Florence Henderson, ‘The Brady Bunch’ mom, dies at 82

LOS ANGELES — Florence Henderson, whose portrayal of Carol Brady on the iconic television show “The Brady Bunch” created an idealized mother figure for an entire generation, died Thursday, Nov. 24. She was 82.

Henderson died from heart failure about 7:30 p.m. while surrounded by her four children, said her longtime manager and publicist Kayla Pressman.

As Pressman’s telephone continued ringing, the woman who has worked with Henderson for 43 years — starting as her personal assistant — said the actress was “the most vibrant, beautiful inside and out person I’ve ever known in my entire life. We just never left each other. She was so wonderful to be with and she was most loyal.”

Henderson was a well-known nightclub entertainer performing in Texas when she was asked to audition for the role that would change her life.

Henderson’s work as Carol on ‘The Brady Bunch,’ which ran from 1969 to 1974, and her slyly sexy chemistry with co-star Robert Reed made the show thrive. The pair helped broaden acceptance of blended families. Carol, a single mother of three daughters, was married to Mike Brady, a single father of three sons.

Born in 1934 on Valentine’s Day, in Dale, Ind., Henderson was the youngest of 10 children of a homemaker and a tobacco sharecropper.

She later joked in a 2010 interview with The Times that she came out of the womb singing. By age 2, she knew 50 songs by heart.

“I don’t remember ever not singing,” she says. “My mother loved music and she taught me songs, country music, spirituals. I would sing for people and pass the hat when I was 4.”

She began her show business career at 17, when she attended New York’s American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Henderson left the school after her first year because she got a job in the chorus of the Broadway musical “Wish You Were Here,” directed by Josh Logan. She segued from the chorus to the lead role in the final national touring company of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!”

She appeared in other Broadway musicals, including Noel Coward’s final musical effort, 1963’s “The Girl Who Came to Supper.” From 1959-60, she was the “Today Girl” on the “Today” show,” presenting weather and light news stories. Later she was the first female guest host of “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” in the 1970s.

After her years on “The Brady Bunch,” Henderson became a commercial spokeswoman and co-produced “Country Kitchen,” a Nashville Network series.