions. She remembered her former co-star Gene Wilder in 2016, at the time of his death.
In 2019, Nickerson, who had suffered a stroke months earlier, died at the age of 62. Following another medical emergency, she spent just a couple of days in the ICU where she was largely in a coma-like state. After deciding to take her off of like support in an effort to make her more comfortable, her family shared the devastating news of her death on Facebook, writing simply, "She's gone."
Paul Winchell
A ventriloquist and the voice of Tigger on "Winnie the Pooh," Paul Winchell appeared as a commercial director determined to make the Bradys stars in one Season 3 episode. Quixotic in real life and on-screen, Winchell studied hypnotism, acupuncture, and theology, and was an enthusiastic inventor with over 30 patents to his name. According to The New York Times, one of these patents "was for an early artificial heart, which he built in 1963 and then donated to the University of Utah for research."
Although these various pursuits took up much of his free time, acting was his true passion, and he regularly carved out time to make guest appearances on such popular series as "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "The Donna Reed Show." Winchell also lent his voice to a number of animated series including "The Smurfs," "Adventures of the Gummi Bears," and "Garfield and Friends."
One fan blog, Brady Bunch Reviewed, maintains that Winchell was one of "The Brady Bunch's" most memorable guest stars because he was "one of the few outsiders on the show to acknowledge the level of crazy the Bradys could ascend to at times." In 2005, he died at the age of 82.