‘Brady Bunch' Star Says It Took 15 Years to Make Peace With Fame After Hit '70s Sitcom
Barry Williams revealed it took him years to fully embrace his fame from The Brady Bunch. The actor, who played eldest son Greg on the classic ABCsitcom from 1969 to 1974, appeared on The Magnificent Others With Billy Corgan, where he admitted he struggled with his Brady persona for more than a decade after the original series wrapped.
Williams, 71, told Corgan that while he is graceful when fans call him "Greg" 50 years post-Brady, the moniker wasn't always so well received.
"That wasn't always the case," he admitted. "In the beginning, being called Greg made me feel like they didn't know me and that somehow it was a threat to my identity. [It felt like] a non-acknowledgement as well. I mean, it's nice to be recognized, but you know it is, after all, a character in [a sitcom]."
"But at some point I came to understand it was less about it being about me and more about what they're experiencing, what they're seeing, and what their intention is," Williams continued. "And it wasn't meant to be offensive. It wasn't meant to disregard me."
Williams noted that it took several years of self-reflection before he made peace with being referred to by his TV persona. "I was probably, you know, into my 30s," he shared. "So, maybe 10 years, 15 years after the [show]."
Because The Brady Bunch remains so "safe" and comforting to so many, Williams noted that fans consider him family. "They want to invite me to dinner," he told Corgan. "They literally consider me part of my part of part of their family."
The actor shared that when he goes to breakfast at a local café, people sit down and start a conversation with him as if they've known him for years. "And they pick right up in the middle," he shared. "'So great seeing you. You have plans today? Have you seen that show down the street?' You know, and they'll just pick it up in a conversation. So there's that kind of familiarity."
"There's a privilege in that if you have a good attitude about it," he added. "Because it's like having friends everywhere you go. If you like people, it's terrific. So that you come in and you start at a completely different level with someone, and it's easier to kind of cut through. And the Brady thing only lasts so long and then you're, you know, talking."
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Williams previously revealed that he made peace with The Brady Bunch in the late 1980s when the cast reunited for the highly rated made-for-TV movie, A Very Brady Christmas.
"I really enjoyed it," he told the Ashbury Park Press, per MeTV. "For me, that was when I made peace with The Brady Bunch. When the network had us back."
"To me, it meant that we had kind of transcended just being a little ditty from the '70s that was totally inconsequential," The Brady Bunch star explained. "And it means that there was a viewer loyalty that we had kind of survived the test of time. At that point, I could kind of just let it be. It kind of legitimized the early series for me, and then we had fun filming it."
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This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 2:41 AM.