AN APPRECIATION : Reed Personified a Good Father

Robert Reed has had a distinct effect on my life, not because of my job--I currently make my living imitating his portrayal of Mike Brady of “The Brady Bunch” in “The Real Live Brady Bunch” at the Westwood Playhouse--but simply because I’m an Amnerican in my mid-20s. For myself and other U.S. citizens in my age group, Robert Reed was the strongest media personification of the good father--an image imprinted daily on our collective consciousness.

Children accept things at face value. When I was a child, Robert Reed was Mike Brady. And Mike Brady was what a “normal” father was--nothing like the humanly imperfect one I had. He was a paternal figure to a generation that, in greater numbers than ever, did not have one in real life. And he was a pretty good one: loving, fair, honest, the kind of man who could foster a pretty happy life, which is saying a lot. That is the person I saw in the face of Robert Reed.

But Reed was not an architect. He was an actor, well trained and highly accomplished. And it’s because of his skills as an actor that Mike Brady became what he is for so many of us. It’s no secret that he was sometimes frustrated by the broad strokes in which “The Brady Bunch” was painted, but that didn’t stop him from giving the show his best work. His performance reflected this.

Reed attended one of our performances in New York. He was extremely supportive, personable and kind. When asked if he kept in touch with the other “Brady Bunch” cast members, he replied: “Of course. They’re my family.” A lot of us are his family and we mourn his loss. We will always hold on to his image.