Oct. 14, 2008
"Marcia Brady": I Had Fling With "Greg"
Actress Who Played Her, Maureen McCormick, Tells Of Other Men, Long Battles With Depression, Drug Use, In New Biography
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Maureen McCormick posing in press room at 2008 CMT Awards in Nashville in April (AP Photo/Evan Agostini)
When the series had its final bow, she took up a hard-partying lifestyle in Hollywood, using drugs including cocaine and Quaaludes. She struggled to regain her earlier success, landing some TV and movie roles, but developed a reputation for unreliability due to her addiction, even botching an interview with Steven Spielberg for a role in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" because she was high.
After interventions, stints in rehab and experimental therapies, McCormick began getting sober in 1985 when she married actor Michael Cummings, with whom she has a daughter, Natalie. She continued to fight depression through therapy, medication and the help of "Brady" cast mates.
McCormick, who is also a singer, starred on the Country Music Television reality series "Gone Country" and "Outsider's Inn." She also confronted her weight issues several years ago as the winning contestant on the VH1 reality show "Celebrity Fit Club."
As for her iconic role, "I'll always be struck by how much a part of people's lives Marcia is and always will be. But now I'm not bothered by the connection. It took most of my life, countless mistakes and decades of pain and suffering to reach this point of equanimity and acceptance," she says.
In the HarperCollins video, she adds, "It's been kind of a roller coaster ride. At one time, it was wonderful, at one time, it was awful to be her. And I've come to this point where I really love her and accept her."
On The Early Show Tuesday, marriage and family therapist Dr. Shannon Fox, of MomLogic.com applauded McCormick, saying, "I think Marcia -- Marcia. Maureen -- is very courageous in coming out with this mental health issue. It's so easy, I think, these days, for stars to say, 'I was addicted to drugs, I was, you know, I was in rehab, in and out of rehab,' but she's really saying the underlying issue was this sadness, this depression, and she was self-medicating with the drugs, and I think that's a really courageous stance for her to take."
Fox added, "For us to see that someone who seemed so perfect on the outside really was struggling with self-esteem and body image issues and eating disorders is really good for people to know. You can't live up to that ideal. It's really a false ideal, and "The Brady Bunch" was THE ideal family, even. I think that, for women, especially, to see that that image is not all it's cracked up to be is a really strong message."
The book, Fox says, is part of McCormick's healing process: " The Maureen McCormick that you see today seems so much more confident. She seems like she's worked through and really walked through that depressed time, that time of self-doubt and she seems to have come out of it. So, I think definitely, coming out and saying, taking a strong stand and saying, 'I was depressed, I was self-medicating, and I'm not doing that anymore' is definitely part of her hearing healing."
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More From Books
The secrets of tennis legend 
Can''t believe they deleted my post.
People getting pretty touchy lately....
But really! this is a really dumb topic .. but I did come here and read it, or should I say reread it as it just has a new title and a slight change to the info ..
"Marcia Brady": I Had Fling With "Greg"
Yeah, since we''re confessing it now, I also
had a fling with "Greg".
I will write the book soon.
Pleeze buy it, otherwise I will get very depressed.
Posted by easeup
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That accusation was uncalled for. Plenty of documentaries showed Robert Reed giving a d*mn about the kids and their futures and, indeed, signing up to do the show because he thought it was going to be more serious and less of a farce.
He made his mistakes in life, and everyone knows he was gay, but suggesting he tried going after a child sexually (pedophilia) is sick.
Political?
What is political about saying "Pigs wearing lipstick have been known to fly off the handle and land in the Bushes."
Maybe its only political and maybe *** in your gutter mind.
Only 13 posts before some *** made it political....
Posted by easeup at 03:41 PM : Oct 14, 2008
I have seen it in less.
I have seen it in less.
That sure looked good.
Posted by yongamerica at 03:12 PM : Oct 14, 2008
Only 13 posts before some *** made it political....
the summer sun''s callin my name
(i hear ya now)
i just can''t stay inside all day
i gotta get out get me some of those rays
everybody''s smilin
sunshine day
everybody''s laughin
sunshine day
everybody seems so happy today
it''s a sunshine day
I think I''ll go for a walk out side now
the summer sun knows me by name
he''s callin me
I gotta get out, gotta get out, gotta get away
I gotta get away, get away, get away, get away
Into the sunshine day...
The Brady Bunch
My kids had to watch the repeats over and over and over......
Myself, I think I''d puke if I had to watch another one.:)
- by rwsmith29456 October 14, 2008 3:54 PM EDT
- Another child star fall into the pit that so many others have fallen into.
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