Fifty years ago the world was introduced to the perfect American family in the hit series "The Brady Bunch." The show was built on good, old-fashioned values but behind the scenes things were a little different for cast members- or at least for Susan Olsen, she now reveals.
The 58-year-old actress was still a kid when she was cast as Cindy Brady, the youngest girl in "The Brady Bunch," which ran from 1969 to 1974. Despite the fame, she hated being on in the iconic sitcom.
Chatting with Fox News, Olsen admitted she grew into a rebellious teen who had a real "problem with authority." She hated the fact that she was in "such a wholesome show with American values and family values" and could not identify with her clean-cut character.
"I think people generally are happily surprised when they find out that my tastes were not quite so wholesome," she said. "You know, I was very into punk rock and rock music and I'm really outspoken."
Olsen previously admitted that she and Mike Lookinland, who played Bobby Brady, would sneak off to "make out" in the doghouse. They were nine but she said it was mostly innocent.
"We led a sheltered life for part of the year so if there was anybody to get a crush on or try to date, it would be our counterparts," she said in an interview with an Australian website.
Olsen's rebellious nature continued into her adult years. She and her former husband dabbled in growing marijuana, although she claimed she did not smoke it much.
"It was really fascinating and I’ve always been into ‘gardening’ and it’s such a complicated, wonderfully fascinating plant," she said. "But that was one of the reasons why I did leave my husband, because it just bothered me too much that we were doing something so illegal."
Only now in her later years can Olsen finally appreciate the wholesomeness of "The Brady Bunch" clan, and the hope they gave to people across the world.
"People would ask me, 'Don't you wish that 'The Brady Bunch' was your real family?' And I'm like no – because my family is just as good and they're a little bit funnier, a little weirder, but I know so many people that literally say that the show saved their lives," she told Fox News. "And you know, I had a great family life but for people – and other people that had a great family life loved it too-- but there were people that didn't have a great life and as children, they depended on the show. And it's for them that I really feel responsible."
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