‘The Brady Bunch’ Star Maureen McCormick Had a Crush on Another Co-Star Besides Barry Williams: ‘I Used To Imagine Running off With Him’
The Brady Bunch introduced America to a now iconic blended family. Robert Reed (Mike Brady) and Florence Henderson (Carol) took on the roles of the newlywed couple bringing together their six children played by several young actors new to the screen: Barry Williams (Greg), Maureen McCormick (Marcia), Christopher Knight (Peter), Eve Plumb (Jan), Mike Lookinland (Bobby), and Susan Olsen (Cindy).
While McCormick admitted to an on-again, off-again romance with Williams, she also had her eye on another cast member.
Marcia was crushing on another Brady
In her memoir Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice, McCormick revealed she immediately took notice of Williams. The attraction was mutual, which put producers on alert.
“We flirted shamelessly as we got to know each other,” she wrote of Williams. “Nothing explicit would happen between us for a couple of seasons. But [show creator] Sherwood Schwartz and his son Lloyd, also an executive producer, watched the two of us closely, wondering not if but when.“
Yet her onscreen sibling wasn’t the only one drawing McCormick’s attention. Though he was decades her senior, The Brady Bunch actor felt a pull toward co-star Robert Reed.
“I also liked working closely with Bob Reed,” she revealed in her book. “I always had a thing for older men, including Bob. … I used to imagine running off with him.
Maureen McCormick wasn’t the only one who fancied a TV parent
McCormick listed some other actors out of her age range that caught her eye during her teenage years.
“Fred McMurray… Michael Cole. I also thought Barry Williams’ father was cool, too.” McCormick shared. “Then I developed a thing for Jack Klugman and Tony Randle, the stars of The Odd Couple. Who didn’t adore them? Their series was show on the Paramount lot. On more than a few occasions I chatted with them as we stood in line to get food at a cart near our sets, and I left thinking, ‘Wow, that Jack Klugman is neat.'”
According to McCormick’s book, Williams had also developed a crush on one of his older co-stars.
“What was with us Brady kids?” she wrote. “Barry developed the hots for Florence, took her out on what he considered a dinner date, and gave her a good night kiss. That was weird. … I want to believe she thought his puppy love was cute and decided to play along. … It’s still weird.”
‘The Brady Bunch’ star still burned a candle for Bob
Though Reed tried to keep his personal life under wraps, most of the cast knew he was gay. Still, McCormick was in the dark for quite some time.
“Apparently, I was the last one, or rather the only one, on the set who didn’t know about Bob,” she revealed. “Eve shrugged when I mentioned it to her. … She gave me her ‘get-over-it’ look. Susie said she’d found out the previous season.”
The new information did not deter McCormick’s feelings, where she still held on to some longing for Reed.
“I don’t know why,” McCormick wrote, “but I would still need a few years before I stopped dreaming that the two of us would run off together someday.”
