Florence Henderson, the actress who starred as the beloved Carol Brady on the ’70s television show The Brady Bunch, has passed away at the age of 82.
According to her publicist David Brokaw, Henderson died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles Thursday night, surrounded by her friends and family after suffering from heart failure.
If you’re of a certain age, then you may have spent much of your youth comparing your own mother to the perfection that was Carol Brady, the character for which Henderson was best known after being cast on the show following over a decade appearing on Broadway.
In 1962, Henderson also became the first woman to guest host The Tonight Show during Jack Paar’s run.
Henderson was cast as Carol Brady for The Brady Bunch in 1969, and after the original series ended in 1974, Henderson went onto The Brady Bunch Variety Hour and a number of less successful “Brady Bunch” spin-off series, including the 1990 series The Bradys.
Henderson was also a regular on the equally popular show The Love Boat throughout the ’70s and ’80s, sometimes appearing as herself.
Henderson continued to work well into her 70s, appearing on various television shows like 30 Rock, and in 2010, at the age of 76, Henderson was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars.
Although not as known for her movie work, Henderson also appeared in Marlon Wayans’ Fifty Shades of Black earlier this year.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
