Here’s a story about a man named Barry Williams … who hooked up with his TV siblings.
Williams, 69, played Greg Brady, the eldest Brady son, on the ABC sitcom The Brady Brunch, which ran from 1969 to 1974. He spoke with Us Weekly on the 55th anniversary of the show’s premiere on September 26. And, yes, he says the cast all got together IRL.
“We all hooked up with each other at some point,” Williams told Us Weekly exclusively. “Not necessarily while we were filming.”
In some cases, it went further than that. The Brady kids dated each other, including the two youngest.
Courtesy of Barry Williams/X (Formerly known as Twitter) Barry Williams and his wife, Tina Mahina, share a strong bond on and off the stage. The Brady Bunch actor and Mahina began dating in 2013 and tied the knot four years later. The marriage marked Williams’ third as he was previously married to Diane Martin from […]
“I dated Maureen [McCormick], and Chris [Knight] dated Eve [Plum] and Michael [Lookinland] and Susan [Olsen] had a little mock wedding at one point. So, yes, we all hooked up,” he added.
Top row: Maureen McCormick, Florence Henderson, Barry Williams, Christopher Knight; Bottom row: Eve Plumb, Mike Lookinland, Robert Reed and Susan Olsena on ‘The Brady Bunch’ Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Those pairings coincided with each character’s age on the show. McCormick played Marsha, the eldest daughter, while Knight and Plum played Peter and Jan, the two middle children. Lookinland and Olsen played Bobby and Cindy, the two youngest.
But Williams admitted the on-set crushes weren’t limited to the kids. He had a crush on his TV mom, Florence Henderson, who played Carol Brady.
Barry Williams and Florence Henderson Gabe Ginsberg/FilmMagic
“I had a teenage crush on her, for sure, And she’s got a very lively personality and great sense of humor, but I knew that I wanted to have music in my career [in] acting, and so I talked to her a lot about that,” he explained. “ I had found this singer coming into the Copacabana near Beverly Hills. I can’t think of exactly where it was, but I invited her to go together as a date, and she said, ‘OK,’ so I was thrilled. And now for me, it was a date.”
TV and film sets might be the greatest matchmakers in Hollywood, with a number of celebrity couples secretly falling in love between takes. Ben McKenzie and Mischa Barton played Ryan Atwood and Marissa Cooper, respectively, on Fox’s The O.C. between 2003 and 2006. The characters had an instant attraction from the pilot, and so did […]
Date or not, it was a productive and memorable evening for Williams, who discussed what it was like to be seen in public with the woman who portrayed his mother.
“We were recognized, and so people were whispering about us, which is strange, but we talked about the singer, his orchestrations, the band that he had, and what touring was like,” Williams recalled. “And she gave me an idea what that life would look like now at the end of the date. And this is chronicled in my book as well.”
And at the end of their date?
“I did go in for a little kiss and and, and she was nice enough to return it,” he said. “So it was a highlight. Nice little peck, yes.”
With reporting by Sarah Jones