The Florence Henderson Only We Knew

THE BRADY BUNCH ACTRESS TRIED TO BE THE BEST MOTHER ON TELEVISION — AND IN REAL LIFE TO HER FOUR CHILDREN

- Louise A. Barile, with reporting by Rick Egusquiza

Florence Henderson’s youngest daughter remembers becoming annoyed when a stranger assumed that Susan Olsen, who played Cindy Brady, was her mother’s daughter. “I was upset, having to share my mom,” admits Elizabeth Bernstein. “But in time, I understood the situation, and that being Carol Brady away from the set was also part of the job.”

From 1969 to 1974, Florence played The Brady Bunch matriarch with such warmth, humor and empathy that she quickly became the parent every child wished they had. “I understood kids — I think I felt close to them,” said Florence, who had four children with her first husband, Ira Bernstein. “I was the only one on the set who was married — who had children.”

In many ways, the role of upbeat Carol Brady was an offshoot of Florence’s own personality. “Wherever my mom went, she always brought nothing but joy,” Elizabeth recalls. “There was always singing, dancing and laughing in our house.”

Florence also created Carol to be a stable, dependable mother, the kind she wished she had growing up as the youngest of 10 kids in Indiana. “I was about 12 when my mother left us. My dad was a periodic alcoholic,” Florence told Closer in 2015. “It was such a difficult time in my life, but I learned not to judge or blame people for their situations.”