Maureen's New Book

[Ronny G]

Anyone looking forward to reading Maureen's New Book???
Sound like an interesting read!

From The Associated Press:

McCormick tells all about 'Brady' drug addiction

NEW YORK (AP) - As Marcia Brady on ``The Brady Bunch,'' Maureen McCormick projected an image of the wholesome girl next door. But off camera, she spiraled downward into drug addiction and depression.

Now 52, McCormick writes about her struggles in a new memoir, ``Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice,'' hitting stores Tuesday. She discusses her romance with TV sibling Barry Williams, her dates with Michael Jackson and Steve Martin, cocaine binges and parties at the Playboy Mansion and the home of Sammy Davis Jr., an unwanted pregnancy and trading sex for drugs.

McCormick was 14 when ``The Brady Bunch'' debuted on ABC, running from 1969 to 1974. Despite her role as a sunny Miss Perfect, she struggled privately with anxiety and insecurity, the youngest of four children born to a mercurial father who abused and cheated on their mother.

``As a teenager, I had no idea that few people are everything they present to the outside world,'' she writes in the book, published by William Morrow. ``Yet there I was, hiding the reality of my life behind the unreal perfection of Marcia Brady. ... No one suspected the fear that gnawed at me even as I lent my voice to the chorus of Bradys singing, `It's a Sunshine Day.'''

When ``The Brady Bunch'' ended, 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 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.


10/13/08 15:23 © Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

[catlover79]

When is the book being released again?? (Thanks for sharing the article, btw. )

[Ronny G]

Originally Posted by catlover79

When is the book being released again?? (Thanks for sharing the article, btw. )

Tomorrow (Oct. 14)

Here's her book-signing itinerary (courtesy of http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/8944/:

Maureen McCormick, star of “The Brady Bunch”, signing copies of Here’s the Story

* 10/14/08 1:00 PM at Barnes & Noble – Fifth Avenue. New York, NY.
* 10/15/08 7:00 PM at Bookends - East Ridgewood Ave. Ridgewood, NJ.
* 10/16/08 7:00 PM at Borders Books - North Michigan Avenue. Chicago, IL.
* 10/17/08 6:00 PM at Barnes & Noble – Mall of America. Bloomington, MN.
* 10/20/08 7:30 PM at Outwrite Books - Piedmont Avenue. Atlanta, GA.
* 10/21/08 7:00 PM at Davis-Kidd Booksellers - Green Hills Villager Drive. Nashville, TN.
* 10/22/08 7:00 PM at Book People - North Lamar. Austin, TX.
* 10/23/08 7:30 PM at Tattered Cover - 16th Street. Denver, CO.
* 10/24/08 7:00 PM at Changing Hands Books - South McClintock Avenue. Tempe, AZ.
* 10/27/08 7:00 PM at Book Soup - Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood, CA.
* 11/1/08 1:00 PM at WalMart – Grand Avenue. Chino, CA.

[Smartboy]

I am very happy to see that at least this page is getting some action. There are quite a few pages on this site in which it has been months since anyone other than me has posted anything! In any event, I am very happy about the book that should be arriving tomorrow. I will probably wait about a week for the novelty to wear down and then see about picking up a copy at Barne's and Noble. It should be a very interesting read!

[Scoobiedoo30]

is her Book Tour bring to New Orleanas.

[catlover79]

Cool! Thanks for the info - I'll see if my library has it.

[kenj28]

I rememeber hearing from one of my sisters that Maureen was said to be dating one of the Jackson 5 in one of the teen magazines.Back then it was not confirmed or denied.I see it was true. Can't wait to read the book.

[kooky12]

There are some more tidbits in the newspaper:

http://www.suntimes.com/entertainmen...rady14.article

[Ronny G]

I rememeber hearing from one of my sisters that Maureen was said to be dating one of the Jackson 5 in one of the teen magazines.Back then it was not confirmed or denied.I see it was true. Can't wait to read the book.

This article goes into more detail about her dates with Michael Jackson:

McCormick tells all about `Brady,' drug addiction

By ERIN CARLSON, Associated Press Writer Mon Oct 13, 6:38 PM ET

NEW YORK - Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.
ADVERTISEMENT

Fans of "The Brady Bunch" know Maureen McCormick as Marcia Brady, the wholesome older sister on the classic sitcom about a blended family. But in her new memoir, "Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice," the actress writes of her romance with TV sibling Barry Williams, who played Greg Brady, dates with Michael Jackson and Steve Martin, and her many addictions.

Things became hot and heavy while McCormick and Williams were filming episodes in Hawaii.

"We couldn't hold back any longer," she writes in the book published by William Morrow. "It was our first kiss, and it was long, passionate and deep. It was wonderful, too, though as we continued to kiss and press against each other so closely that we could feel each other's body heat, a part of me — a tiny part, admittedly — said to myself, `Oh my God! I'm kissing my brother. What am I doing?'"

Now 52, McCormick — who endured a battle with drug addiction and depression — also discusses her dates with Martin and Jackson. It was several years after "The Brady Bunch" ended that McCormick went out with Martin, who had asked for the actress' phone number through friend Chevy Chase.

"I remember him being a very good kisser," McCormick writes about Martin. "But I was insecure and either high or spaced out (most likely both), and I didn't laugh at his jokes.

"Though Steve was too polite and confident of his talent to say anything, I'm sure my inability to carry on a normal conversation or respond intelligently put him off," she writes. "We never spoke again after that date. I've always regretted my behavior because he impressed me as an extraordinary guy. I would've enjoyed a second date."

McCormick's time with Jackson was innocent. They met while she was starring on "Brady" and he was part of the Jackson 5.

"Once we went ice-skating and he held my hand as we glided around the rink," the book recalls. "I wondered if he might try to kiss me, but he didn't. After another outing, he did give me a kiss goodbye. But it was only a gentle peck on the cheek."

There were more men in McCormick's life, which spiraled downward into substance abuse and depression as she struggled to reconcile her Marcia Brady image of the girl next door with her private pain.

In the book, hitting stores Tuesday, she discusses cocaine binges and parties at the Playboy Mansion and the home of Sammy Davis Jr., an unwanted pregnancy and trading sex for drugs. McCormick was not available for comment on her book.

McCormick was 14 when "The Brady Bunch" debuted on ABC, running from 1969 to 1974. Despite her role as a sunny Miss Perfect, she grappled privately with anxiety and insecurity, the youngest of four children born to a mercurial father who abused and cheated on their mother.

"As a teenager, I had no idea that few people are everything they present to the outside world," she writes. "Yet there I was, hiding the reality of my life behind the unreal perfection of Marcia Brady. ... No one suspected the fear that gnawed at me even as I lent my voice to the chorus of Bradys singing, `It's a Sunshine Day.'"

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.

[Ronny G]

Originally Posted by kooky12

There are some more tidbits in the newspaper:

http://www.suntimes.com/entertainmen...rady14.article

Thanks, kooky12. I'm posting it here so we can discuss it:

A Brady girl lives to tell of downfall
BOOKS | McCormick bottomed out with sex, coke and Jacko

October 14, 2008
BY TERESA BUDASI Books Editor / tbudasi@suntimes.com

Marcia Brady never would have dated Michael Jackson, traded sex for drugs or partied at the Playboy mansion, but Maureen McCormick, who played the eldest daughter on the '70s sitcom "The Brady Bunch," did all of the above -- and more.

Salacious details abound in McCormick's new memoir, Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice (HarperCollins, 277 pages, $25.95). It makes Barry Williams' Growing Up Brady, where he recalled his pot smoking and girl chasing, look like Disneyland adventures.

McCormick nearly hit bottom with her drug abuse on the set of "The Brady Brides" in the early '80s, when in a quest for cocaine she ended up naked in front of the video camera of a guy she met at the Playboy mansion. The "Brady" producers didn't send her to rehab, but hooked her up with "shrink to the stars" Eugene Landy, who later was taken down over his negligent treatment of Beach Boy Brian Wilson. It would be a few more years before she found God, got clean, met her husband of more than 20 years, had a child and became happy again.

McCormick, 52, recalls these fun "Brady" facts:

• • She was awed by Florence Henderson's "terrific" figure and frequently witnessed her nude sunbathing. ("She had great boobs, too. And they were real!")

• • She fantasized about her TV dad Robert Reed and was the last to find out he was gay.

• • Co-star Eve Plumb was known to prance around naked in the dressing room they shared.

• • McCormick and Plumb "rebelled" in the final season by taping the show without bras.

[catlover79]

Does she mention whatever finally happened to her dad? (Remember her Dr. Phil appearance from last year?)

[Ohio8]

Here's the book's cover.

[Waterston_Fan]

I'm willing to bet she and her dad haven't made up.

But gosh, I'm not sure I want to get the book, sounds creepy!!

[Waterston_Fan]

Originally Posted by Ronny G

McCormick, 52, recalls these fun "Brady" facts:

• • She was awed by Florence Henderson's "terrific" figure and frequently witnessed her nude sunbathing. ("She had great boobs, too. And they were real!")

• • She fantasized about her TV dad Robert Reed and was the last to find out he was gay.

• • Co-star Eve Plumb was known to prance around naked in the dressing room they shared.

• • McCormick and Plumb "rebelled" in the final season by taping the show without bras.

She was awed by Florence Henderson's "terrific" figure and frequently witnessed her nude sunbathing. ("She had great boobs, too. And they were real!")

Sounds creepy!!!

Co-star Eve Plumb was known to prance around naked in the dressing room they shared.

McCormick and Plumb "rebelled" in the final season by taping the show without bras.

The trip to Cincinatti was probably in the 4th season but that explains why both girls boobs were flopping around when they were running to save their daddy's job.

[Ronny G]

I browsed through Maureen's book at a local bookstore. I didn't buy it because I plan on getting it when she does her Los Angeles book-signing. Pretty shocking stuff! Who knew???

I remember the big hoopla when Barry's book revealed that he took "mom" Florence on a date. Well, I think Maureen's book is ten times more shocking!

She credits her Brady Brides TV hubby for helping her quit drugs and finding religion.

She's also featured in this week's People magazine. It says Eve isn't speaking to her after Maureen joked on late night talk show that she and Eve kissed. It was an innocent kiss on the cheek--but that started all those tabloid rumors. I guess Eve didn't like the publicity.

Here's a recent pic of Maureen at Barnes & Noble book signing in New York on October 14, 2008: