Ask Anything: 10 questions with Actor Barry Williams, aka 'Greg Brady'
Actor Barry Williams answers your questions about "dating" Florence Henderson, staying in touch with Christopher Knight and much more!
Posted — UpdatedWell, not exactly, see I don't think ANY family is like the Brady family. I am the youngest of three boys and grew up in an all American middle class way but what family communicates and supports and does all the groovy things the Brady's did??
Christopher Knight. I love my whole Brady family but Chris and I have the most in common. We have gone on vacations, camping trips, competed in tennis together. He is a great guy. I beat him in tennis.
The hardest part was the working hours. Arriving at 6:45 in the morning until 6 or 7 at night. The greatest reward was bringing the words on pages of the script to life and making it believable.
Well ... sort of. I did go out on a "date" with Florence when I was turning 16 and she was, well around twice that age. I definitely had a crush on her but it wasn't "going anywhere" if you know what I mean. We went to see a singer at a night club and talked music all night. Did I mention she was married and has four kids of her own??
It was strange for me for the first few years after we stopped filming the show. I was done with it and wanted to move on. I only resented the character when it interfered with getting new work. I became very active and successful in musical theatre and as time went on and I juggled between theatre and TV and singing I made my peace. Then I wrote a best selling book called Growing Up Brady and I was grateful again for the show.
I wasn't trying to live down or live up to my character like Maureen seemed to be. I have always kept my focus on the work and that gave me a sense of stability.
Yes, we sang our own songs. You can't get professional singers to sound like that – ever listen to the theme song? However most of the time when we were recording, Christopher Knight's microphone was turned off.
Well, the Brady Bunch and Shakespeare are not exactly the same (although Robert Reed wanted them to be). For me there is no "trick" to memorizing ... it is all about repetition. But doing a couple or three pages of dialogue, not monologues or Sonnets, flows pretty naturally.
1) I studied with a coach at 11 years of age in group and private lessons, interviewed for and got an agent and made the rounds. I was both lucky and committed. I also grew up in Los Angeles, which helped.
2) Paramount Studios Stage 5 Hollywood, Calif., except when we were at King's Island the Grand Canyon or Hawaii.
3) Favorite episode to film: all three Hawaiian episodes. Why? I am at heart a surfer ---- dude.
I am a student pilot very close to getting my private pilot certificate as I write you. I have flown in an F15 an F18 I have done a tandem parachuting jump, out of a perfectly good airplane at 14,000 ft, with the famed Golden Knights of Fort Bragg. What's missing ... I would really like to take off from and land on an aircraft carrier in a fighter jet. I know it sounds very Johnny Bravo. But I plan to make it happen. Stay tuned. Thanks for your interest and great questions.
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