Susan Olsen revealed she almost quit “The Brady Bunch” during its heyday in the 1970s, but it wasn’t because she didn’t like acting. The former child star appeared on the ABC sitcom from 1969 to 1974, playing youngest sibling Cindy Brady for all five seasons. But Olsen’s time on the popular series was almost cut short due to her father’s concerns about her growing fame.
Speaking with People magazine in an August 2025 interview, Olsen, 64, revealed that her father, Lawrence, did not embrace the fandom she received during the height of the show’s popularity more than 50 years ago.
“I had situations where I got mobbed by fans,” Olsen recalled. “People would find out where I lived, and we’d be having dinner, and they’d be looking in the dining room window. My dad hated that we’d go out to eat at a restaurant, and people would come up. He was really, really, really not into fame.”
She continued, “He started trying to bribe me to get out of the show. He thought the whole thing was too unnatural, and so, he’d tell me, ‘We’ll get you a horse and riding lessons at Foxfield [Riding School]. Just quit this show.’ And I’m thinking, we can’t afford a horse, let alone Foxfield. Like yeah, that’ll last a year, and then I’ll have no horse and no TV shows.”
Susan Olsen Admitted She Considered Quitting ‘The Brady Bunch’
Getty ImagesOlsen previously admitted that she did consider leaving “The Brady Bunch” after a scary interaction with fans when she attended a high school drama production. In a 2023 interview with Fox News, she said, “I got recognized in the audience and I got mobbed. They had to call the police to get me out. It was this huge crowd of people. I’d seen a grownup who [said], ‘Oh look, her little face is red. She can’t breathe – here, sign one more [autograph].’ It was very, very frightening. I didn’t like it. I was ready to quit the show.”
She ended up staying on the show but noted that her parents didn’t push her into acting “at all.” In fact, it was the other way around. “I had to fight for my right to stay in, to be part of the show,” Olsen shared, before revealing that she was able to come to an understanding with her father.
“I remember telling my dad, ‘I understand you think my life is abnormal now, but do you think it’s going to do me any good to see that there’s a show on Friday nights that I used to be in, and I’m not in it anymore? That’s going to be pretty awful, too,’” she said.
Susan Olsen’s ‘Brady Bunch’ Brother Helped Support His Family
Getty ImagesIn addition to Olsen, “The Brady Bunch” starred Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, Ann B. David, Barry Williams, Maureen McCormick, Christopher Knight, Eve Plumb, and Mike Lookinland.
Unlike Olsen, whose father tried to bribe her to quit the show, Knight, who played middle brother Peter Brady, recently revealed that his family relied on his income from “The Brady Bunch.”
In a June episode of The Real Brady Bros podcast, Knight, 67, revealed that “The Brady Bunch” helped his family survive. “Literally, there might not have been a way to exist where we were without some way of making those [household] payments,” the actor said. “I just think [the show] gave us the resources to pay the rent.”
