Dark Secrets Of The Cast Of The Brady Bunch

Prior to being cast as patriarch Mike Brady in “The Brady Bunch,” Robert Reed had been a Shakespearean actor, having studied at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. He’d also starred on Broadway and was a longtime member of the Actors Studio, whose membership includes the likes of Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, and other cinema luminaries. Shortly before his death, Reed openly shared his disdain for “The Brady Bunch” when he told People, “It was just as inconsequential as it can be. To the degree that it serves as a babysitter, I’m glad we did it. But I do not want it on my tombstone,” (via UPI).

Interestingly, Reed does not appear in the episode that wound up being the series finale, a sillier-than-usual installment in which Greg inadvertently dyes his hair green after using a tonic sold to him by younger brother Bobby. As series creator Sherwood Schwartz told the Television Academy Foundation, Reed read the script and was not pleased. “Bob Reed called and said, ‘Outlandish story, unbelievable, ridiculous, and I won’t do the show.’”

When it came time to film, Reed was present in the studio despite his character having been written out of the episode due to his refusal to be in it. “He did, however, hang around the set while the episode was being shot, grumbling about its idiocy,” Barry Williams wrote in his memoir.