Henderson, Florence (Agnes) 1934-

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HENDERSON, Florence (Agnes) 1934-

PERSONAL:

Born February 14, 1934, in Dale, IN; daughter of Joseph (a tobacco sharecropper) and Elizabeth (Elder) Henderson; married Ira Bernstein, January 9, 1956 (divorced); married John Kappas, August 4, 1987; children: (first marriage) Barbara, Joey, Robert, Elizabeth. Education: Attended St. Francis Academy (Owensboro, KY); studied acting with Christine Johnson and at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Hobbies and other interests: Cooking, charitable work.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o Author Mail, William Morrow and Co., 1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019.

CAREER:

Singer, actress, and writer. Appeared in television commercials. City of Hope, House Ear Institute, and Childhelp USA, volunteer worker. United Cerebral Palsy Telethon, cohost.

Stage appearances include: The New Girl, Wish You Were Here, Imperial Theater, New York, NY, 1952; Laurey, Oklahoma, City Center, New York, NY, 1953; Resi, The Great Waltz, Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, Los Angeles, CA, 1953; Fanny, Fanny, Majestic Theater, New York, NY, 1963; Anna, The King and I, Los Angeles Music Center, Los Angeles, CA, 1965; Nellie Forbush, South Pacific, New York State Theater (now Lincoln Center), New York, NY, 1967; Anna, The Sound of Music, Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, 1978; Ella, Bells Are Ringing, Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, 1979; and Alone Together, La Mirada Civic Theatre, 1989. Major tours include: Laurey, Oklahoma!, 1952-53; Maria, The Sound of Music, 1961; and Annie Oakley, Annie Get Your Gun, 1974.

Television appearances include: Carol Brady, The Brady Bunch, National Broadcasting Company (NBC), then American Broadcasting Companies (ABC), 1969-74; Carol Brady, The Brady Bunch Hour, ABC, 1976-77; Carol Brady, The Brady Brides, (also known as The Brady Girls Get Married), NBC, 1980-81; Country Kitchen (also known as Florence Henderson's Home Cooking), TNN, 1985-92; Carol Brady, A Very Brady Christmas, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), 1988; Maggie, Dave's World, CBS, 1992-94; Carol Brady, Bradymania: A Very Brady Special, ABC, 1993; Carol Brady, Brady Bunch Home Movies, CBS, 1995; Gail Sheehy's New Passages, ABC, 1996; Mom USA, syndicated, 1996; cohost, Later Today, NBC, 1999-2000; and Betty, Moms on Strike, ABC Family, 2002.

Film appearances include: Nina Grieg, The Song of Norway, Cinerama, 1970; cameo, Shakes the Clown, IRS Releasing, 1992; cameo, Naked Gun 33 1/3, Paramount, 1994; cameo as Grandma Brady, The Brady Bunch Movie, Paramount, 1995; and cameo, The Holy Man, 1998.

Recordings include Selections from "Flower Drum Song" and "Gypsy," 1959; The Best from "The Sound of Music," 1960; and With One More Look at You, 1979. Taped readings include The Performances of John Vliet Lindsay, 1970.

MEMBER:

Delta Zeta (honorary member).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Sara Siddons Award, 1962, for The Sound of Music; CARTA Award, Catholic Apostolate of Radio, Television and Advertising, 1966; Mrs. America Woman of Spirit Award, 2003.

WRITINGS:

(With Shari Lewis) One-Minute Bible Stories, New Testament, Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1986.

A Little Cooking, a Little Talking, and a Whole Lot of Fun, edited by Elyssa A. Harte, Panorama Publishing (Van Nuys, CA), 1988.

Florence Henderson's Short-Cut Cooking: America's Favorite Mom Shows You How to Get Food on the Table Fast, Morrow (New York, NY), 1998.

SIDELIGHTS:

Florence Henderson is known to several generations of Americans as the cheery mother of television's The Brady Bunch, but she has also had a prolific career on stage and in film. She raised a large family of her own while making her name in a number of popular musicals. A well-known figure in television commercials and on talk and news programs, she has also found time to write popular cookbooks and host a television cooking show. Of her seemingly unflagging energy level, Henderson told Mary Anne Dunkin in a cover story in Arthritis Today, "I've always said that I want to work all my life. I hate to think about retiring."

Henderson was the tenth child born to a sharecropper's family in rural Kentucky. The family endured many hardships during the Great Depression, but Henderson was undaunted. "Life was tough," she remarked to Dunkin. "It was an accepted fact that I would be working by the time I was 8 years old." Despite the family's economic straits, Henderson was encouraged to develop her singing voice.

Henderson first studied with singer Christine Johnson, then, with the financial help of relatives of a friend, she enrolled in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. From there she was propelled into a small role in the musical comedy Wish You Were Here, then was cast by Richard Rodgers as Laurey in a tour of Oklahoma! In the New York Herald Tribune critic Walter Kerr wrote of Henderson's performance, "She is the real thing, right out of a butter church somewhere.… You not only like this Laurey, you believe in her; and for as long as Oklahoma! finally manages to run, I never expect to see a better one." Henderson later landed the title role in Fanny and played Maria in a traveling production of The Sound of Music, for which she received the Sarah Siddons Award.

Fast becoming one of the brightest new stars in musical comedy, Henderson performed in Noel Coward's The Girl Who Came to Supper and starred in South Pacific at Lincoln Center in New York City. Later she played Anna in The King and I in Los Angeles. Her first film, The Song of Norway, was followed by an increasing number of television appearances with such well-known figures as Jack Paar, Ed Sullivan, and Johnny Carson.

Perhaps Henderson's best-loved role was that of Carol Brady, the intrepid mother to the blended family in The Brady Bunch, which aired on television for five seasons in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She remarked to Dunkin, "Unlike real life, the Bradys' problems were always solved in 30 minutes.… I think that show had a little magic charm about it. It came after a very turbulent decade in American history—the '60s—I think we represented a family who really cared about each other. I think everyone dreams of that, whether they have it or not." Reruns of the adventures of this corny but engaging family continued to appeal to new generations of viewers, as did tongue-in-cheek movie versions of the Brady story. In 1988 Henderson and several of the original cast members appeared in A Very Brady Christmas, which a People reviewer called "ludicrously happy." She also hosted a prime-time special on the continuing popularity of the Bradys and their effect on American popular culture.

Henderson joined the Nashville Network to host a popular cooking show, and this inspired her to write her own cookbooks. A Little Cooking, a Little Talking, and a Whole Lot of Fun, along with Florence Henderson's Short-Cut Cooking: America's Favorite Mom Shows You How to Get Food on the Table Fast, embrace Henderson's no-nonsense, down-to-earth approach to the kitchen. A very different kind of book, written for children in collaboration with puppet artist Shari Lewis, was One-Minute Bible Stories, New Testament.

A longtime humanitarian, Henderson has cohosted a telethon for United Cerebral Palsy and has been especially active in the House Ear Institute. Afflicted herself with an arthritis-like condition and otosclerosis, a hearing ailment later corrected by surgery, Henderson told Dunkin: "I know what it's like to be at a disadvantage, to be handicapped.… If we have any sense of humanity, if we're healthy and make a good living, and we see people suffering, then I believe we have to help in some way."

A former cohost of NBC's Later Today program, Henderson continued to be visible into the twenty-first century on such shows as Politically Incorrect, TheTonight Show with Jay Leno, and The Late Show with Dave Letterman. She is still recognizable to viewers from her commercials for Wesson Oil and other products. Laura Fries in Daily Variety said that Henderson "hams up" her "June Cleaver-type" cameo role in the 2002 television movie Moms on Strike. Fries added, however, that Henderson is "poignant" in her portrayal of the protagonist's mother.

Henderson also lent her name and image to ClassicYears.com, a Web site for seniors. Quoted in a story in Interactive Week, ClassicYears Chief Executive David Meister called Henderson's presence a "good deal for both sides." Henderson explained that the Web site is designed to reinforce "those things that make us feel good: our grandchildren, hobbies, travel, mentoring, etc." This venture underscores the values Henderson has always espoused. According to Dunkin, "She remains faithful to her roots and to her dreams as she guides her family and her career."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Arthritis Today, July-August, 1990, Mary Anne Dunkin, "Florence Henderson," p. 38.

Chicago Sun-Times, July 17, 2000, Peter Johnson, "'Later Today' to Go; Henderson May Stay," p. 40.

Daily Variety, March 14, 2002, review of Moms on Strike, p. 11.

Interactive Week, September 25, 2000, "Florence Henderson's Pitch for Seniors," p. 68.

People, December 19, 1988, Jeff Jarvis, review of A Very Brady Christmas, p. 11; December 13, 1999, Julie K. L. Dam and Samantha Miller, "The Family Still Matters," p. 72.