Robert Reed
Encyclopedia
Robert Reed was a prolific American character actor
of stage
, film
and television
. In his first big break, he played Kenneth Preston on the popular 1960s TV legal drama, The Defenders, alongside E. G. Marshall
. But he was best remembered for portraying the father, Mike Brady, on the popular sitcom, The Brady Bunch
, from 1969 to 1974. He also had a recurring role as Lt. Adam Tobias on Mannix
.
suburb of Highland Park, Illinois
. His parents were Helen (born Teaverbaugh) and John Robert Rietz, Sr. His parents, high school sweethearts, were married since they were 18. The family lived in Des Plaines, Illinois
at 621 Parsons Street, and Reed attended the West Division School in Community Consolidated School District 62 until 1939. His father worked in the government, and his mother was a housewife. Reed spent his later childhood years in Muskogee, Oklahoma
, as well as Navasota, Texas, and later studied Shakespeare
in college. In Oklahoma his father, John Sr., worked as a turkey farmer, raising 200 turkeys annually. Reed seems not to have taken in interest in his father's farm work.
In his youth, he joined the 4-H
agricultural club, and showed calves. But he was more interested in acting and music. While attending Central High School in Muskogee, he participated in both activities. He was a handsome, popular student in high school, hanging out with classmates at the nearby ice cream parlor. John Jr. also took to the stage, where he performed and sang. During breaks, he also put on plays himself, practicing all night long.
John Jr. knew he was going to make it and was very serious about becoming an actor. He appeared in every school play and landed the majority of lead roles. He was a consummate professional, who demanded the same of his teen peers. In his junior year, he took a radio and speech class. His charming delivery led him to a job as the city's radio disc jockey, reading news and commercials. John Jr. graduated from Muskogee Central in 1950. His drama teacher told him the next step in his theatrical training should be at Northwestern University
. John also wanted to attend the university, with a major in theater; however, his parents had other plans for him. They wanted him to study law or any other profession in college. But he took acting classes anyway, choosing to be an actor.
At Northwestern he was a member of Beta Theta Pi
, and later transferred to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
, in London
.
During his years at Northwestern, he appeared in several plays under the direction of Alvine Krause, a celebrated Northwestern drama coach. He also appeared in Summer Stock in Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania
. John performed in more than 8 plays in college all with leading roles and mastered Shakespeare as well. He practiced his skills for a camera while revealing a rarely seen, comical side. While he was working hard in college, he was keeping a private secret. He would not reveal that he was gay, especially to his best friend, Tam Spiva
. Despite his sexual orientation, he was dating a woman.
When he became an actor, he adopted the stage name Robert Reed.
, a role which led him to co-star in The Defenders. The part also led to other roles such as: Men into Space, Family Affair
, Ironside
, The Mod Squad
, Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theatre
, Lawman
, 4 episodes of Love, American Style
, Chase, Harry O, McCloud
, Jigsaw John, The Streets of San Francisco
, Barnaby Jones
, Crazy Like a Fox
, The Paper Chase
, among many others.
in the television drama series The Defenders from 1961 to 1965. He also appeared in the 1968 film Star!
play, Barefoot in the Park led him to two new contracts, at Paramount Studios and ABC
, both in 1968. The minute that studio decided to turn the television version of Barefoot in the Park
into an African-American show, they planned for Reed to star in something else. Originally titled, The Bradley Bunch, the show featured a widowed man, who had 3 kids from a previous marriage, marrying a divorcee, also with 3 kids, from a previous marriage. According to former Gilligan's Island
creator Sherwood Schwartz
, he said about the show's plan for 6 kids (meaning 3 boys/3 girls) to create a well-blended family: "I read a small item in the Los Angeles Times. It said that that year, 29% of all marriages had a previous spouse with a child or children from that other marriage. It was a social phenomenon that was occurring, and I said, 'I could take advantage of that.'"
Reed was actually the producers' second choice for the role of Mike Brady, after Gene Hackman
was rejected because he was too unfamiliar at the time. Also starring on The Brady Bunch was a popular singer/unknown actress Florence Henderson
, who played the role of Mike's wife Carol Brady; after her best friend Shirley Jones
turned down that role, in favor of another sitcom, The Partridge Family
, which debuted the year later, also on ABC
. Also cast on the show was the only familiar actress Ann B. Davis
, as the maid, Alice Nelson, along with a half-dozen unknown stars: Maureen McCormick
as the oldest girl in the family, Marcia Brady, Eve Plumb
as the middle girl in the family, Jan Brady, Susan Olsen
as the youngest girl in the family, Cindy Brady, Barry Williams
as the oldest boy in the family, Greg Brady, Christopher Knight as the middle boy in the family, Peter Brady and Mike Lookinland
as the youngest boy in the family, Bobby Brady. Reed was notoriously difficult to work with both on and off the set; despite that, the cast got along well with him. Olsen became friends with Reed's real-life daughter, who in turn made a guest appearance on the show.
However, unlike The Defenders, The Brady Bunch
was a lighthearted comedy. Despite not being a Top 30 show during its five season run, which competed against two highly-rated TV series, The High Chaparral
for 2 seasons (1969–1971) and Sanford and Son
for 3 1/2 seasons (1972–1974), The Brady Bunch was an audience favorite of the 1970s, and appeared on dozens of magazines. It was one of five series to be canceled in 1974 (along with other ABC
shows such as Room 222
, The F.B.I.
, The Partridge Family
and Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
), after 5 seasons, and 117 episodes, due to low ratings, however, the show had continued to enjoy its success in strong syndication, including TV Land
.
From the beginning of The Brady Bunch, Reed was unhappy with his role of Mike Brady. He felt that acting in the often silly sitcom
was beneath his serious Shakespearean training. Despite his discontent with the show, by most accounts, he genuinely liked his co-stars and was a beloved father figure to the younger cast members. In his efforts to bring more realism to the show, Reed often locked horns with the show's creator and executive producer, Sherwood Schwartz. Reed presented Schwartz with frequent, usually hand-written memorandum
s detailing why a certain character's motivation did not make sense, and/or why it was wrong for a certain episode to combine elements of different styles, such as farce
and satire
.
Reed was particularly appalled by The Brady Bunchs fifth season finale, "The Hair-Brained Scheme". He sent Schwartz a memo picking apart the episode, but Schwartz did not receive the memo promptly enough to change the show as Reed wanted. As a result, the disgusted Reed told Schwartz they'd have to do the episode without him, which they did, changing the shooting schedule and giving Mike Brady's lines to other characters. As a result Schwartz fired him from the series — which turned out not to make a difference because The Brady Bunch was canceled after that.
Reed reprised the role of Mike Brady in the variety show The Brady Bunch Hour
, as well as The Brady Brides, several made-for-TV Brady movies, and another series that followed, The Bradys.
During the run of The Brady Bunch, Reed also had a recurring role as Lieutenant Adam Tobias on the television drama Mannix
from 1967 to 1975.
s, including Pray for the Wildcats
and SST: Death Flight
. He won critical acclaim for his portrayal of a doctor who wants to undergo a sex change operation in a two-part episode of Medical Center
in 1975. Reed also appeared in The Boy in the Plastic Bubble
, Rich Man, Poor Man
and Roots
. He also guest starred on Wonder Woman
, playing the Falcon. Other notable guest appearances include: Hawaii Five-O
, Charlie's Angels
, Galactica 1980
, Vega$
, and Murder, She Wrote
for at least three appearances. Reed played the regular role of Dr. Adam Rose on the critically acclaimed (though short-lived) hospital drama Nurse
during the 1981–1982 television season. In 1986, he played the role of Lloyd Kendall on the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow
. He also made multiple appeances in Hunter (U.S. TV series) and Jake and the Fatman
as well as The Love Boat
.
In 1971, Reed was the defendant in Anglia TV
v. Reed, an important case in English contract common law. Reed lost the lawsuit for £2,750.
entitled "The Slumber Caper." Her character's name was Karen and she is credited as "Carolyn Reed." This episode also reunited Reed with his co-star from The Defenders, E. G. Marshall
.
Reed felt his career required him to be secretive about his homosexuality. Nonetheless, most of the Brady Bunch cast members—most notably Barry Williams
and Florence Henderson
—knew of his sexual orientation, and expressed outrage at the media's exploitation of it after his death.
In 1972, at the end of the third year of The Brady Bunch, Reed took his own family, his parents, along with his on-screen Brady Bunch family on vacation to New York City
and London
, England
. In New York, he introduced the young actors to Broadway
, then they headed on a cruise aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2
to England. Reed enjoyed spending time with his on-screen kids, as he rarely had time to spend with his own daughter, Karen. Years after the divorce, his former wife, Marilyn, moved back to Chicago
, where she remarried. Reed allowed Karen to be adopted by her stepfather.
He purchased a home in South Pasadena, California
, with the money he made from The Brady Bunch, and invited his parents to live with him.
His father, John Rietz, Sr., died in 1975; his mother continued to live with her son after her husband's death, while she served as a hostess. The two got along well. Just before Reed's death, when his relationship with his mother diminished, she moved back to Oklahoma.
Reed was very close friends with actress Anne Haney
. It was she who informed his daughter of his homosexuality and his having contracted HIV. She often got his HIV medication for him under a pseudonym
to protect his private life.
, after a six month battle with colon cancer and lymphoma
; he tested HIV
positive the previous year but did not have AIDS
at the time of his death, as has been reported in the media. He was cremated
and his ashes are interred in Memorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, Illinois
next to his grandparents, Harvey and Elizabeth Rietz, and an uncle who died in childhood. Joined by many mourners at a private memorial were the cast of The Brady Bunch
, and his best friends Anne Haney and E.G. Marshall. Both his mother, Helen, and daughter, Karen, declined to attend his memorial.
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
of stage
Stage (theatre)
In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...
, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. In his first big break, he played Kenneth Preston on the popular 1960s TV legal drama, The Defenders, alongside E. G. Marshall
E. G. Marshall
E. G. Marshall was an American actor, best known for his television roles as the lawyer Lawrence Preston on The Defenders in the 1960s, and as neurosurgeon David Craig on The Bold Ones: The New Doctors in the 1970s...
. But he was best remembered for portraying the father, Mike Brady, on the popular sitcom, The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
, from 1969 to 1974. He also had a recurring role as Lt. Adam Tobias on Mannix
Mannix
Mannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller, the title character, Joe Mannix, is a private investigator. He is played by Mike Connors...
.
Early life
An only child, Reed was born John Robert Rietz, Jr., in the northeast ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
suburb of Highland Park, Illinois
Highland Park, Illinois
Highland Park is a suburban municipality in Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. As of 2009, the population is 33,492. Highland Park is one of several municipalities located on the North Shore of the Chicago Metropolitan Area.-Overview:Highland Park was founded...
. His parents were Helen (born Teaverbaugh) and John Robert Rietz, Sr. His parents, high school sweethearts, were married since they were 18. The family lived in Des Plaines, Illinois
Des Plaines, Illinois
Des Plaines is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It has adopted the official nickname of "City of Destiny." As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 58,720. It is a suburb of Chicago, and is next to O'Hare International Airport...
at 621 Parsons Street, and Reed attended the West Division School in Community Consolidated School District 62 until 1939. His father worked in the government, and his mother was a housewife. Reed spent his later childhood years in Muskogee, Oklahoma
Muskogee, Oklahoma
Muskogee is a city in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, United States. It is the county seat of Muskogee County, and home to Bacone College. The population was 38,310 at the 2000 census, making it the eleventh-largest city in Oklahoma....
, as well as Navasota, Texas, and later studied Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
in college. In Oklahoma his father, John Sr., worked as a turkey farmer, raising 200 turkeys annually. Reed seems not to have taken in interest in his father's farm work.
In his youth, he joined the 4-H
4-H
4-H in the United States is a youth organization administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the United States Department of Agriculture , with the mission of "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development." The name represents...
agricultural club, and showed calves. But he was more interested in acting and music. While attending Central High School in Muskogee, he participated in both activities. He was a handsome, popular student in high school, hanging out with classmates at the nearby ice cream parlor. John Jr. also took to the stage, where he performed and sang. During breaks, he also put on plays himself, practicing all night long.
John Jr. knew he was going to make it and was very serious about becoming an actor. He appeared in every school play and landed the majority of lead roles. He was a consummate professional, who demanded the same of his teen peers. In his junior year, he took a radio and speech class. His charming delivery led him to a job as the city's radio disc jockey, reading news and commercials. John Jr. graduated from Muskogee Central in 1950. His drama teacher told him the next step in his theatrical training should be at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. John also wanted to attend the university, with a major in theater; however, his parents had other plans for him. They wanted him to study law or any other profession in college. But he took acting classes anyway, choosing to be an actor.
At Northwestern he was a member of Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi , often just called Beta, is a social collegiate fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA, where it is part of the Miami Triad which includes Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi. It has over 138 active chapters and colonies in the United States and Canada...
, and later transferred to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
, in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
During his years at Northwestern, he appeared in several plays under the direction of Alvine Krause, a celebrated Northwestern drama coach. He also appeared in Summer Stock in Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania
Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania
Eagles Mere is a borough in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, USA. The population was 120 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
. John performed in more than 8 plays in college all with leading roles and mastered Shakespeare as well. He practiced his skills for a camera while revealing a rarely seen, comical side. While he was working hard in college, he was keeping a private secret. He would not reveal that he was gay, especially to his best friend, Tam Spiva
Tam Spiva
Hubert Tamblyn Spiva, known as Tam Spiva , is a television screenwriter in Pacific Palisades, California, who is best known for his work on ABC's The Brady Bunch situation comedy , starring Florence Henderson and Robert Reed, and CBS's family drama Gentle Ben starring Dennis Weaver.Spiva is...
. Despite his sexual orientation, he was dating a woman.
When he became an actor, he adopted the stage name Robert Reed.
Well-known character actor
Reed made his first guest-starring appearance in an episode of Father Knows BestFather Knows Best
Father Knows Best is an American radio and television comedy series which portrayed a middle class family life in the Midwest. It was created by writer Ed James in the 1940s.-Radio:...
, a role which led him to co-star in The Defenders. The part also led to other roles such as: Men into Space, Family Affair
Family Affair
Family Affair is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966 to September 9, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do civil engineer and bachelor Bill Davis as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment. Davis' traditional...
, Ironside
Ironside (TV series)
Ironside is a Universal television series which ran on NBC from September 14, 1967 to January 16, 1975. The show starred Raymond Burr as the wheelchair-using Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside. The character's debut was in a TV-movie on March 28, 1967. The original title of the show in the...
, The Mod Squad
The Mod Squad
The Mod Squad is a television series that ran on ABC from September 24, 1968, until August 23, 1973. This series starred Michael Cole, Peggy Lipton, Clarence Williams III, and Tige Andrews...
, Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theatre
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre is an anthology television series, sponsored by Chrysler Corporation, which ran on NBC from 1963 through 1967...
, Lawman
Lawman (tv series)
Lawman is an American Western television series originally telecast from 1958 to 1962 starring John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop and featuring Peter Brown as Deputy Marshal Johnny McKay on the ABC Television Network. The series was set in Laramie, Wyoming during the mid to late 1870s. Warner Bros....
, 4 episodes of Love, American Style
Love, American Style
Love, American Style is an hour-long TV anthology produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974...
, Chase, Harry O, McCloud
McCloud
McCloud is an American television police drama that aired on NBC from 1970 to 1977. The title role was played by Dennis Weaver as Marshal Sam McCloud, a law officer from Taos, New Mexico on semi-permanent "special assignment" with the New York City Police Department.-History:The first choice for...
, Jigsaw John, The Streets of San Francisco
The Streets of San Francisco
The Streets of San Francisco is a 1970s television police drama filmed on location in San Francisco, California, and produced by Quinn Martin Productions, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros...
, Barnaby Jones
Barnaby Jones
Barnaby Jones is a television detective series starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether as father- and daughter-in-law who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles. A spin-off from Cannon, the show ran on CBS from January 28, 1973 to April 3, 1980, beginning as a midseason replacement...
, Crazy Like a Fox
Crazy Like a Fox
Crazy Like a Fox may refer to:* Crazy Like a Fox , an American television series * Still Crazy Like a Fox, a 1987 American television movie that was a spinoff of the television series...
, The Paper Chase
The Paper Chase (TV series)
The Paper Chase is a television series based on a 1970 novel by John Jay Osborn, Jr., as well as a 1973 film based on the novel. It follows the lives of law student James T. Hart and his classmates at Harvard Law School.-Production:...
, among many others.
Career
He first gained fame in the early 1960s for starring along with E. G. MarshallE. G. Marshall
E. G. Marshall was an American actor, best known for his television roles as the lawyer Lawrence Preston on The Defenders in the 1960s, and as neurosurgeon David Craig on The Bold Ones: The New Doctors in the 1970s...
in the television drama series The Defenders from 1961 to 1965. He also appeared in the 1968 film Star!
Star! (film)
Star! is a 1968 American musical film directed by Robert Wise. The screenplay by William Fairchild is based upon the life and career of British performer Gertrude Lawrence.-Plot:...
The Brady Bunch
Appearing in the Neil SimonNeil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
play, Barefoot in the Park led him to two new contracts, at Paramount Studios and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, both in 1968. The minute that studio decided to turn the television version of Barefoot in the Park
Barefoot in the Park
This article is about the Broadway production. For the film adaptation see Barefoot in the Park .Barefoot in the Park is a romantic comedy by Neil Simon. The original Broadway production, directed by Mike Nichols, opened October 23, 1963, with the four lead roles taken by actors Elizabeth Ashley ,...
into an African-American show, they planned for Reed to star in something else. Originally titled, The Bradley Bunch, the show featured a widowed man, who had 3 kids from a previous marriage, marrying a divorcee, also with 3 kids, from a previous marriage. According to former Gilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island is an American television series created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The situation comedy series featured Bob Denver; Alan Hale, Jr.; Jim Backus; Natalie Schafer; Tina Louise; Russell Johnson; and Dawn Wells. It aired for...
creator Sherwood Schwartz
Sherwood Schwartz
Sherwood Charles Schwartz was an American television producer. He worked on radio shows in the 1940s, and created the television series Gilligan's Island on CBS and The Brady Bunch on ABC...
, he said about the show's plan for 6 kids (meaning 3 boys/3 girls) to create a well-blended family: "I read a small item in the Los Angeles Times. It said that that year, 29% of all marriages had a previous spouse with a child or children from that other marriage. It was a social phenomenon that was occurring, and I said, 'I could take advantage of that.'"
Reed was actually the producers' second choice for the role of Mike Brady, after Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
was rejected because he was too unfamiliar at the time. Also starring on The Brady Bunch was a popular singer/unknown actress Florence Henderson
Florence Henderson
Florence Agnes Henderson is an American actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her role of Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974...
, who played the role of Mike's wife Carol Brady; after her best friend Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones is an American singer and actress of stage, film and television. In her six decades of television, she starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma! , Carousel , and The Music Man...
turned down that role, in favor of another sitcom, The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family is an American television sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who embark on a music career. The series originally ran from September 25, 1970 until August 31, 1974, the last new episode airing on March 23, 1974, on the ABC network, as part of a Friday-night lineup...
, which debuted the year later, also on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. Also cast on the show was the only familiar actress Ann B. Davis
Ann B. Davis
Ann Bradford Davis is an American television actress.Davis achieved prominence for her role in The Bob Cummings Show for which she twice won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series...
, as the maid, Alice Nelson, along with a half-dozen unknown stars: Maureen McCormick
Maureen McCormick
Maureen Denise McCormick is an American actress, celebrity and recording artist. She is most widely known as a child actress who played Marcia Brady in the television series The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974.- Early life and career :...
as the oldest girl in the family, Marcia Brady, Eve Plumb
Eve Plumb
Eve Aline Plumb is an American actress and painter. She is best known for her portrayal of Jan Brady in the iconic television sitcom The Brady Bunch.-Early career:...
as the middle girl in the family, Jan Brady, Susan Olsen
Susan Olsen
Susan Marie Olsen is a former American child television actress and current animal welfare advocate. Olsen is best known for her role as Mike and Carol Brady's youngest daughter, Cindy Brady, on the 1970s television sitcom The Brady Bunch for the full run of the show, from 1969-1974.-Early...
as the youngest girl in the family, Cindy Brady, Barry Williams
Barry Williams
Barry William Blenkhorn , known professionally as Barry Williams, is an American actor best known for his role as Greg Brady in the ABC television series The Brady Bunch.-Early life and career:...
as the oldest boy in the family, Greg Brady, Christopher Knight as the middle boy in the family, Peter Brady and Mike Lookinland
Mike Lookinland
Michael Paul "Mike" Lookinland is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the youngest brother Bobby Brady on The Brady Bunch from 1969 until 1974.-Early life:...
as the youngest boy in the family, Bobby Brady. Reed was notoriously difficult to work with both on and off the set; despite that, the cast got along well with him. Olsen became friends with Reed's real-life daughter, who in turn made a guest appearance on the show.
However, unlike The Defenders, The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
was a lighthearted comedy. Despite not being a Top 30 show during its five season run, which competed against two highly-rated TV series, The High Chaparral
The High Chaparral
The High Chaparral is a Western-themed television series starring Leif Erickson and Cameron Mitchell which aired on NBC from 1967 to 1971. The show was created by David Dortort, who had previously created the hit Bonanza for the network...
for 2 seasons (1969–1971) and Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son is an American sitcom, based on the BBC's Steptoe and Son, that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977....
for 3 1/2 seasons (1972–1974), The Brady Bunch was an audience favorite of the 1970s, and appeared on dozens of magazines. It was one of five series to be canceled in 1974 (along with other ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
shows such as Room 222
Room 222
Room 222 is an American comedy-drama television series produced by 20th Century Fox Television. The series aired on ABC from September 17, 1969, to January 11, 1974, for 112 episodes...
, The F.B.I.
The F.B.I.
The F.B.I. is an American television series that was broadcast on ABC from 1965 to 1974. It was sponsored by the Ford Motor Company, and the characters almost always drove Ford vehicles in the series - indeed, this was a key point of Mad magazine's July 1971 satire of the series .-Synopsis:Produced...
, The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family is an American television sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who embark on a music career. The series originally ran from September 25, 1970 until August 31, 1974, the last new episode airing on March 23, 1974, on the ABC network, as part of a Friday-night lineup...
and Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law is an American legal drama, jointly created by David Victor and former law professor Jerry McNeely, that starred actor Arthur Hill. The series was broadcast on ABC from 1971 to 1974...
), after 5 seasons, and 117 episodes, due to low ratings, however, the show had continued to enjoy its success in strong syndication, including TV Land
TV Land
TV Land is an American cable television network launched on April 29, 1996. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, and networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon...
.
From the beginning of The Brady Bunch, Reed was unhappy with his role of Mike Brady. He felt that acting in the often silly sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
was beneath his serious Shakespearean training. Despite his discontent with the show, by most accounts, he genuinely liked his co-stars and was a beloved father figure to the younger cast members. In his efforts to bring more realism to the show, Reed often locked horns with the show's creator and executive producer, Sherwood Schwartz. Reed presented Schwartz with frequent, usually hand-written memorandum
Memorandum
A memorandum is from the Latin verbal phrase memorandum est, the gerundive form of the verb memoro, "to mention, call to mind, recount, relate", which means "It must be remembered ..."...
s detailing why a certain character's motivation did not make sense, and/or why it was wrong for a certain episode to combine elements of different styles, such as farce
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
and satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
.
Reed was particularly appalled by The Brady Bunchs fifth season finale, "The Hair-Brained Scheme". He sent Schwartz a memo picking apart the episode, but Schwartz did not receive the memo promptly enough to change the show as Reed wanted. As a result, the disgusted Reed told Schwartz they'd have to do the episode without him, which they did, changing the shooting schedule and giving Mike Brady's lines to other characters. As a result Schwartz fired him from the series — which turned out not to make a difference because The Brady Bunch was canceled after that.
Reed reprised the role of Mike Brady in the variety show The Brady Bunch Hour
The Brady Bunch Hour
The Brady Bunch Hour is an American variety television series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft in association with CBS Television Distribution, which aired on ABC between 1976 to 1977....
, as well as The Brady Brides, several made-for-TV Brady movies, and another series that followed, The Bradys.
During the run of The Brady Bunch, Reed also had a recurring role as Lieutenant Adam Tobias on the television drama Mannix
Mannix
Mannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller, the title character, Joe Mannix, is a private investigator. He is played by Mike Connors...
from 1967 to 1975.
After The Brady Bunch
After the end of The Brady Bunch in 1974, Reed acted on the stage and made many guest star appearances on other television shows and television movieTelevision movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
s, including Pray for the Wildcats
Pray for the Wildcats
Pray for the Wildcats is a 1974 U.S. television film that originally aired as an ABC Movie of the Week. It is a thriller-drama about a psychopathic business executive chasing his workers on dirtbikes through the desert after he killed a young man. The film was directed by Robert Michael Lewis and...
and SST: Death Flight
SST: Death Flight
SST Death Flight is a 1977 made-for-TV movie produced by ABC Circle Films. It featured an all-star television cast and was directed by David Lowell Rich, who went on to direct The Concorde ... Airport '79...
. He won critical acclaim for his portrayal of a doctor who wants to undergo a sex change operation in a two-part episode of Medical Center
Medical Center (TV series)
Medical Center is a medical drama series which aired on CBS from 1969 to 1976.-Synopsis:The show starred James Daly as Dr. Paul Lochner and Chad Everett as Dr. Joe Gannon, surgeons working in an otherwise unnamed university hospital in Los Angeles. The show focused both on the lives of the doctors...
in 1975. Reed also appeared in The Boy in the Plastic Bubble
The Boy in the Plastic Bubble
The Boy in the Plastic Bubble is a 1976 made-for-TV movie inspired by the lives of David Vetter and Ted DeVita, who lacked effective immune systems. It stars John Travolta, Glynnis O'Connor, Diana Hyland, Robert Reed, and P.J. Soles...
, Rich Man, Poor Man
Rich Man, Poor Man
Rich Man, Poor Man is a novel written by Irwin Shaw in 1969. It is the last of the novels of Shaw's middle period before he began to concentrate, in his last works such as Evening In Byzantium, Nightwork, Bread Upon The Waters, and Acceptable Losses, on the inevitability of impending death...
and Roots
Roots (TV miniseries)
Roots is a 1977 American television miniseries based on Alex Haley's fictional novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. Roots received 36 Emmy Award nominations, winning nine. It also won a Golden Globe and a Peabody Award. It received unprecedented Nielsen ratings with the finale still...
. He also guest starred on Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman (TV series)
Wonder Woman is an American television series based on the DC Comics comic book superhero of the same name. Starring Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince and Lyle Waggoner as Steve Trevor, the show originally aired from 1975 to 1979....
, playing the Falcon. Other notable guest appearances include: Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. The show featured a fictional state police unit run by Detective Steve McGarrett,...
, Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels is a television series about three women who work for a private investigation agency, and is one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally reserved for men...
, Galactica 1980
Galactica 1980
Galactica 1980 is a science fiction television series, and a spin-off from the 1978–1979 series Battlestar Galactica. It was first broadcast on the ABC network in the United States from January 27 to May 4, 1980.-Development:...
, Vega$
Vega$
Vega$ is an American detective television drama series that aired on ABC between 1978 and 1981. It was produced by Aaron Spelling. The series, was filmed in its entirety in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is believed to be the first television series produced entirely in Las Vegas...
, and Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
for at least three appearances. Reed played the regular role of Dr. Adam Rose on the critically acclaimed (though short-lived) hospital drama Nurse
Nurse (1981 TV series)
Nurse is an American medical drama that aired on CBS from April 2, 1981 to May 1982. Series star Michael Learned won an Emmy in 1982 for her role on the show.-Synopsis:...
during the 1981–1982 television season. In 1986, he played the role of Lloyd Kendall on the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow
Search for Tomorrow
Search for Tomorrow is an American soap opera which premiered on September 3, 1951 on CBS. The show was moved from CBS to NBC on March 29, 1982. It continued on NBC until the final episode aired on December 26, 1986, a run of thirty-five years. At the time of its final broadcast it was the...
. He also made multiple appeances in Hunter (U.S. TV series) and Jake and the Fatman
Jake and the Fatman
Jake and the Fatman is a television crime drama starring William Conrad as prosecutor J. L. "Fatman" McCabe and Joe Penny as investigator Jake Styles. The series ran on CBS for five seasons from 1987 to 1992. Diagnosis: Murder was a spin-off of this series...
as well as The Love Boat
The Love Boat
The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...
.
In 1971, Reed was the defendant in Anglia TV
Anglia Television
Anglia Television is the ITV franchise holder for the East Anglia franchise region. Although Anglia Television takes its name from East Anglia, its transmission coverage extends beyond the generally accepted boundaries of that region. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional...
v. Reed, an important case in English contract common law. Reed lost the lawsuit for £2,750.
Personal life
Reed was married to Marilyn Rosenberg (1954–1959). The couple had one daughter, Karen Rietz, who was born in 1956. Karen had a small role in an episode of The Brady BunchThe Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
entitled "The Slumber Caper." Her character's name was Karen and she is credited as "Carolyn Reed." This episode also reunited Reed with his co-star from The Defenders, E. G. Marshall
E. G. Marshall
E. G. Marshall was an American actor, best known for his television roles as the lawyer Lawrence Preston on The Defenders in the 1960s, and as neurosurgeon David Craig on The Bold Ones: The New Doctors in the 1970s...
.
Reed felt his career required him to be secretive about his homosexuality. Nonetheless, most of the Brady Bunch cast members—most notably Barry Williams
Barry Williams
Barry William Blenkhorn , known professionally as Barry Williams, is an American actor best known for his role as Greg Brady in the ABC television series The Brady Bunch.-Early life and career:...
and Florence Henderson
Florence Henderson
Florence Agnes Henderson is an American actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her role of Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974...
—knew of his sexual orientation, and expressed outrage at the media's exploitation of it after his death.
In 1972, at the end of the third year of The Brady Bunch, Reed took his own family, his parents, along with his on-screen Brady Bunch family on vacation to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. In New York, he introduced the young actors to Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, then they headed on a cruise aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2
RMS Queen Elizabeth 2
Queen Elizabeth 2, often referred to simply as the QE2, is an ocean liner that was operated by Cunard from 1969 to 2008. Following her retirement from cruising, she is now owned by Istithmar...
to England. Reed enjoyed spending time with his on-screen kids, as he rarely had time to spend with his own daughter, Karen. Years after the divorce, his former wife, Marilyn, moved back to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, where she remarried. Reed allowed Karen to be adopted by her stepfather.
He purchased a home in South Pasadena, California
South Pasadena, California
South Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 25,619, up from 24,292 at the 2000 census. It is located in in the West San Gabriel Valley...
, with the money he made from The Brady Bunch, and invited his parents to live with him.
His father, John Rietz, Sr., died in 1975; his mother continued to live with her son after her husband's death, while she served as a hostess. The two got along well. Just before Reed's death, when his relationship with his mother diminished, she moved back to Oklahoma.
Reed was very close friends with actress Anne Haney
Anne Haney
Anne Haney was an American actress, perhaps best known for her roles as social worker Mrs. Sellner in Mrs. Doubtfire, Greta the secretary in Liar Liar, and for her unique, low-octave voice.-Career:...
. It was she who informed his daughter of his homosexuality and his having contracted HIV. She often got his HIV medication for him under a pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
to protect his private life.
Death
Reed died on May 12, 1992, at his home in South Pasadena, CaliforniaSouth Pasadena, California
South Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 25,619, up from 24,292 at the 2000 census. It is located in in the West San Gabriel Valley...
, after a six month battle with colon cancer and lymphoma
Lymphoma
Lymphoma is a cancer in the lymphatic cells of the immune system. Typically, lymphomas present as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. Treatment might involve chemotherapy and in some cases radiotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation, and can be curable depending on the histology, type, and stage...
; he tested HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
positive the previous year but did not have AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
at the time of his death, as has been reported in the media. He was cremated
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
and his ashes are interred in Memorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, Illinois
Skokie, Illinois
Skokie is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Its name comes from a Native American word for "fire". A Chicago suburb, for many years Skokie promoted itself as "The World's Largest Village". Its population, per the 2000 census, was 63,348...
next to his grandparents, Harvey and Elizabeth Rietz, and an uncle who died in childhood. Joined by many mourners at a private memorial were the cast of The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
, and his best friends Anne Haney and E.G. Marshall. Both his mother, Helen, and daughter, Karen, declined to attend his memorial.