Between the signature theme song and the cool tic-tac-toe grid for the opening, there wasn’t a house in town that didn’t watch The Brady Bunch. Thanks to networks like Nick at Nite, TV Land, and Nick Jr., families could watch the show in syndication for decades and decades. The show spawned sequels, spin-offs, movies, and reality shows, as well as changing the lives of the young child actors.
For actress Maureen McCormick, playing the lead of Marcia Brady was a role of a lifetime that brought her fame, plenty of work, and maybe a hatred of footballs. How did Maureen handle all that came with being the perky Brady daughter? Let’s see what the story of this lovely lady has looked like since her Marcia era.
Background info
Born to parents Irene (Beckman) and Richard McCormick, Maureen Denise McCormick made her debut on August 5th, 1956, in the Encino area of Los Angeles, California. The baby of the family, Maureen has three older brothers (Michael, Dennis, and Kevin) to watch her back. Maureen attended William Howard Taft Charter High School, which had notable celebrities like Lisa Kudrow, Eazy-E, Robin Wright, and fellow Brady Bunch actress Susan Olsen as graduates.
McCormick has been performing since she was six years old, appearing in commercials for brands like Mattel for Chatty Cathy and Barbie dolls starting in 1962. Her first time on a TV series was when she appeared as Young Endora in two episodes of the beloved Bewitched in 1964.
For the rest of the 60s, Maureen popped up on TV shows like The Farmer’s Daughter, Honey West, Camp Runamuck, I Dream of Jeannie, and My Three Sons. In 1969 Maureen landed that role fans will never forget.
The Brady Bunch
“Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!” In late 1969, Maureen was cast to play Marcia Denise Brady on a little show titled The Brady Bunch. Jan may have been the one to utter the famous line, but Maureen McCormick brought Marcia to life, making everyone around her jealous. Centered around a widow and a widower combing their families to create the perfect blended brood, Marcia was the oldest female in the group of six children.
The gorgeous, popular Brady child tried her best to be the perfect teenager and daughter while sometimes slipping along the way, letting her ego get the best of her. For 117 episodes across the five seasons, Maureen portrayed the confident and smart Brady daughter until the show was canceled in 1974.
Though the show got axed, Maureen was able to reprise Marcia for various TV shows, including The Brady Bunch Hour from 1976 until 1977, The Brady Brides in 1981, and the TV movie A Very Brady Christmas in 1988.
What did she do after The Brady Bunch?
While Maureen struggled to break out of her Marcia persona for other roles, she still appeared in lots of TV shows. Everything from Happy Days, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and Touched by an Angel had Maureen on for at least one episode.
In the late 90s and 2000s, McCormick had guest spots on huge hits like Moesha, The Amanda Show, The Ellen Show, and Scrubs.
McCormick did add film credits to her name, but they were mostly independent and lower-grade movies like 1997s Dogtown, the 2000 film The Million Dollar Kid, and 2002’s Jane White Is Sick & Twisted.
What is Maureen McCormick doing now?
Maureen’s career may have not reached A-list status, but she kept working for decades. She played Eve in the 2012 horror film Snow White: A Deadly Summer and Jeannette in the 2016 romantic film Accidentally Engaged.
Maureen had a busy 2017, appearing in three movies that year, starting with the drama The Neighborhood, followed by the short Aileron – which won her a Best Actress Award at the Los Angeles Cinema Festival as well as Outstanding Cast Performance at the Action on Film International Film Festival – and finishing the year with the psychological thriller Rock Paper Dead, which would also mark her last feature film.
On the small screen, Maureen kept the roles rolling, mostly appearing in TV movies. She starred in holiday movies Christmas Spirit, Naughty & Nice, and Christmas Land from 2011 to 2015. Maureen put on her dancing shoes to compete on Dancing with the Stars during season 23.
In 2021, she hosted an HGTV show called Frozen in Time with Designer Dan Vickery, where they overhaul and renovate homes that are stuck in a bygone era.
In 2023, Maureen came back for a one-episode guest spot on the sequel of Fantasy Island that she appeared in decades earlier.
While in her Brady Bunch heyday, McCormick performed songs for the series, as well as on shows Donny and Marie, The Mike Douglas Show, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, and The Girl Gets Moe, and had a song on the soundtrack for the film Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.
Maureen has also enjoyed time on the reality TV show circuit. From Dr. Phil to Celebrity Fit Club to Gone Country, McCormick has made the rounds.
If you want to see what else Maureen is up to, go ahead and find her on Instagram, where she posts adorable throwbacks, as well as pictures with some famous friends.
Personal life
Maureen found love with her partner Michael Cummings, an actor, writer, director, and once corporate businessman. The pair tied the knot in March 1985 and welcomed their only child, daughter Natalie Michelle, in May 1989.
While it’s hard to believe it’s been almost 50 years since The Brady Bunch ended, fans can watch Maureen channel her inner Marcia, Marcia, Marica on the good old streaming service of their choice while waiting to see what credit she adds to her list next.
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