Born On This Day- October 19th... TV Dad Robert Reed

Robert Reed was the inspiration behind Florence Henderson's Brady Bunch dance on last night’s Dancing With The Stars. Florence, with partner Corky Ballas danced to the TV theme song that made Henderson a camp culture icon. Henderson’s scores were her best so far, & she dedicated her dance to Robert Reed, who played Mike Brady, her on screen husband on The Brady Bunch.

John Robert Rietz, Jr. was born in Highland Park, Illinois, He spent much of his childhood in Oklahoma & later studied theatre in college.


He changed his name to Robert Reed & gained fame in the early 1960s in the TV series- The Defenders before starring on the sitcom The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974. Reed became unhappy with his part, feeling that acting in the silly sitcom was beneath his serious Shakespearean training. Despite his discontent with the show, he was genuinely liked & was beloved as a father figure by his fellow cast members on The Brady Bunch. As a result of his unhappiness with the Brady Bunch scripts, Reed constantly argued with the show's creator- Sherwood Schwartz. One argument resulted in his being completely written out of the show's final episode. Reed was happy when the show ended, but he did return for the Brady Bunch Variety Hour & the made-for-TV movies & series that reunited the Brady cast in the years to come.

 During the run of The Brady Bunch, Reed also had a recurring role as Lt. Adam Tobias on the television drama Mannix from 1967 to 1975.

After the end of The Brady Bunch in 1974, Reed acted on the stage & made many guest star appearances on other TV shows & made for TV movies. He won critical acclaim for his portrayal of a doctor who wants to undergo a sex-change operation in a 2-part episode of Medical Center in 1975. Reed appeared in The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976) with a young John Travolta & Roots (1977). He guest starred on Wonder Woman (1976), playing the Falcon. Other notable guest appearances include: Hawaii 5-0 (1979), Charlie's Angels (1980), Vega$ (1981), & 3 appearences Murder, She Wrote, the very show that got me my SAG card.

Like most actors of his era, Reed was secretive about being gay. Reed was briefly married in the late 1950s & had a daughter- Caroline Reed, who had a small role in an episode of The Brady Bunch.

I have read that he spent most of his life alone, cruising gay bars around Pasadena & Laguna Beach, but having no real romantic relationships.

Robert Reed contracted HIV & died from colorectal cancer in 1992, just a few months shy of his 60th Birthday, in Pasadena. He is buried in Skokie, Illinois.


The Bradys were quite the all American family. Actress Maureen McCormick, who played Marcia, revealed a lesbian love affair in her tell-all memoir. McCormick seems to have enjoyed much more than a sisterly relationship with Eve Plumb, who played her less glamorous sister Jan. Florence Henderson dated Barry Williams, who played her on-screen son Greg, during the show. Williams also dated McCormick for 2 years during the show. That’s show biz, folks.