The Greg Brady Project
Welcome to the official Barry Williams' blog
My friends call me Barry. From time to time I also hear the name Greg. Yeah, as in Greg Brady. The Brady Bunch represents a fun time in my life. But it’s only part of the story. There’s more to say and that’s what The Greg Brady Project is all about – a place to say it. So, I’ve invited some friends to join me and share their perspectives on the Brady’s, the 70′s and just about everything else. Now, I’m inviting you…
‘Pepperoni Frog Pizza!’
I went to check out my girlfriend’s show this past Friday night. Well, actually not my current girlfriend, but Greg’s reoccurring girlfriend Rachel on The Brady Bunch, played by Hope Schwartz Juber. Hope is the daughter of our creator Sherwood Schwartz and married to world renowned guitarist and former band member of Wings, Laurence Juber. In the eighties Hope performed in a quasi rock, all female band called The Housewives, which coincidentally also featured Barbara Chase who is Florence Henderson’s daughter.
It was one of Hope’s dreams to turn the experiences she had with the band into a musical. So she collaborated with Laurence to write the music and she partnered with a writing friend to write the book and the result was a really fun, enjoyable Friday night at the theatre for a performance of Housewives 2 in the San Fernando Valley. The fictional story follows the lives of the three girls who make up the Housewives. Their ups and downs their egos, the mess ups and the comebacks and it is done in a very clever way. So clever that sometimes I found myself laughing right through the next joke which may warrant going back to see the show for a second time. In an odd way, because I didn’t have anything to do with creating the show, yet somehow I am proud of Hope. I hope Hope will forgive me (Greg) for taking her out on a date to the drive in all those years ago when that ginormous frog landed on her head and in the middle of our pizza.
Now Search & Win for Great Brady Prizes!
‘She’s a beauty’
Many of you know I have taken up a long time desire to learn to fly. It seems I have always had a reason or an excuse to keep myself on the ground and I finally have pushed them all out of the way and have been diligently studying and flying with Joe Justice out of Santa Monica Airport here in CA since October ’08. Joe is the perfect choice for a flight instructor for me. He is extremely experienced, safe, patient, plus he owns Justice Aviation.
It is an interesting process taking up a new skill at this point in life. I am used to doing what I know how to do well and, well…. flying is a brand new skill set and a new way of thinking. I am learning in a Cessna 172 and during my first few lessons I thought this would be a piece of cake. I mean push the pedals turn the wheel and push or pull the yolk forward and back… what’s the big deal? Around the third or fourth lesson however Joe stopped “assisting ” me quite so much and I quickly learned that there was a great deal more to successfully flying (and more importantly landing) an airplane than I had originally thought. But here’s the deal, it’s FUN. It’s challenging and rewarding and fun and I am hooked.
I am flying two to three times a week when in LA and I look forward to every flight. It is an entirely new dimension to explore. I am learning the local landmarks, the air spaces, aerodynamics, rules of the skyways and of course the all important controls and instruments. Learning how to talk with ATC is also a challenge. Everything in aviation is an acronym and for the uninitiated ATC is Air Traffic Control. These men and women who work in the Control Towers are the pilot’s best friend while in flight, helping to keep all of the aircraft separated from one another.
And Tiger was my gift…
It seems like the holidays came out of nowhere this year – almost without warning. Now I’m scrambling to get everything on my Christmas list. Know the feeling? Two things to share before I get back to that. Feel free to also connect with me here on facebook which has been great for putting me back in touch with old friends. And best wishes to you and yours this season.
Now Search & Win for Great Brady Prizes!
‘Mo & I in our hormonally charged days…’
Just in case you haven’t been watching the news, talk shows, reading the papers or magazines, listening to the radio or had a chance to go online, Maureen McCormick just released a no holds barred tell all book called Here’s the Story – Surviving Marcia Brady. I have been asked by CBS’ Early Show, Inside Edition, AP, Entertainment Tonight, The Enquirer, Star Magazine, People.com and a variety of radio programs what my thoughts are about her book dealing with her inner sanctum.
First, I must confess that I have not yet read it in its entirety. I have read plenty about it and even had parts of it read to me in addition to having an enduring friendship throughout the stages she writes about. This is not a Brady book per se but I did manage to get a fair amount of ink in it. This is really a book about Maureen and her struggle to balance a wholly unrealistic image as America’s perfect teenager with the rather troubled person she was. She speaks very highly of me and our hormonally charged relationship as teenagers. She accurately describes the condition our condition was in and just how far it went (which wasn’t quite far enough for my young passion). Still, thanks to the way it was written I come off as romantic and a gentleman (instead of a cad) and we did share genuine affection.
That said it is clear to me no matter how well you think you know someone, you can’t well you know… you can’t judge a book by its cover. I mean there are some shockers in there.
‘Birthday Wishes For You Mo’
In October of 1968 I met an attractive, enchanting and charming, much younger girl than I. She was hired to play my TV stepsister, Marcia, in a pilot we were making for a potential new series called The Brady Bunch. The show was about three girls and three boys… okay I don’t need to go into it. What I do want to say is that it marks a near forty year relationship with her and our cast that has become among the most significant relationships of our lives. In my business, that is rare and very special.
Today, August 5th, is Maureen McCormick’s birthday. She is turning 26 again, can you believe it? So there is something I would like to sing:
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday DEAR Maureen,
Happy birthday to you.
Hey, you have to admit that’s better than:
When it’s time to change then it’s time to change,
Don’t fight the tide go along for the ride
Don’t ya see?….
Happy birthday Mo.
Love, Big Bro B
‘Sherwood, Dawn Wells and I in 2003′
As of last week I have been working with three generations of Schwartz’s. I have had a lifelong working relationship and friendship with Sherwood Schwartz, our producer and creator of The Brady Bunch. We filmed our pilot episode in 1968, I had just turned 14. I have come to understand that what you do in life is as important as who you do it with. I am fortunate that I had such a great job growing up, if you can call working on a hit prime time television series a job, and having a model leader at the head of the Bunch. Sherwood has always been gracious with me and the rest of our cast, although Robert Reed did drive him to distraction. Already an experienced successful writer/producer by the time we started The Brady Bunch, he would nonetheless listen to ideas I had about my character as well as the story. Sometimes my suggestions made it into the script, sometimes not, but I always felt heard. That was very important to me and encouraging. And let’s face it… you don’t want to be using an ‘outta sight’ when a simple ‘groovy’ will do.
Sherwood’s son, Lloyd, eventually took up the mantle, and I have worked with him on Brady and non-Brady related projects with Lloyd functioning as producer, director or writer. Last year I was in Florida playing the role of Thurston Howell, III with Gilligan’s original Mary Ann, Dawn Wells, portraying his loving wife Lovey, in GILLIGAN’S ISLAND THE MUSICAL.
Last week I had an offer to do a TV cameo on Scrubs. I love the show and was to thrilled to have been invited to join the cast for the day. In the two part episode the cast finds themselves in the Bahamas and there is some talk about the purchase on Ebay of a familiar Tiki, “just like the one in that Brady Bunch Hawaiian episode.” Flash to a fantasy sequence of a disheveled Barry Williams, in his dilapidated apartment, maniacally excited to be finally ridding himself of “the plague that Tiki wrought upon my life for too long!”
Often times I am asked what it was like to basically have two families, my natural family with Mom and Dad and my two older brothers and my Brady family. First, please understand there was never any confusion about which was real. I didn’t go to Maureen McCormick for sisterly advice for goodness sake, I had the hots for her. Nor for instance did I ever confuse Robert Reed as being my father, I already had a Dad.
As an actor, one of the really nice things about being on a successful TV series is that you don’t have to spend all of your time looking for a new job. You have your call times, your studio, a schedule, the crew and cast that becomes familial. In our case the cast was also playing a family and to some extent we all assumed those roles in life. When the Brady kids were on tour or making appearances, I was protective and fended for my Brady brothers and sisters just like the reliable big brother I played. Florence Henderson could see the road ahead and gently pointed out to me the smooth and the rough spots that were to come. Robert Reed did not assume the role of my father but I do consider him a mentor.
This is really cool. I had a man who was in our show acting as my father who took on some of those qualities and was interested in the same thing I was — ACTING. My own father didn’t know or really care very much about the craft, he was more interested in raising his three boys.
My run at the New Theatre in Kansas City, KS doing the musical comedy revue MARRIED ALIVE is coming to an end this Sunday, April 13th. I arrived on January 28th and opened our eight week run on February 13th. I have mixed feelings about it closing. Naturally I am anxious to get home. I have been away for a long time. But I have enjoyed this musical as much as any show I have ever done and I have appeared in more than 75 different productions.
The primary reasons I have enjoyed it so much is because I have never hung with more passionate fans and the wonderful people I have been working with. The New Theatre Restaurant is one of the most successful theaters in the country. The two producers, Richard Carrothers and Dennis Hennessy, run a tight ship and the sailing is smooth. The people they employ are loyal, thoughtful and helpful. Our show was totally sold out of its 637 seats nearly every performance, and I am not trying to take the credit. They have an enormous subscription. All I was responsible for were the few seats that remained available.
‘My kind of date’
From time to time I am asked if I have dated fans. Well, once. While I was filming the Brady Bunch I didn’t get out very much. The schedule was just too demanding. We Brady kids had plenty of fans but didn’t know very many people. I went to High School with one other person; Maureen McCormick. I got a fan letter with a photo of a very attractive girl about my age, 16. She lived not too far away so I called her. I arranged for us t meet to meet at an ice skating rink in Santa Monica. I don’t know why I chose an ice skating rink because I can barely get around on skates, but I thought it would be fun and a good place to get acquainted.
We set the date for the next Friday night at 7:30. She showed up looking good and seemed to be very nice. We got a couple of soft drinks and sat down to talk. She giggled a lot, as teenage girls often do and I never liked. It was a little loud at the rink but I was really getting irritated with one table about 30 feet away that had three teenage girls who kept laughing and “trying” not to look in our direction.
‘My Inner-Boxer’
People still ask me if my Celebrity Boxing match was rigged.
In the late fall of 2002 I was approached by Fox Television to participate in a new reality TV show called Celebrity Boxing. Sounded like a good idea at the time. You know, put on the shorts, pull on the gloves, get a trainer, jump into the ring and have my ROCKY moment in the lights. I was to fight Danny Bonaduce, the chubby little guy from The Partridge Family. Three rounds, two minutes in length. We were to use thick boxing gloves and protective head gear. I had all of four weeks to get ready.
Now I have never boxed in my life, but I have seen fights on TV. In fact I might never have fought if Chris Knight’s shoulder wasn’t bothering him at the time. You see, he was originally invited by FOX to fight Danny but he passed it off. Or maybe he had seen Bonaduce more recently than I had back in the 70′s. Anyway, Chris bailed and that’s when I got the call.
I started my month long training. I ran 1 1/2 miles a day. I showed up at the gym 5 days a week and worked out for an hour and a half with the trainer I was provided. The trainer was great. He would start me off with some stretching, jump rope, just like in the movies. I practiced on the punching bag and the speed bag. They are terrific, mostly because they don’t hit back. In fact, just about everything about boxing is great except getting hit.
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Recent Comments
- Laura on December 18, 2011 said:
HI Barry, Just wondering if its possible to get a dvd of growing up Brady for region... - Heidi on October 25, 2011 said:
I did buy Florence’s book when it came out. I have started reading it.... - J.D. Meier on October 7, 2011 said:
You always have to wonder what the quiet ones are up to, right? It sounds like an...
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