Brady Bunch Mum Florence Henderson Dies Aged 82

The woman known to many of us as Carol Brady, actress Florence Henderson, has died at the age of 82. Florence was hospitalised on Wednesday and passed away after suffering heart failure on Thursday night at LA's Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, her publicist David Brokaw and manager Kayla Pressman announced. They said the Brady Bunch star died surrounded by her family and friends. The Brady Bunch, which was first shown in 1969, was loved by millions all over the world and was one of the first television programmes to introduce a blended family. As the famous theme song reminded us at the start of each episode, Florence’s smiling character Carol was a single mum raising three daughters when she met Robert Reed’s Mike Brady, a single dad to three boys. The amalgamated eight then became The Brady Bunch, along with wise-cracking live-in housekeeper Alice, played by Ann B. Davis. Henderson is pre-deceased by both of her co-stars; Reed died in 1991 after battling colon cancer, and Davis passed away in 2014 following a fall at her home. The much-loved sitcom, which was endlessly re-run came back in various guises, including The Brady Bunch Hour in 1977, The Brady Brides in 1981 and The Bradys in 1990. Speaking about her time playing Carol Brady, Henderson said on her Facebook page:

"I played Carol as the mother I always wished I had, as the mother a lot of people wished they had."

She said of The Brady Bunch: