Maureen McCormick pens heartfelt tribute to Florence Henderson after ‘Brady Bunch’ co-star’s death
We don’t tend to do many articles that are in the vein of “stars react to [given subject here],” mostly because it’s just a combination of tweets from people who don’t often have an emotional connection to. However, it’s a little bit of a different situation when you are talking about someone who had a clear personal connection to a person who recently passed away, as is the case here.
Maureen McCormick (pictured above with Artem Chigvintsev) and Florence Henderson had a stronger connection than most. In addition to starring on “The Brady Bunch” for many years, the two ended up becoming lifelong friends and almost extended family members in some ways in real life as we as the show; this is accented further in Florence showing up multiple times to “Dancing with the Stars,” including at the finale earlier this week, in order to offer up some support. Florence herself appeared on the show many years ago and was still beloved by many.
In a lengthy post over on People, McCormick shared some of her memories of growing up working with her TV mom; you can see a small sample of that below:
“There are so many people who never met Florence but feel like she was a best friend or a mother to them. To me, she was both. I first met her when I was just 12 years old. At the time she was like a second mother but she was so much more than that. She became a dear friend. When you do a show like The Brady Bunch, you have such a bond together. I spent so much time with her on weekends at her house with her family. Her kids became almost siblings — and all of them are such beautiful people today, which is such a testament to Florence.
“She took me to New York for Christmases with her family. We had slumber parties and would go swimming and hang out and cook in her kitchen. And she didn’t just do that with me. Anyone she met became family. She embraced everyone. She had incredible love for everyone and wanted to spread that joy and light and laughter wherever she went. The song’s words could not have been more true — she was one of the loveliest ladies I’ve ever known. She taught me a lot that I will have with me forever. I feel her so much inside me. She was just so multi-talented and classy and fun and just an inspiration to me.”
You can often tell just how truly wonderful a person was by the outpouring of love that comes out after they are gone, and the list of tributes to her is almost never-ending. In many ways, this is a testament to her legacy, and it further shows the power of television to build communities of fans and in some ways inspire. We forge connections with these people because of the opportunities to watch them on a weekly basis, and they often are providers of light in our lives.
Florence will be missed dearly, and once again our thoughts go out to all of her friends, family, and anyone who knew her. (Photo: ABC.)