Susan Olsen
Encyclopedia
Susan Marie Olsen is a former American
child
television actress and current animal welfare
advocate. Olsen is best known for her role as Mike and Carol Brady's (played by Robert Reed
and Florence Henderson
) youngest daughter, Cindy Brady, on the 1970s television sitcom The Brady Bunch
for the full run of the show, from 1969-1974.
, California
, the youngest of four children, with two older brothers Larry and Christopher (fourteen years older) and a sister Diane. Her brother Christopher
was also a child actor, perhaps best known for his role in The Man Who Knew Too Much
.
, Gunsmoke
, and Julia
, at age seven she was cast as Cindy on The Brady Bunch
.
As an adult, Olsen has expressed that portraying Cindy made peer relations difficult for her as a child. Olsen has said that the episode she dislikes the most is the (second season) "tattletale" episode, in which Cindy snitches on her brothers and sisters. Because of the episode, she was shunned by her real-life peers, who did not understand the difference between actors and their characters.
Olsen has appeared in all Brady Bunch reunion movies, with the exception of A Very Brady Christmas
in 1988, because she was on her honeymoon with her first husband. In that movie, Cindy Brady was played by Jennifer Runyon
.
In 2007, Olsen and her fellow cast members were honored with the TV Pop Culture Awards on the TV Land Awards
. It was noted that this is the first award that the Brady Bunch has ever won.
During The Brady Bunch production, it was noted that even though her 'Brady series father,' star Robert Reed
, was suffering a great deal of unhappiness (both on and off the set), Olsen continued to develop a wonderful on- and off-screen relationship with him, as well as with Florence Henderson
, who played her television mother.
During a hiatus, she, along with Reed and other castmates, would often go out on vacations. One such vacation was a trip to Kings Island
Amusement Park in Mason, Ohio
, during the fifth and final season (1973–1974). At the end of that season, she was very aware of Reed's misbehaviour, off the set, mainly in relation to not speaking scripted dialogue (poor character dialogue being a point of an ongoing, long-term argument between Reed and series creator and executive producer Sherwood Schwartz
). Because of an endplay argument with Schwartz, Reed was written out of the script for (and did not appear in) the final episode of the series, "The Hair-Brained Scheme".
Olsen remained close to Reed until his death on May 12, 1992. She, along with her Brady Bunch castmates, attended Reed's funeral; however, Robert Reed's real-life daughter, Karen Rietz (who guest-starred on one episode of The Brady Bunch) and his real-life mother, Helen Rietz, reportedly did not attend the funeral.
business and in 1998 briefly marketed a brand of glow in the dark shoes for Converse. She also worked as a talk show host
at Los Angeles
radio station
KLSX
from 1995 - 1996 with Ken Ober
and co hosted and co-wrote another radio show with Comic, Allan Havey at Comedy World in 2000.
She appeared on Cartoon Network
's talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast
in its twenty-sixth episode "Switcheroo" with Cassandra Peterson
as "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark". Olsen has also been an advocate for migraine
sufferers since 1998. She described her headache
s on Larry King Live
.
An urban legend
claimed that Olsen had become an adult film star. On a late 1990s television interview, Olsen herself stated on-camera that her "porn" connection was that she created space ship sound effects for a porn film called Love Probe From a Warm Planet. She did this as a favor for a friend who worked in the technical side of the business. She also went on to state that perhaps the legend got started because the star of a porn film "Crocodile Blondee" which was widely distributed among troops during the Persian Gulf Crisis, was rumoured to be her. She added that since the porn star was very pretty, she did not try too hard to dispel the rumours.
In the Fall of 2008, Olsen appeared on Fox Reality's Gimme My Reality Show, in which celebrities compete to win their own reality show. Susan used this show to make a statement about animal rescue, a cause with which she is involved.
On June 6, 2009, Olsen thanked retired game show host and current animal rights activist Bob Barker
when The Bradys accepted an honor at the GSN Game Show Awards. Olsen is an animal welfare advocate and volunteers with Precious Paws, a rescue group. Olsen takes care of unweaned homeless kittens until they are old enough to adopt.
Olsen's coffee table book Love to Love You Bradys
, with co-author Ted Nichelson, celebrates the The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. In addition to many color photos and artwork, the book features over 100 interviews including the Brady Bunch, Sid Krofft
, Marty Krofft, Sherwood Schwartz
, Bruce Vilanch
, Rip Taylor
, and Paul Shaffer
.
In September 2010, Olsen made a guest appearance on The Young and the Restless
playing Mrs. Liza Morton, a pre-school owner.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
child
Child
Biologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
television actress and current animal welfare
Animal welfare
Animal welfare is the physical and psychological well-being of animals.The term animal welfare can also mean human concern for animal welfare or a position in a debate on animal ethics and animal rights...
advocate. Olsen is best known for her role as Mike and Carol Brady's (played by Robert Reed
Robert Reed
Robert Reed was a prolific American character actor of stage, film and television. In his first big break, he played Kenneth Preston on the popular 1960s TV legal drama, The Defenders, alongside E. G. Marshall. But he was best remembered for portraying the father, Mike Brady, on the popular...
and Florence Henderson
Florence Henderson
Florence Agnes Henderson is an American actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her role of Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974...
) youngest daughter, Cindy Brady, on the 1970s television sitcom The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
for the full run of the show, from 1969-1974.
Early life
Born in Santa MonicaSanta Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, the youngest of four children, with two older brothers Larry and Christopher (fourteen years older) and a sister Diane. Her brother Christopher
Christopher Olsen (actor)
Christopher Olsen is a former American child actor. He was born in Los Angeles, California, at Saint Vincent's Hospital. His youngest sister is Susan Olsen of The Brady Bunch fame. He is perhaps best known as the kidnapped boy in The Man Who Knew Too Much...
was also a child actor, perhaps best known for his role in The Man Who Knew Too Much
The Man Who Knew Too Much
The Man Who Knew Too Much may refer to:* The Man Who Knew Too Much , a film by Alfred Hitchcock starring Leslie Banks and Edna Best* The Man Who Knew Too Much , a film by Alfred Hitchcock starring James Stewart and Doris Day...
.
The Brady Bunch
After landing a number of supporting roles, most notably, IronsideIronside (TV series)
Ironside is a Universal television series which ran on NBC from September 14, 1967 to January 16, 1975. The show starred Raymond Burr as the wheelchair-using Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside. The character's debut was in a TV-movie on March 28, 1967. The original title of the show in the...
, Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
, and Julia
Julia (TV series)
Julia is an American sitcom notable for being one of the first weekly series to depict an African American woman in a non-stereotypical role. Previous television series featured African American lead characters, but the characters were usually servants. The show starred actress and singer Diahann...
, at age seven she was cast as Cindy on The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
.
As an adult, Olsen has expressed that portraying Cindy made peer relations difficult for her as a child. Olsen has said that the episode she dislikes the most is the (second season) "tattletale" episode, in which Cindy snitches on her brothers and sisters. Because of the episode, she was shunned by her real-life peers, who did not understand the difference between actors and their characters.
Olsen has appeared in all Brady Bunch reunion movies, with the exception of A Very Brady Christmas
A Very Brady Christmas
A Very Brady Christmas is a 1988 movie based on the television series The Brady Bunch, featuring all of the original actors who appeared in the series except Susan Olsen who was on her honeymoon when the film was being made; Jennifer Runyon took her place as Cindy...
in 1988, because she was on her honeymoon with her first husband. In that movie, Cindy Brady was played by Jennifer Runyon
Jennifer Runyon
-Biography:She is known for guest appearances or secondary characters in various sitcoms and dramas, as well as a couple of made-for-TV movies. Among her roles are Sally Frame on Another World , Gwendolyn Pierce on Charles in Charge , and replacing Susan Olsen as Cindy Brady in A Very Brady Christmas...
.
In 2007, Olsen and her fellow cast members were honored with the TV Pop Culture Awards on the TV Land Awards
TV Land Awards
The TV Land Awards is an American television awards ceremony that generally commemorates shows now off the air, rather than in current production as with awards such as the Emmys. It is presented in a manner that spoofs other entertainment award ceremonies...
. It was noted that this is the first award that the Brady Bunch has ever won.
During The Brady Bunch production, it was noted that even though her 'Brady series father,' star Robert Reed
Robert Reed
Robert Reed was a prolific American character actor of stage, film and television. In his first big break, he played Kenneth Preston on the popular 1960s TV legal drama, The Defenders, alongside E. G. Marshall. But he was best remembered for portraying the father, Mike Brady, on the popular...
, was suffering a great deal of unhappiness (both on and off the set), Olsen continued to develop a wonderful on- and off-screen relationship with him, as well as with Florence Henderson
Florence Henderson
Florence Agnes Henderson is an American actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her role of Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974...
, who played her television mother.
During a hiatus, she, along with Reed and other castmates, would often go out on vacations. One such vacation was a trip to Kings Island
Kings Island
Kings Island is a amusement park located northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio. Opened in 1972 by Taft Broadcasting Company and now owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, Kings Island is the most visited seasonal amusement park in the U.S...
Amusement Park in Mason, Ohio
Mason, Ohio
Mason is an affluent city in southwestern Warren County, Ohio, United States, 22 miles away from Cincinnati . As of the 2010 census, Mason's population was 30,712. Mason has experienced fast growth, with its historic Main Street remaining at the center of the community...
, during the fifth and final season (1973–1974). At the end of that season, she was very aware of Reed's misbehaviour, off the set, mainly in relation to not speaking scripted dialogue (poor character dialogue being a point of an ongoing, long-term argument between Reed and series creator and executive producer Sherwood Schwartz
Sherwood Schwartz
Sherwood Charles Schwartz was an American television producer. He worked on radio shows in the 1940s, and created the television series Gilligan's Island on CBS and The Brady Bunch on ABC...
). Because of an endplay argument with Schwartz, Reed was written out of the script for (and did not appear in) the final episode of the series, "The Hair-Brained Scheme".
Olsen remained close to Reed until his death on May 12, 1992. She, along with her Brady Bunch castmates, attended Reed's funeral; however, Robert Reed's real-life daughter, Karen Rietz (who guest-starred on one episode of The Brady Bunch) and his real-life mother, Helen Rietz, reportedly did not attend the funeral.
After The Brady Bunch
As an adult, Olsen moved into the graphic designGraphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
business and in 1998 briefly marketed a brand of glow in the dark shoes for Converse. She also worked as a talk show host
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
at Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
KLSX
KLSX
KAMP-FM 97.1 FM, known on-air as 97.1 AMP Radio, is a Rhythmic Contemporary radio station in Los Angeles, California. The station is owned by CBS Radio.The station had long been known as KLSX before the call sign changed on June 30, 2009....
from 1995 - 1996 with Ken Ober
Ken Ober
Ken Ober was an American game show host, comedian, and actor.- Early life and career :Born Kenneth Oberding in Brookline, Massachusetts, he was raised in Hartford, Connecticut. Ober hosted four game shows over the course of his career. He received his break after appearing as a contestant on Star...
and co hosted and co-wrote another radio show with Comic, Allan Havey at Comedy World in 2000.
She appeared on Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (United States)
Cartoon Network is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting which primarily airs animated programming. The channel was launched on October 1, 1992 after Turner purchased the animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1991...
's talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
Space Ghost Coast to Coast is an American animated parody talk show hosted by the 60s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Space Ghost. The show premiered on April 15, 1994 on Cartoon Network...
in its twenty-sixth episode "Switcheroo" with Cassandra Peterson
Cassandra Peterson
Cassandra Peterson is an American actress best known for her on-screen horror hostess character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. She gained fame on Los Angeles television station KHJ wearing a black, gothic, cleavage-enhancing gown as host of Movie Macabre, a weekly horror movie presentation...
as "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark". Olsen has also been an advocate for migraine
Migraine
Migraine is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by moderate to severe headaches, and nausea...
sufferers since 1998. She described her headache
Headache
A headache or cephalalgia is pain anywhere in the region of the head or neck. It can be a symptom of a number of different conditions of the head and neck. The brain tissue itself is not sensitive to pain because it lacks pain receptors. Rather, the pain is caused by disturbance of the...
s on Larry King Live
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
.
An urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
claimed that Olsen had become an adult film star. On a late 1990s television interview, Olsen herself stated on-camera that her "porn" connection was that she created space ship sound effects for a porn film called Love Probe From a Warm Planet. She did this as a favor for a friend who worked in the technical side of the business. She also went on to state that perhaps the legend got started because the star of a porn film "Crocodile Blondee" which was widely distributed among troops during the Persian Gulf Crisis, was rumoured to be her. She added that since the porn star was very pretty, she did not try too hard to dispel the rumours.
In the Fall of 2008, Olsen appeared on Fox Reality's Gimme My Reality Show, in which celebrities compete to win their own reality show. Susan used this show to make a statement about animal rescue, a cause with which she is involved.
On June 6, 2009, Olsen thanked retired game show host and current animal rights activist Bob Barker
Bob Barker
Robert William "Bob" Barker is a former American television game show host. He is best known for hosting CBS's The Price Is Right from 1972 to 2007, making it the longest-running daytime game show in North American television history, and for hosting Truth or Consequences from 1956 to 1975.Born...
when The Bradys accepted an honor at the GSN Game Show Awards. Olsen is an animal welfare advocate and volunteers with Precious Paws, a rescue group. Olsen takes care of unweaned homeless kittens until they are old enough to adopt.
Olsen's coffee table book Love to Love You Bradys
Love to Love You Bradys
Love to Love You Bradys: the bizarre story of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour is a 2009 coffee table book written by The Brady Bunch actress Susan Olsen, with Ted Nichelson and Lisa Sutton....
, with co-author Ted Nichelson, celebrates the The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. In addition to many color photos and artwork, the book features over 100 interviews including the Brady Bunch, Sid Krofft
Sid Krofft
Sid Krofft is a Canadian/American puppeteer and television producer. He created and produced a wide array of shows and TV series and specials with his brother, Marty, beginning in the 1960s.- Biography :...
, Marty Krofft, Sherwood Schwartz
Sherwood Schwartz
Sherwood Charles Schwartz was an American television producer. He worked on radio shows in the 1940s, and created the television series Gilligan's Island on CBS and The Brady Bunch on ABC...
, Bruce Vilanch
Bruce Vilanch
Bruce Vilanch is an American comedy writer, songwriter and actor. He is a six-time Emmy Award-winner Vilanch is best known to the public for his four-year stint on Hollywood Squares, as a celebrity participant; in the entertainment industry he is best known as head writer for the show...
, Rip Taylor
Rip Taylor
Charles Elmer "Rip" Taylor, Jr. is an American actor and comedian.-Early life:Taylor was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Elizabeth, a waitress, and Charles Elmer Taylor, Sr., a musician. As a young man, Taylor served in the Korean War while in the U.S...
, and Paul Shaffer
Paul Shaffer
Paul Allen Wood Shaffer, CM is a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer who has been David Letterman's sidekick since 1982.-Early years:...
.
In September 2010, Olsen made a guest appearance on The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...
playing Mrs. Liza Morton, a pre-school owner.