Florence Henderson Biography

Florence Henderson spent six decades in show business, but is forever remembered as Carol Brady, the mom on the 1970s TV sitcom The Brady Bunch.

Raised in the midwest, she headed to New York to find stardom, and it didn’t take long for stage roles to come her way, from Fanny on Broadway to a national tour of Oklahoma! in 1952.

During the 1950s and 1960s she also appeared on television, usually as a singer or comedy guest — she was a semi-regular on The Jack Paar Show (and was the first woman guest host of  The Tonight Show).

Then came The Brady Bunch, a lighthearted family series that ran from 1969 to 1974. The hit show also spawned an animated series (1972-74), and years of reruns in syndication secured its spot as a pop culture touchstone. Over the years Florence Henderson played Carol Brady in the TV movie A Very Brady Christmas (1988), in a reboot of the series, The Bradys (1990), and the feature film The Brady Bunch Movie (1995).

After the initial run of The Brady Bunch, Florence Henderson continued to be a familiar face on American TV, guest starring in shows such as The Love Boat, Fantasy Island and Murder, She Wrote.

Florence Henderson also appeared in commercials for Wesson Oil over a period of 22 years, and from 1985 to 1993 she hosted a cooking show, Country Kitchen, on the cable station TNN. Later in her career, she appeared on Dancing with the Stars (2010).