My Rundown of Florence Henderson's Book Signing in NYC

[JamesG]

I went to the book signing that Florence Henderson was doing in NYC (B&N on 82nd and Broadway) for her memoir Life Is Not a Stage on 9/23/11.

The event was due to begin at 7pm and Florence showed up a little bit late, maybe 10 minutes after 7. When she arrived everyone screamed.

She got on the microphone and gave a brief intro saying that she had just come off doing Jimmy Fallon, whom she said "is an absolute doll" and told everyone to tune in for her interview later on that evening.





Then the event was open to questions from the audience. The Q&A really didn't last that long, maybe 10 minutes, so here is the basic rundown:



The first question asked was how Tiny Tim's wedding went?

Florence called the Tiny Tim wedding event on Johnny Carson "the most bizarre event of my entire career." She said that during the event Johnny Carson was rolling his eyes at her and Phyllis Diller going like, "What's going on here?"







Someone then asked how she got involved with doing the commercials for Wesson cooking oil.

She simply said that she was contacted by a company rep. about the job and she accepted it. She said she did it for twenty years from 1976-1996.

She then explained that doing those commercials was not easy. She told the crowd, "You try running in the kitchen with a plate of fried chicken, chewing off a piece, holding the bottle up making sure all of the letters get in the frame, and then doing the 'Wessonality' jingle in all less than 60 seconds."



She then talked about one of her other commerical gigs - Polident denture cleaner.

She said that a friend of hers had asked her why she did those commercials if she has all of her own teeth.

Her responce was, "Bitch, if you saw my paycheck you would pull out all of your teeth."







Then someone in the crowd said she was an acting teacher and asked if Florence could give advice or any words of wisdom to the young people who want to act today.

Florence said that show-biz is a tough biz and you have to be able to accept a lot of rejection. There are a lot of tough people in this business.

She then gave what she calls her best piece of advice, "The people around you may be tough, but you should not become tough yourself. You should keep your level of humanity. That's very important."







Someone then asked what was her experience like from doing the motion picture Song of Norway?

She said that she loved doing that movie and that it was great to get to work with Robert Morley and Edward G. Robsinson. She said that both men "were gentlemen."







Then an older woman commented on how fantastic she looks for her age and asked her what she does to look like how she does?

Florence said that she trains with a personal trainer 3x a week.

She also mentioned that she wears very little make-up, does not use soap to wash her face, and puts on a little moisturizer around the time before she goes to bed.







The last question asked was, of course, about "The Brady Bunch". Someone asked what all of the kids are up to today?

She said that she just had dinner two days ago with Barry Williams and his son. She said that Barry's son looks just like how his father did when he was on "The Brady Bunch".

She said that Eve Plumb has moved to New York City and mentioned that she still paints and that she recently wrapped up her Off-Broadway production Miss Abigail's.

She said everyone is doing good except for Chris Knight at the moment (his marriage break-up).



She then asked the crowd if anyone had been to any of the Brady Kids' recent autograph events (at the conventions) and a few people said they did.

A few people commented from their seats on how friendly the cast was at the signings and Florence said that they "appreciate all of 'The Brady Bunch' fans."









Then the session was now closed and Florence stepped down from the podium to head over to the signing table.

When I got up to her to get my book signed I asked her why she wanted to release her memoir now. She told me that she had been approached to do it before but she didn't really see the need for it at the time. She then told me, "It was now the time for the truth to be revealed." and she winked at me.





Here is my signed copy of Florence Henderson's Life Is Not a Stage:

[Marvo301]

Thanks for the report James! Florence sounds like a very nice, down to earth person!

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by Marvo301

Thanks for the report James! Florence sounds like a very nice, down to earth person!

Glad you liked it.

This was one of my favorite book signings, Florence was great.

[IllinoisTVFan]

That sounds like a great time. I've heard nothing but great things about her. When she did Dancing With The Stars everyone on the cast thought she was very nice and she was one of those they didn't want to see leave.

[70s show watcher]

glad that you had a good time