Robert Reed, the father of “The Brady Bunch,” was so closeted that his daughter Eve Plumb, who starred on the show, had no idea he was gay, even as an adult.
“That was never an issue,” Plumb, who played middle school daughter Jan Brady, told Page Six in a recent exclusive interview. “Even as an adult, it was never obvious.”
Mr. Reed died in 1992 at the age of 59 from colon lymphoma.
Following Mr. Reed’s death, details of his death certificate were made public. It was revealed that the actor had been diagnosed as HIV positive the previous year. Although he was not infected with AIDS at the time of his death, his doctor listed his positive test as one of the “significant symptoms contributing to his death.”
Plumb, 67, is still reeling from the news surrounding her father’s death on her beloved TV show.
“What was sad was that it was splashed all over the newspapers and made so ridiculous,” she shared, adding, “He was part of a group of people who had to hide[their sexuality]and continued to hide who they were and continued to be maligned for having a disease that was not their fault.”
“It was ridiculous to be accused of that,” she said.
Florence Henderson, who played Reed’s wife on the sitcom, spoke about the “Defenders” alum in a 2000 interview with ABC News.
“He was the perfect father and perfect husband to this wonderful little family. Off camera, he was an unhappy person. I think a lot of that anger and frustration would have gone away if Bob hadn’t been forced into this double life.”
Ms Henderson said she had “very much sympathy” for Reed. “Because we knew he was going to suffer by keeping this secret. It probably would have ruined his career at the time.”
In her upcoming memoir, Happiness Included: Jan Brady and Beyond, Plumb has nothing but nice things to say about her adult co-stars, Reed, Henderson, and Anne B. Davis, who played Alice.
“They were very professional,” Plumb explained. “Florence had a great sense of humor and kept things light. Bob always made sure we took extra time to make it a little more realistic. And Anne really helped us learn how filming is done and how the cameras work.”
Plumb also told Page Six about a “sweet” date with TV brother Christopher Knight, aka Peter Brady, that fell through shortly after filming wrapped in 1974.
“It was fun, but by then we had become too good friends to transition into romantic partners,” she explained.
