Maureen McCormick
McCormick in 2009
Born	Maureen Denise McCormick (1956-08-05)August 5, 1956 (age 69) Los Angeles,California, U.S.
Occupations	Actress singer author
Years active	1964–present
Known for	The Brady Bunch The Brady Kids The Brady Brides A Very Brady Christmas The Love Boat Fantasy Island
Spouse	Michael Cummings ​ (m. 1985)​
Children	1

Maureen Denise McCormick (born August 5, 1956) is an American actress, best known for her role asMarcia Brady on theABC television sitcomThe Brady Bunch (1969–1974). She reprised the role in several of its variousspin-offs and films, includingThe Brady Kids,The Brady Bunch Hour,The Brady Brides andA Very Brady Christmas (1988).

In the 1980s and 1990s, McCormick ventured into film and stage acting, with supporting roles in the filmsThe Idolmaker (1980),Texas Lightning (1981), andReturn to Horror High (1987). On stage, she starred asWendy Darling in a 1983 production ofPeter Pan and asBetty Rizzo in a 1994 production ofGrease. In the 2000s, McCormick was the first actress to portrayRebecca Crane on the television soap operaPassions, as well as appearing on variousreality television series such asVH1'sCelebrity Fit Club,CMT'sGone Country (which led to a short-lived spin-off series led by McCormick,Outsiders Inn) and the Australian version ofI'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!.

In music, McCormick recorded four studio albums with theBrady Bunch cast and toured with them. Her only release as a solo artist to date is acountry music album,When You Get a Little Lonely (1995). McCormick's personal life was troubled following her initial period of success onThe Brady Bunch, struggling withsubstance abuse, aneating disorder, anddepression, which impeded her career. In 2008, McCormick published anautobiography,Here's the Story, which debuted at number four onThe New York Times bestseller list.

McCormick was born on August 5, 1956,^[1] in theEncino section ofLos Angeles, California, to Irene (née Beckman) and Richard McCormick, a teacher.^{[citation needed]} She has three older brothers: Michael, Dennis and Kevin. She is of Irish and German descent, and was raised in a Catholic family.^[2]

At age six, she won the Baby MissSan Fernando Valleybeauty pageant.^[3] In 1964, she first appeared on national U.S. television, inMattel commercials forBarbie andChatty Cathy dolls. Through the later 1960s, McCormick appeared in two episodes ofBewitched—-in a season-one dream of Darrin's as one of his witch children named Little Endora, and then in a season-two Halloween episode as Endora herself transformed into a little girl.^{[4][circular reference]} She also played guest roles onI Dream of Jeannie,Honey West,The Farmer's Daughter, andMy Three Sons. In 1970, she lent her voice to a redesigned Chatty Cathy doll.^[5] McCormick attendedTaft High School inWoodland Hills.^[6]

McCormick played the eldest daughter,Marcia, who had five siblings inThe Brady Bunch, an American televisionsitcom about ablended family that aired from late 1969 to early 1974 onABC, on Friday nights. She had a perky and popular personality. After its cancellation, the series was later rebroadcast insyndication for decades, as children's programming, gathering long-lasting, cross-generational popularity that led to spinoffs and movies. McCormick had a sporadic romance with herBrady Bunch co-starBarry Williams during the original series' run.

McCormick also voiced Marcia in the first season of the ABC Saturday morning cartoonThe Brady Kids from 1972 to 1973. She recorded four albums with theBrady Bunch cast and toured with them as well. In 1972, she released her first solo single with the songs "Truckin' Back to You" and "Teeny Weeny Bit (Too Long)". The following year, McCormick recorded an album with herBrady Bunch co-starChristopher Knight, a pop recording titledChris Knight and Maureen McCormick, which carried both duets and solo tracks. McCormick's second solo single "Little Bird", backed with "Just a Singin' Alone", had mild chart success in the western United States (reaching the top five atKCPX inSalt Lake City). McCormick later performed "Little Bird" onAmerican Bandstand, where hostDick Clark encouraged her to follow a singing career. McCormick released another single in 1973, "Love's in the Roses", backed with "Harmonize".

In 2015, archive footage of McCormick as Marcia was used for an American TV commercial advertisingSnickers chocolate bars. The commercial, which debuted duringSuper Bowl XLIX, features action film starDanny Trejo as young Marcia who (in the context of being hungry) is not acting like herself. After eating a Snickers, Marcia appears as McCormick once again.^[7][8]

Following the cancellation ofThe Brady Bunch, McCormick spent yearsaddicted tococaine andquaaludes, which impeded her career. McCormick later stated that she sometimes traded sex for drugs during her early 20s. She flubbed an audition withSteven Spielberg for a part inRaiders of the Lost Ark (1981), arriving for the audition under the influence of cocaine and having not slept for three days. She developed a reputation in Hollywood for being unreliable, to the point that one producer threatened that she would never work as an actress again. She also dealt with bouts ofdepression andbulimia.^[3][9]

Despite her struggles with addiction and depression, McCormick did appear in guest roles on numerous television series throughout the 1970s and 1980s, such asHappy Days,Donny & Marie,The Love Boat (as Lori Markham in S6 E11 "A Christmas Presence" 1982),Vega$,The Streets of San Francisco andFantasy Island, along with supporting roles inThe Idolmaker andB movies such asA Vacation in Hell (1979) andSkatetown, U.S.A. (1979). McCormick later claimed she failed to get a role as aprostitute orheroin dealer for the movieMidnight Express because she continued to be identified with herBrady Bunch role.^[10] She reprised her role as Marcia Brady on the short-lived seriesThe Brady Bunch Hour from 1976 to 1977, andThe Brady Brides in 1981, which was spun off from the movieThe Brady Girls Get Married (1981). McCormick portrayedWendy Darling in a touring stage production ofPeter Pan, beginning in 1983.^[11]

McCormick married Michael Cummings on March 16, 1985.^[12] Shortly after getting married, McCormick went through a series ofinterventions, stints in rehabilitation, and experimental therapies. She was treated bypsychologistEugene Landy, and later claimed that his brand ofpsychopharmacology, for which he eventually lost his medical license, worsened her addictions because he prescribed her so many medications.^[13] She began to getsober after marrying, but she still suffered from depression andparanoia, and once threatened to jump from a balcony in front of her husband.^[12] She and her husband were at first wary of medication, but McCormick was treated withantidepressant medication such asProzac beginning in the 1990s. McCormick also said that she was helped by her friendships with formerBrady Bunch cast members.^[3][10]

She continued to appear sporadically in films and television projects, having a minor role as a police officer inReturn to Horror High (1987), and again reprising her Marcia Brady role for the television filmA Very Brady Christmas (1988). McCormick gave birth to her daughter, Natalie Michelle, on May 19, 1989. WhenThe Bradys, a revival ofThe Brady Bunch, was scheduled to begin production in 1990, McCormick was unavailable to return as Marcia because she was busy caring for her infant daughter, soLeah Ayres filled the role, instead. In 1993, she played herself in theHerman's Head episode "When Hermy Met Maureen McCormick". In 1994, McCormick made herBroadway debut as Betty Rizzo in a production ofGrease.^[14]

McCormick released her debut studio album,When You Get a Little Lonely, on April 4, 1995, as anaudio CD andcassette.^[15][16] The album was later made available as adigital download.^[17] The album was released under Phantom Hill Records, arecord label owned by her brother.^[18][19] McCormick promoted it with live performances inPalmdale, California,^[20] and CD signings.^[21][22]When You Get a Little Lonely received negative reviews from music critics,^[23][24][25] though McCormick's vocals did receive some praise.^[23][26] In a retrospective interview withEntertainment Weekly, McCormick said that she was disappointed by the recording process for the album, and would have preferred to write at least one of her own songs.^[27]

In 1997, she portrayed country singerBarbara Mandrell in the television biopicGet to the Heart: The Barbara Mandrell Story. In 2000, McCormick was the first actress to playRebecca Crane on thesoap operaPassions, but she was not put on contract. In 2003, McCormick appeared as herself on an episode of the sitcomScrubs with references being made to her Marcia Brady character.

In April 2007, McCormick appeared onDr. Phil to discuss a family dispute, accusing her brother Kevin of bothelder abuse and alienating their father from his other children to gain control of his finances.^[28] The same year, McCormick joined the cast of the fifth season ofVH1's reality showCelebrity Fit Club, hoping to lose 30 pounds (14 kg) she had gained since her mother died of cancer and needing to move her disabled brother into anassisted living facility. McCormick lost 34 pounds (15 kg), and in June of that year, was the individual winner of the series.

McCormick released her autobiography,Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice, on October 14, 2008. It debuted at number four onThe New York Times bestseller list, where it stayed for three weeks.^[29] The book was published byHarperCollins and was acquired by Director of Creative Development Lisa Sharkey. While promoting the book, McCormick was a guest on many news and talk shows such asAccess Hollywood,The Howard Stern Show,Good Day L.A., andPaula's Party.

Also in 2008, she joined the cast of theCMT reality showGone Country, where she competed for a recording contract. This led to a spin-off reality series calledOutsiders Inn, in which she opened abed and breakfast inNewport, Tennessee. In 2008, McCormick became a spokesperson forChildren International.^[30] In March 2009, McCormick appeared onComedy Central's roast ofLarry the Cable Guy.

In 2015, McCormick appeared in the Australian version ofI'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, where she lasted 42 days and was the last evictee before the finale.^[31]

On August 30, 2016, McCormick was revealed as one of the celebrities who would compete onseason 23 ofDancing with the Stars. She was partnered with professional dancerArtem Chigvintsev.^[32] McCormick and Chigvintsev were eliminated on the seventh week of competition and finished in 8th place.^[33] She joined with the other surviving main cast members ofThe Brady Bunch in the 2019 television seriesA Very Brady Renovation onHGTV.^[34]

In 2020, she was named a global ambassador forSpecial Olympics International.^[35] In 2021, McCormick paired up with contractor/decorator Dan Vickery in HGTV's new seriesFrozen in Time, a home remodeling series.

Kaley Cuoco portrayed Maureen McCormick inGrowing Up Brady (2000). McCormick's character Marcia Brady has been portrayed byChristine Taylor inThe Brady Bunch Movie (1995) and its sequelA Very Brady Sequel and byAutumn Reeser in the made for TV sequelThe Brady Bunch in the White House.

• McCormick, Maureen (October 14, 2008).Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice.William Morrow.ISBN 978-0-06-149014-9.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toMaureen McCormick.

• The Official Maureen McCormick website
• Maureen McCormick atIMDb

• 1956 births
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• American child actresses
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