There is a new biography coming out, called: Here’s the story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice. It is being released for sale tomorrow. Over the years, it appears that Maureen McCormick, the actress who played Marcia Brady on the Brady Bunch television show in the 70’s lost her identity to the character that she played on that show.
Having grown up during those Brady Bunch years…i know that Maureen was a television icon during that time because of the character that she played. She was a trend setter. Many young girls wanted to be Marcia. The Brady Bunch was a huge part of the culture in the 70’s…even though the show was only on for about five years; it influenced a whole generation of young people and their families.
As we now know, many childhood actors have gone on to have troubled lives because of the unique set of circumstances growing up with such an unhealthy balance of power, between the lifestyle of a child actor and normal growing up circumstances. When a child actor makes the kind of money they do, has all kinds of adults jumping to their whims, has masses of people hanging on their every word and action…the balance of power in raising a child from youth to adulthood can get warped a bit in the entertainment business. Many of the actors/actresses don’t listen to positive advice or instruction…they surround themselves with yes people and hangers on. Too often we hear of young people in the industry who get into legal trouble or trouble with drugs/alcohol addictions because they don’t have an authority figure to keep them from making such mistakes. Their relationships enter into difficulties because they don’t know if they are being liked for who they are or for who they play on television.
I am looking forward to reading Maureen’s memoir; as i have heard bits and pieces over the years about her struggles after the Brady Bunch years. I can’t imagine that it was an ideal way to grow up. However, Maureen McCormick is now 52 years old. I hope that by reading the story…that it instills in others some kind of wisdom in helping others not to repeat the mistakes that so many have made in similar journeys.
Often times in these types of memoirs…much of the time and attention is focussed on the misdeeds, as opposed to the lessons learned; i hope that is not the case in this book. It would be nice to have some success stories in the media on overcoming the odds of loosing yourself to your television character’s image. In any case, there is a whole generation of people who will be interested in finding out how things progressed for the actress who gave so much enjoyment through her nemesis.
Write where you are 