Maureen McCormick Biography / Pictures

Maureen McCormick (born August 5, 1956) is an American actress, reality show participant, and recording artist. She is best known as a child actor who played Marcia Brady in the television series The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974.

Biography

Maureen was born in Encino, California, the daughter of Irene (née Beckman) and William McCormick, a teacher. Maureen McCormick first gained notice at the age of six after winning the Baby Miss San Fernando Valley beauty pageant.[2] She made her television debut in 1964 in Barbie doll and Chatty Cathy commercials. She also lent her voice to the redesigned Chatty Cathy doll that was introduced in 1970. She appeared in two episodes of Bewitched and played guest roles on I Dream of Jeannie, Honey West, The Farmer's Daughter, and My Three Sons.

The Brady Bunch was an American sitcom about a blended family that aired from 1969 to 1974 on ABC and whose continued popularity has led to spinoffs, movies, and a largely uninterrupted airing in syndication. Maureen played the eldest daughter Marcia, a popular girl with a perky personality. Running plot lines revolved around middle sister Jan’s jealousy of Marcia’s popularity and Marcia’s unhappiness when something happens to her looks such as when she is fitted with braces or her nose is swollen after being hit by a football thrown by brother Peter. A popular episode revolved around ex Monkees singer Davy Jones; Disaster loomed when Marcia promised that Jones would play at her Junior High School prom before clinching the deal but it worked out in the end when Jones overhearing his manager rejecting her outside his rehearsal studio later agreed to perform at the prom. In one of the shows rare episodes about social concerns, “The Liberation of Marcia” dealt with feminism.

Maureen attempted to further her career after the cancellation of The Brady Bunch. Although she made guest appearances on numerous television series such as Happy Days, Donny & Marie, Love Boat, and Fantasy Island, and played supporting roles in a few B-movies (including 1979's Vacation in Hell, Skatetown, U.S.A. and 1987's Return to Horror High), she was never able to completely distance herself from her Brady role due to the sitcom's continuous syndicated reruns. Maureen claims she failed to a get a part as a prostitute or heroin dealer for the movie Midnight Express because of the "Marcia connection" Much later, she was the first of two actresses (Andrea Evans was the second) to play Rebecca Crane on the now-cancelled soap opera, Passions. Neither she, nor Evans who succeeded her in the role, were ever on contract. She also played a small role in the hit movie The Changeling starring Angelina Jolie.

In 2007, Maureen returned to television as a cast member on the fifth season of VH1's Celebrity Fit Club. She said that she hoped to lose the 30 pounds she had gained since her mother died of cancer, as well as having to move her intellectually disabled brother into an assisted living facility. Maureen actually lost 34 pounds and was declared the individual winner of Celebrity Fit Club in June 2007. In 2008, she became a spokesperson for Children International. Later that year, she became a cast member on the CMT reality show Gone Country. That appearance lead to a spin-off reality series, Outsider's Inn, in which she opens a bed and breakfast inn in Newport, Tennessee.

On March 15, 2009 Maureen McCormick appeared on the dais of Comedy Central's roast of Larry the Cable Guy.

Maureen had an on-again-off-again romantic relationship with fellow Brady Bunch cast member Barry Williams that began while the series aired. Their first romantic kiss was during the filming of the Hawaiian episodes. On March 16, 1985, she married Michael Cummings, who had never seen or heard of The Brady Bunch. The couple fell in love immediately upon meeting in a church. They have one child, Natalie Michelle Cummings (born May 19, 1989). The family lives in Westlake Village in Southern California.

During McCormick's run on The Brady Bunch, her grandmother died from syphilis while in a mental institution. She had contracted the disease from her husband, who had become infected while in Europe during World War I. Her mother contracted it in utero, leading Maureen to develop a life-long, unfounded fear that she too would contract the disease and suffer the same fate as her grandmother. As a result, her favorite scenes in The Brady Bunch were the ones that called for her to cry because it allowed her to release the negative emotions surrounding those fears.[5][6]

In her post Brady Bunch years, Maureen suffered through a series of personal problems, including addictions to cocaine and Quaaludes. These addictions interfered heavily with her career, particularly when she flubbed an audition with Steven Spielberg for a part in Raiders of the Lost Ark after being high from cocaine and sleepless for three days. She eventually developed a reputation for unreliability in Hollywood, and a powerful producer threatened to stop her from ever working again. The addictions became so severe that she would occasionally resort to trading sex for cocaine. She had two unwanted pregnancies, both of which ended in abortion. She also suffered from bouts with depression and bulimia.

Maureen went through a series of interventions, stints in rehab, and experimental therapies. Maureen says treatment with the controversial psychiatrist Eugene Landy, who has also treated Brian Wilson, set her back. Although Maureen McCormick began to get sober after marrying her husband, she continued to suffer from depression and paranoia. At one point, Maureen threatened to jump from a balcony in front of her husband. She fought her depression through therapy, medication, and the moral support of former Brady Bunch cast members. Both she and her husband were initially resistant to treatments involving the use of medication due to her addictive personality. Maureen has been treated with antidepressant medication, including Prozac, since the 1990s.

After her mother's death in 2004, Maureen began experiencing weight problems. In 2007, at her daughter's suggestion, she became a contestant on the reality television show Celebrity Fit Club and became the season 5 individual winner, setting a record for percentage weight loss. She found coming forward about her weight problems in front of television audiences to be cathartic. At around this time, she began opening up publicly about her other personal problems. In April 2007, Maureen revealed a family dispute on Dr. Phil, accusing her brother of elder abuse and of alienating their father from his other children to gain control of his financial assets.

On October 14, 2008, she released an autobiography titled Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice. The book debuted at the number four position on The New York Times Best Seller List, remaining on the list for three consecutive weeks. Maureen has been approached about making her autobiography into a movie, which she has said is likely to happen. The Today Show chose to air an interview with Maureen about the book rather than switch to a story about bank rescues.

Maureen remains close friends with all of the surviving former Brady Bunch cast members, with the exception of Eve Plumb. Her relationship with Plumb was ruptured when, among other things, Maureen facetiously claimed during a television interview that she and Plumb had kissed as teenagers. During the run up to the publication of her book, 'leaked' rumors of the book containing information on a possible lesbian relationship with Plumb were rampant on the Internet. When Maureen was asked about it, she repeatedly played coy to drive sales of her book. These rumors were finally put to rest with the publication of the book and proven false.

While promoting her 2008 autobiography, Maureen McCormick was a guest on many news and talk shows including Today Show, Access Hollywood, The Howard Stern Show, Good Day L.A., and Paula's Party.