Florence Henderson

Florence Henderson

Florence Agnes Henderson (b. February 14, 1934) is an American actress and singer best known for playing the role of Carol Brady in the television program The Brady Bunch, which ran from 1969 to 1974.

Biography

Born in Dale, Indiana as one of 10 children in a Roman Catholic tobacco farmer's household, Florence Henderson graduated from St. Francis Academy in Owensboro, Kentucky in 1951; shortly thereafter, she went to New York City, enrolling in the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Henderson started her career on the stage, performing in musicals, such as the touring production of Oklahoma! and South Pacific at Lincoln Center. She debuted on Broadway in Wish You Were Here in 1952, and later starred in such notable shows as Fanny (1954), and The Girl Who Came to Supper (1963). In 1962, she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre.

Her most widely seen role was as Carol Brady in The Brady Bunch which was produced from 1969 until 1974. A worldwide success, it continues to be screened in many countries through syndication.

Henderson was a frequent panelist on the original version of the television game show Hollywood Squares.

Henderson was also the spokeswoman for Wesson cooking oil, from 1976 to 1996. During that time, she hosted a cooking show on TNN called Country Kitchen, and also did ads for Prange's, a former Wisconsin department store chain. Henderson co-hosted the talk show Later Today on NBC (1999-2000) with co-hosts Jodi Applegate and Asha Blake. Today, she is the spokeswoman for Polident denture cleanser (although she does not wear dentures herself). In 2003, Henderson seemed to poke fun at her wholesome image by appearing in a Pepsi Twist television commercial with Ozzy Osbourne.

Henderson regularly tours as a singer on the condominium circuit with other performers such as magician/comedian Jamie Porter.

Henderson has also appeared with her TV children whenever the opportunity comes about. For instance, she appeared on the reality-television series My Fair Brady starring Christopher Knight. She is also in the sixth season of VH1's Surreal Life.

Personal life

Henderson married Ira Bernstein in January, 1956. She divorced him after almost 25 years of marriage. She later married Dr. John Kappas who died in 2002.

Henderson is the mother of four children, none of whom have entered show business.

She is an Aluma Initiate of the Alpha Chi chapter of Delta Zeta Sorority.

Filmography

Television

• General Foods 25th Anniversary Show: A Salute to Rodgers and Hammerstein (1954)
• Sing Along (1958-1959)
• Little Women (1958)
• The Jack Paar Show (regular guest from 1958-1962)
• Oldsmobile Music Theatre (1959) (canceled after a few months)
• The Today Show (Today Girl from 1959-1960)
• The Brady Bunch (1969-1974)
• The Love Boat (1976) (pilot for series)
• The Brady Girls Get Married (1981)
• The Brady Brides (1981) (canceled after 10 episodes)
• Country Kitchen (1985-????)
• Just a Regular Kid: An AIDS Story (1987)
• A Very Brady Christmas (1988)
• The Bradys (1990) (canceled after 6 episodes)
• Fudge-A-Mania (1995)
• Short Cut Cooking (1998-2000)
• Later Today (1999-2000)
• Legend of the Candy Cane (2001)
• Moms On Strike (2002)
• Speaking of Women's Health (2003-????)
• The Surreal Life (cast member in 2006)

Film

• Song of Norway (1970)
• Shakes the Clown (1992)
• The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994) (Cameo)
• The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)
• Holy Man (1998) (Cameo)
• Get Bruce (1999) (documentary)
• Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003)
• Whose Line Is It Anyway? (2002) (Guest appearance)
• Venus & Vegas (2006)
• For Heaven's Sake (2006)

Trivia

• Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson [1], a Norwegian post-rock band, are named after her.
• Florence filed law suits against two companies because of the unauthorized use of her photo - Serial Killer, Inc. had been using her face on a t-shirt with the name "Porn Queen" underneath. A Cotati, Ca. gift shop also used her picture in an ad. [May 1999]
• Her late husband, Dr. John Kappas, was a hypnotherapist, and he and Florence met when he helped her battle depression during the mid-1980s.
• She flew to New York City every weekend during the run of The Brady Bunch (1969) (which filmed in LA) in order to be with her family.
• In the mid-1950s, she was diagnosed with a bone deformation of the inner ear, and she had to have surgery to prevent deafness.
• Graduated from Indiana's St. Frances School in 1951, and then studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in NYC. She earned a scholarship to AADA because of her singing talent.
• Was a "Today" (1952) girl from 1959-1960, and later went on to co-host the short lived spinoff series "Later Today" (1999) from 1999-2000.
• Was the first woman to host The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962).
• Is a licensed hypnotherapist. She learned about hypnotherapy from her late husband, John Kappas.
• Prefers to apply her own makeup.
• Appears in the video for Amish Paradise, Weird Al Yankovic's parody of Gangsta's Paradise.
• Is said to be the victim of the first incident of shouting "Free Bird!" at concerts. In the 1980s, Chicago Radio DJ Kevin Matthews urged his listeners to shout "Free Bird!" at one of her concerts as a sort of joke towards the musician/actress and that moment has been credited with starting the tradition.

External links

• Florence Henderson official site
• Archive of American Television Interview with Florence Henderson October 20 1999 on Google Video