Barry Williams Praises 'Very Deliberate Attempts' to DiversifyThe Brady BunchCast

Mar. 15, 2025

Barry Williams on ‘The Brady Bunch’ and in the 2020s.

Barry Williamssays the creative team behindThe Brady Bunchmade frequent attempts to try to include people of color on the show.

“I thought this was nice because this is a young lady of color, and this didn’t happen a lot,” Williams said.

Jere Fields and Eve Plumb in ‘The Brady Bunch’ in 1973.ABC

ABC

He went on to note that whileThe Brady Bunch, which aired on ABC from 1969 to 1974, focused on the White Brady family, he credited series creator Sherwood Schwartz and producer Lloyd Schwartz for “making sure that everyone was represented.”

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“I know that we’re the whitest show on television, but I do think that there were very deliberate attempts to try and integrate the show,” Williams said. “There were a couple of episodes that specifically dealt with that, and we see this a lot, especially when there are crowds and then maybe there are two or three friends, we’ll see different ethnicities and etcetera. So, this is one of those cases, and she’s adorable, and it was fun to see.”

Ken Berry with William Attmore II and Carey Wong in ‘The Brady Bunch’ in 1974.ABC

One of the most notable examples of what Williams was talking about came in the show’s very next episode. January 1974’s “Kelly’s Kids” centered on White married couple Ken and Kathy Kelly (guest starsKen Berryand Brooke Bundy), friends of Mike and Carol Brady (Robert ReedandFlorence Henderson), who adopt three boys, one of whom is Black, another Asian and the third White. The episode was intended to serve as a backdoor pilot for a series about the Kelly family which was never picked up.

As for Fields, after making guest appearances in shows likeThe Facts of Life,Diff’rent Strokes,The JeffersonsandCheersas well as appearing in 1985’sFriday the 13th: A New Beginning, she retired from acting to become a clinical social worker.

source: people.com