Florence Henderson, the beloved and hard working actress who was best known for her role as the popular TV mom, 'Carol Brady', on 'The Brady Bunch' died on Thursday at the age of 82. Henderson died on Thanksgiving Day at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angele, California surrounded by friends and family. According to her publicist, David Brokaw, she died from heart failure.
Ms. Henderson had a long acting career and life. According to the NY Times, Henderson first made her Broadway debut in the 1952 Broadway show, 'Wish You Were Here.' Ten years later. Henderson became the first woman to appear as a guest host on 'The Tonight Show' with the main host, Johnny Carson. Not too long after that, she became a weather and news girl on 'The Today Show.' She then went on to host her own show, 'Later Today' which only lasted less than a year.
In 1969, Florence Henderson made her TV debut and became popular on the hit ABC series, 'The Brady Bunch.' She played a mom of three girls who meets, falls in love with, and marries and moves in with a widower with three boys. This was her best role on television since she became known as Carol Brady from 'The Brady Bunch.'
US Weekly reported Ms. Henderson was married two times and had four children. She got married for the first time in 1956 to Ira Bernstein while she was starring in the Broadway musical, 'Fanny.' Before divorcing in 1985, they had four children together. She then went on to marry Dr. John Kappas in 1987. He died in 2002.
NY Times reports that Ms. Henderson was born in 1934 with the name of Florence Agnus Henderson. She was the youngest of 10 children her parents had. By the time she was eight-years-old, she was already working. She would babysit and clean other people's homes since her family was having a hard time financially. She would also sometimes sing a country or folk song in exchange for groceries for her family.
She is survived by her four children, two daughters, Barbara and Elizabeth, her two sons, Robert and Joseph, and five grandchildren.
In a 1999 interview with the Archive of American Television, she was asked how she wanted to be remembered. She said, "Probably as someone who survived for a long time in a very tough business, and hopefully, managed to retain a sense of humanity."
She was spotted in the audience of the show, 'Dancing with the Stars' just two days before she passed away. She was there to support her TV daughter, Maureen McCormick, or better known as Marcia Brady, who was dancing on the show. McCormick posted a photo of the two women together on Twitter late Thursday after Henderson passed away with the caption "You are in my heart forever Florence."
She was also a dancer on the show, 'Dancing with the Stars' in 2010 when she danced with partner and professional ballroom dancer, Corky Ballas. However, the dancing partners were eliminated soon after they did the tango to the theme of 'The Brady Bunch,'
Ms Henderson will always be remembered as Carol Brady and will surely be missed by everyone who watched 'The Brady Bunch' and her many friends and family who loved her very much.
