Robert Reed was a cunt to John Travolta during filming of "Boy in the Plastic Bubble"

"It would be years later, probably 10 years later, until I saw him again at my office," said Thurm. "We were casting a cop series called ‘The Devlin Connection’ and he was there. Fortunately, he had no idea who I was, which was just fine with me!"

Hudson passed away in 1985 at age 59 from complications of AIDS. Reed later died in 1992 at age 59. His death certificate indicated he was infected with HIV. In their lifetimes, both men kept their sexuality a secret, knowing it would have derailed their thriving careers.

Over the years, Thurm was involved with several iconic TV shows and films, such as "Rocky Horror Picture Show," "The Golden Girls," "Family Ties" and "Miami Vice." He’s also met numerous stars on the rise along the way. But it was Travolta, who Thurm met when the actor was just 17 years old, that left a lasting impression on him.

"I remembered when he walked into my office in New York – this was before anything," Thurm recalled. "He was just a polite, charming and incredibly handsome young man - he was a star right from the beginning. Even though he was from New Jersey and his name ends in a vowel, he was nothing like the character he would play, Vinnie Barbarino, in ‘Welcome Back, Kotter.’ John Travolta was just one of those people you met and instantly knew he was special, that he was going places."

"In that meeting, we talked about his aspirations," Thurm shared. "He told me that he really wanted to learn how to fly an airplane. It was just a wonderful meeting with this young man with dreams and ambitions. But it was only when he moved to California that things really began to move for him. And I wasn’t surprised. He had that star quality from the start."

While "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble" didn’t result in an Emmy nomination for Travolta, Thurm said it led to something much more important. It showed audiences and filmmakers that Travolta could act beyond sitcoms. After that film, Thurm and Travolta worked together in "Grease" and "Moment by Moment."

"What I hope readers get from my book – and it starts at the very beginning – nobody knows anything about how the casting process works," said Thurm. "Casting directors don’t choose the people who wind up with the parts. We suggest, cajole, hammer over the head, twist arms, and do anything that we can to convince the people who make the decisions. But we certainly don’t have the last word."

Robert Reed sounds like a nasty old queen.

He could have been a Datalounger.

Did they fuck?

[quote] Thurm said he went over to Reed’s dressing room in an attempt to smooth things over. That’s when things allegedly took a turn.

[quote] "Reed wound up storming into his dressing room, which, by the way, was equal in all respects to John’s," Thurm wrote. "I followed him and apologized, trying to explain, once again, our ridiculous schedule."

[quote] Thurm alleged he offered the grumpy star a back rub – one that turned into more.

[quote] "The deed that should not have been done got done," Thurm alleged. "I did leave him in a better mood, but Reed, who was professionally closeted, never looked me in the eye for the remaining few days of shooting and returned to being a pain in the ass…

What an awful person he sounds like.

Joel Thurm. Hmmm......

Does he have a relative named Nathan Thurm?

Sounds like everyone in that cast was gay.

Including the Casting Director.

In a 2000 ABC News interview, Henderson talked about Reed’s homosexuality, which she learned about while filming the “Brady” pilot, and explained some of the reasons behind his bad behavior on set.

“Here he was, the perfect father of this wonderful little family, a perfect husband. Off camera, he was an unhappy person — I think had Bob not been forced to live this double life, I think it would have dissipated a lot of that anger and frustration. I never asked him. I never challenged him. I had a lot of compassion for him because I knew how he was suffering with keeping this secret.”

Barry Williams and Susan Olsen said he hated himself because he was gay. But that's what he was but back then he had to hide it.

Funny though Hudson was a moviestar and just as scared of being outed(which when I was a boy a long time ago it was being discussed in the Sunday newspaper Parade magazine) you don't hear anything about him being the shit Reed was.

Robert Reed had absolutely no reason to be so snarky.

Rememeber the Summer Stock thread and the ambitious couple who bedded Travolta?

Does this mean Mike Brady was a bottom?! Years ago, I read here at Datalounge that only the receptive male partner could become infected with HIV.

It's more likely. Lots of gay men are vers, though.

R12 Oh well if you read it here, then medically it must be accurate!

Robert Reed really was too small of an actor to pull any diva shit, wasn't he?

Sounds like a delightful read.

'Robert Reed really was too small of an actor to pull any diva shit, wasn't he?'

Not according to him.

Wow, at R7.

Florence Henderson sounds like a lovely person.

Florence had good gaydar.

Two bottoms fighting

[quote]In a 2000 ABC News interview, Henderson talked about Reed’s homosexuality, which she learned about while filming the “Brady” pilot, and explained some of the reasons behind his bad behavior on set.

[quote]“Here he was, the perfect father of this wonderful little family, a perfect husband. Off camera, he was an unhappy person — I think had Bob not been forced to live this double life, I think it would have dissipated a lot of that anger and frustration. I never asked him. I never challenged him. I had a lot of compassion for him because I knew how he was suffering with keeping this secret.”

I can't help but wonder how other gay actors who were working during that same time -- playing straight characters while secretly gay in real life -- handled living the "double" life. I mean actors like Richard Deacon, Jim Nabors, Raymond Burr, Dick Sargent, etc. Did they manage it better than Reed or did they allow it to destroy their off-screen personalities in a similar way?

I can't think how a musical theatre actress would have good gaydar.

Reed was a piece of shit much of the time on the Brady Bunch set as well. He was constantly whining about the writing and the cheesy scenes he was required to do. I don't think many of the directors on that series cared much for him.

Acting like a diva on a relatively easy show that made you easy money is ridiculous. He couldn't just enjoy his time and the money? Most actors would have killed for a popular and still recognizable TV series regardless of how saccharine it was.

He may have been a pain but he wasn't unprofessional. They wouldn't have brought him back all those times if he was.

Being a pain in the ass on set and having sex with your casting director *is* unprofessional.

They brought him back because he had name recognition thanks to The Brady Bunch, not because of talent or professionalism.

It's Hollywood. Producers are willing to put up with almost anything and anybody if it'll make their production a success. Besides, it's the directors, costars & the crews who have to put up with these assholes day in a day out. The producers rarely set foot anywhere near the sets.

He would have been happier if he'd been out.

R28 Yes. It seemed he wasn't comfortable with his sexuality. And while obviously he couldn't be out to the public. He could have been out in his private life. He was an asshole though, so that would have made him a target for outing out of spite. The gays who are decent people would have more defenders.

Reed was just jealous of Travolta falling in love with Diana Hyland on that set.

Why isn’t Thurm’s book available on Kindle?

Reed was apparently exclusively into blond guys so I guess Thurm just blew him.

Most adult men aren't blond unless it's dyed. So that's a very narrow selection.

Does he out John Travolta?

Reed felt he deserved a lot better than appearing on a lousy hit sitcom. At least his contempt for what he was doing does not appear on the show and the child actors liked him quite a bit. His diva theatrics were kept for the production staff and producer. A golden TV gig and still miserable. Very lucky compared to most actors. He could have been in a jail known as a corporation.

Did Reed want The Brady Bunch to be more like All in the Family, Maude or Sanford and Son? Have topical issues and stuff. I don't think with a cast of kids and teens that would have worked as well. It was the last of its brand of family shows before Norman Lear took over. Funny thing is that the whole topic of two single - possibly divorced - parents marrying and blending their families was groundbreaking. Also the constant sexual tension between the older kids and they lived in a pretty diverse Southern California suburb with black, Hispanic and Asian kids in the background. But having Carol be a housewife with a live-in maid, an architect affording that home on a single salary and the relative harmony among the step siblings and calling their stepparents just "dad" of "mom" so seamlessly was unrealistic. But sitcoms weren't documentaries.

Reed's idea of realism was coming into the kitchen while Alice was cooking strawberries and instead of saying something like these strawberries smell good which was in the script not saying anything because cooking strawberries don't give off an odor. There was a big fight over this.

R35 He needed to smoke pot or do acid. That's ridiculous

Is it even true that "cooking strawberries don't give off an odor"? If Alice was cooking them down with sugar, as she would have been doing to make jam or some dessert, they certainly would have given off a delicious smell. Where did he get his notion?

There is an interview with that famous producer who created the show on youtube. I think he also did Gilligan's Island. According to him Reed made quite the to do over the strawberries. He was a huge pain in the ass.

^^He had that one experience with a tight blond trick who smeared stewed strawberries on his junk. Bob wasn't impressed.

The title of this thread is exactly why I read DL daily. Crafting a title that includes the words "Robert Reed" "John Travolta" "cunt" and "Boy in the Plastic Bubble" demonstrates the consistent genius of DLers. Thanks, OP!

Since were on the topic- we need to talk about HER-

[quote]Reed was apparently exclusively into blond guys

Blond, schmond. He was dying to suck some Tony Manero cock.

R34 the kids barely had any toys.

R31, you obviously haven’t been to Denmark.

R44 The US isn't Denmark though.

Wouldn't 'Robert Reed was a giant cunt', be sufficient?

Strawberries, when cooked with sugar, do give off an odor, one that might make you say, "Those strawberries smell good."

Even without being cooked, very fresh, ripe June strawberries from the back yard have a heady scent.

Please tell me someone cunted right back to Reed, "I guess we'll defer to you, since you are the expert on fruits."

[quote] Reed was apparently exclusively into blond guys so I guess Thurm just blew him.

Never heard that. In fact, when I moved to here 30 years ago I knew a Black queen who claimed to have been a steady companion of Reed's. Although he made up a lot of other shit, so...

Don’t be an idiot, R45.

My point is that there is such a thing as a natural blond/blonde. R31 made the inane claim they don’t exist.

I might be confusing Robert Reed with Rock Hudson and Robert Conrad, who apparently favored blond guys.

R49 No I didn't. I said "Most adult men aren't blond unless it's dyed. So that's a very narrow selection." That's not the same as no adult is blond. I'm just saying it's rare especially in The US where most white people aren't Danish but a mix of different European ethnicities.

Someone should have said "Robert, you twat, this ain't The Royal Shakespeare Company".

But he was a fine actor, nominated for Emmys three times (all post "Brady Bunch"): 1976, 1977 Support in "Rich Man Poor Man", "Roots" and, most memorably" lead guest appearance in "Medical Center" as Dr. Pat Caddison, undergoing Sexual Reassignment.

I think he was a good actor too. Mike Brady was a warm and caring father and did seem in love with Carol. That may have been his own personal fondness for the cast. Whatever bitchy queeniness he possessed didn't come across at all in The Brady Bunch

All that sexual tension. One elder fag who just wanted to fuck the shit out of a young blooming bisexual fag who was just trying to please a man who he assumed was straight. And both closet cases.

Side note: Diana Hyland played the mother of John Travolta's character in the movie, and was supposedly dating John for a period (18 year age difference). Diana died of breast cancer the following year. Was the romance all made up as a cover up or real?

Did he have the nerve to out Travolta or does he cover for him?

R55 Yo every woman he touches dies of cancer. Is his frequency off? Perhaps, sacrifices?

I saw Robert Reed on Broadway in a play called “Doubles” He was naked in a locker room scene, while he was no Jesse Williams, he had a sizable cock.

Robert Reed sounds like a Grade A Bossy Bottom Rotten Cunt!

He wasn't disliked by his fellow actors.

R54 is crude

Fuck pissy old Reed. I want gossip from the Rocky Horror Picture Show!

Shades of Orson Welles being a cunt while recording the infamous "frozen peas" voiceover.

But Welles had had an illustrious and brilliant career, and it was such a comedown to have to do boring and crass commercials.

Reed, on the other hand, was no wunderkind, and he just got lucky when he was cast on a silly sitcom that's been loved by generations. He thought it was beneath him. Fuck that -- he read the script. No one forced him to accept the role. He could have held out for Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, but he went for the money, then was pissy about it for the rest of his life.

" Bob, we aren't doing Shakespeare here "

The producers were accommodating Travolta's "Welcome Back, Kotter" schedule. Robert Reed was not impressed, just as he was not impressed with his own Brady Bunch gig.

RR was probably jealous of Travolta's youth, good looks, career, popularity.

AND I think RR probably was attracted to Travolta.

I was surrounded by homosexuals on that set! Thank God I had Diana Hyland to protect me from them and their designs upon my nubile hot body.

[quote] He wasn't disliked by his fellow actors.

That's an important point. They saw he was difficult, but the child actors who played the Brady kids adored him, and so did Florence Henderson. Ann B. Davis did not say nice things about him, but I am sure she was afraid he'd be outed and she'd be next.

R63, that animated bit is hilarious

The Orson Welles voiceover is hilarious. I can't hear him using his deepest angry voice without thinking of Pinky and the Brain.

I don't know if Florence adored RR. I think she understood him, but also understood that they were all lucky to be taking home a paycheck.

But yes, the 6 kids (child actors) did seem to like him.

[Quote]Is it even true that "cooking strawberries don't give off an odor"? If Alice was cooking them down with sugar, as she would have been doing to make jam or some dessert, they certainly would have given off a delicious smell. Where did he get his notion?

I wanted to smell cookies, dammit.

No one hates a gay man like another gay man

[quote]Someone should have said "Robert, you twat, this ain't The Royal Shakespeare Company".

I did, but it came out Thakethpeare, and everyone just laughed at me.

Robert Reed's episode of Biography was pretty sad. He was briefly married early on and lost custody of his daughter because he was gay. He was a closet case who drank and spent his whole life in the closet.

R55 I believe Travolta is truly bisexual. He was devastated when Diana Hyland died. If I recall correctly she won a posthumous acting award and Travolta accepted it for her and gave an emotional speech.

Considering they seemed to exist in a kind of squeaky-clean, day-glow parallel universe, I suppose you could say the whole Brady family was in plastic bubble.

[quote] Someone should have said "Robert, you twat, this ain't The Royal Shakespeare Company".

[quote] I did, but it came out Thakethpeare, and everyone just laughed at me.

Thee you on the thee thaw, Thindy!

Slightly off topic on blondes, my maternal grandfather and youngest uncle were (both deceased), but they went white by 50. It's possible without die.

How could he not be?

Who cares if he was a "cunt" to John Travolta? John Travolta is a cunt; he deserved to be treated like one.

r80 it's been the trend of the last decade (well, more than usual) to make the living look better as victims by trashing the dead and unable to defend themselves. ... victim vultures hope it'll turn into new fame.

There was plenty nasty things written about Reed while he was alive, of course but all this carries a different tone, doesn't it?

I think the wardrobe and perm were enough to put a hair across the most respectable of thespians.

^ put a hair across the ass.

Robert Reed made many TV movies and guest appearances in the 1970s and always had resting bitch face and seemed prickly and irritable. I vividly remember feeling that way watching him in Roots. It made me uncomfortable that the nice father from The Brady Bunch seemed unpleasant and rude in everything else.

Where was Susan Olsen's Phaedra? Her Lady Macbeth?

R42- Tony Manero was over a year away.

You mean he was dying to suck some Vinnie Barbarino COCK.

Why did he insist on that silly perm?

[quote]Robert Reed had absolutely no reason to be so snarky.

HAVEN'T YOU HEARD HE WAS AN HOMOSEXUAL?!?!

Jim Nabors by his own account (as in interviews later in life) said he always knew he was gay and didn't take (much) particular effort in hiding that fact. While not out and proud compared to today but not exactly cowering in some closet.

IMHO that's what it all comes down to doesn't it? Jim Nabors, Jack Larson, Hayden Rorke along with a surprising other good number of Hollywood actors were happy with themselves as gay men.

OTOH you had Paul Lynde, Robert Reed, Tony Perkins and others who were bitter nasty self loathing queens. I'll give you these men all were born and raised at a time when being gay was usually up there on sin scale, something to be ashamed of and so on. But again others managed to get over it.

R65 I think you have it. But much more than jealousy it was resentment. Resentment can breed envy which is different from jealousy. Support out actors.

He had the perm because it was a popular look for men in the ‘70s. Also, Greg (Barry Williams) had curly hair and they did match on the Brady Bunch.

r41, Nothing to talk about here Hun! I am Strictly Dickley. I hunt Trouser snake!

I don't understand why the casting director was hanging around set and going to meet with actors AFTER they have been cast. That's not what casting directors do.

Nor should they be fucking the talent.

I've never bought the Travolta-Hyland Love Affair bullshit story. It feels very manufactured. I think they were close friends and Travolta was upset when she died but Travolta as a heterosexual is just not really a buyable story....or, even "bi-able".

There are bi actors out there but Travolta has always seemed like a 100% Homo who had the cover relationships and even a couple kids just to keep up appearances but never actively pursuing pussy.

"That's not what casting directors do."

Casting directors need loving to you know...

R94, I am completely with you on that: No matter how convincingly distraught he was when he accepted the Emmy on her behalf for "Bubble" - he's an actor!

It definitely was a look r91.

Travolta is one of the greatest lovers my friend Cheryl experienced. She came over 30 times.

Attractive men who are gay have a different experience from the Jim Nabors types.

R94 r96 I agree with you both. This was the 1977 article that cemented their “doomed romance.” At that time People Magazine was very influential and was everywhere. It was the only semi-respectable publication for celebrity news. We didn’t even have the evening ET-type TV shows. Re-reading it now, it seems like typical fan magazine, publicist generated bullshit.

R94- It’s as buyable as Richard Simmons being into PUSSY.

Reed trained as a Shakespearean actor and hoped to make a career as such. For him, being Mr Brady all the time was a failure.

He was never going to make it as a Shakespearean actor unless he was going to work for peanuts touring schools in the 70s. He made a very clear choice so he was very angry at himself though it was no mistake. He made the right choice.

I was going to see Doubles again with the new cast but it was such a mediocre play I didn't think I could get through it again. Seeing Austin Pendleton frontal was not a pretty sight, But I would very much like to have seen Robert Reed and especially Charles Repole. I did see Reed walking on 8th Av during the run with that hideous hair, smoking a cigarette and looking very tired and unhappy. He was so handsome in Star!

Florence says she got paid a lot for her Wesson oil (Wessonality) commercials. She made the most of the Brady Bunch.

Meanwhile, Bob Reed sulked and accepted pacifier blow jobs in his trailer.

John Travolta is not a fag, and I'm the dame who can prove it! I can tell you the day, date, time and give a graphic description of those blue eyes looking up at me as he chowed down on my minge!

In an episode of Hotel Reed played a man who is outed when his wife catches him in the shower with a man. Was Reed's bitchiness the reason Deidre Hall refused to wear a red ribbon?

Bob was extra cunty for signing on to do ALL the Brady reunions until his death.

R105 you remember every moment of him eating your minge.

I prefer the Rifftrax version.

You have to question what Bob deems "quality" programming when the Brady Bunch Hour was the only show that Bob ever did where he not make a complete cunt of himself behind the scenes. And THAT show was awful.

Robert Reed could have been a Datalounger.

No doubt about it.

Jesus, how many "perm" trolls are there?

R93, Joel Thurm was also a producer of THE BOY IN THE PLASTIC BUBBLE so he was there throughout the filming.

Stella Stevens is dead.

Know your lines. Hit your mark!

I met Robert Reed in 1992, right before he passed. He still had a perm. He was in a play and was lovely. I can't remember the name of it - it's the one where there are two actors and they just sit and read from the script. Lots of old famous actors toured with it. He signed my Playbill and wasn't a cunt at all. I was in college and had no idea he was sick. I did know he was gay, I guess gaydar? The play was awful, but he was great.

Even Alice thought so R110

I really hate perms on men.

He looked so much more handsome with short, straight hair.

Alice was a BULL DYKE!

Looking at them side-by-side, it's no wonder Reed was jealous of Travolta.

Bitter old queens don't care for young princesses grabbing all the attention.

It's a tale as old as time.

He actually was bald due to too many perms.

I think some of you are overstating his "impossible" personality. He wouldn't have all those credits if he were as big a pain as he's painted here.

"Love Letter,s" r116?

*Letters,

R123 See Brady Bunch, final episode

Lies, R122!

Is that the one set in Hawaii? With Vincent Price?

[quote]Robert Reed was a cunt to John Travolta during filming of "Boy in the Plastic Bubble"

And John has been a cunt to every man who's fucked him.

That's how loveless sex works everywhere.

[quote] And John has been a cunt to every man who's fucked him.

By all accounts, John Travolta is very well liked in Hollywood.

Anyone who has ever worked with him has had good things to say.

We don't have nice things to say about him

R128, No, Vincent Price appeared in 2 Hawaii episodes Season 4 (series ended Season 5). Price & Reed, two tall (6'3', 6'4") blue-eyed talented handsome actors - wonder if they had any scenes together in the show?

No. I forbade it.

Robert Reed refused to appear in the final episode of the Brady Bunch, the one when Greg's hair turns orange before he graduates. Unfortunately, he did not voice any problems with the script until the first day of shooting. Sherwood Schwartz basically told him to fuck off and wrote him out of the script.

So he didn't actually refuse. He was written out.

And then R134, Bob showed up on set to watch the taping of the episode he wanted no part of. Such a weird man.

R135 Bob refused to appear in the episode unless major changes were made to the script. Sherwood said it was too late, and informed Mr. Reed he would not be paid for the episode. Bob flinged his caftan in a huff and stormed out.

Bob didn't like the plot: too outlandish (Greg's hair dye).

FLUNG his caftan! Oh dearing myself

Robert Reed sounds like a total nightmare.

It's no surprise he couldn't get hired after the Brady Bunch.

The episode where Greg's hair turned orange was one of my favorite. I loved how Greg was embarrassed to be seen in a salon and they had to work on him in a backroom. I guess only ladies went to salons back then.

Of the two at the same age. No contest. Robert Reed. Travolta wasn't my type at all. I did see him once on stage and he was funny and talented but he did nothing for me.

Mr. Reed DID work after that horrid family show!

He was an act-uh!

He was on a TV movie (post-Brady Bunch). It was some type of teen movie and he played a bad guy, like a teacher / child molester. It was weird seeing Mr. Brady in that role, but he played it pretty well. (He was a good bad guy.)

He also made a big stink about the "realism" of the Pay Phone episode, first season. (Mike installs a pay phone in the family room to teach the kids a lesson about the phone bill/usage). Lloyd Schwartz told a funny story about it on the Real Brady Bros podcast.

In addition to feeling that it was a completely over-the-top reaction on Mike's part (and nobody would ever really do that)...Reed argued that legally, the phone company COULDN'T do that. No city/municipality would EVER allow the phone company to install a pay phone inside a private residence -- there are ordinances about those things, etc. They went back & forth, and Reed said something to the effect: "You can't name ONE city in this country that would allow that -- not ONE!"

So...Sherwood had someone look into that because now he was curious, and hoped to shut-up Reed. And sure enough, there WAS a city in Southern California which allowed it. He walked up to Reed on set the next day & informed him: "The City of Santa Monica allows pay phones in private residences. The Bradys live in Santa Monica."

Obviously, this was never stated/acknowledged on-screen. Although it was pretty obvious that they were in Southern California, Sherwood wanted the Bradys to be representative "Anywhere, USA" -- not associated with a particular city like Los Angeles. But for the purposes of shutting up Robert Reed... 4222 Clinton Way was in Santa Monica.

Bob Reed also refused to appear in the old Hollywood/pie throwing scene with the rest of the cast.

Bob's costars on Mannix said he was every bit the prima donna on that show that he was on the Brady Bunch, despite his being in his dramatic element.

R106- Wasn't River Phoenix into the COCK a bit too?

Ha! Bob Reed was an only child. Mother was a homemaker.

Original name: John Robert Rietz, Jr.

I never looked at him after I found out he was queen priss pot

Imagine having to be totally closeted and pretend you're straight. Imagine hating yourself for being gay because you think it's abnormal. The gay men from Reed's era had to live through hell every day. I can understand why Reed was the way he was in regards to being not the nicest person to be around.

Years ago a DLer claimed to have been picked up by Robert Reed around the time Reed was on the Brady Bunch. It happened at some bar in Southern CA, don't remember the name. The poster was a twink at the time

[quote]Robert Reed was a cunt to John Travolta

So John Travolta fucked Robert Reed?

I never knew Robert Reed was gay until it came out that he had died of AIDS in 1992.

I was shocked!

Reed took all six kids on an all expenses paid trip to England because he wanted them to visit Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare’s birthplace) and to see a Shakespeare play. And, oh yeah, they went over there on the Queen Mary. I know…MARY! I bet Bob had his fun with male members (pun intended) of the cabin crew and cruise entertainers.

I can't believe RR died over 30 years ago.

Had he lived, he would be 91 this year.

R154- Alec Baldwin is gay

Are you SHOCKED?

I would be, R157.

Definitely.

What are you trying to say?

Reed did an episode of Wonder Woman where he played a man who was spreading a plaque. Of course Wonder Woman saved everybody's ass, including his.

I wonder if Reed flounced onto the said and said to Lynda Carter "girl, that costume is FABULOUS!"

[quote] Reed did an episode of Wonder Woman where he played a man who was spreading a plaque.

He should have brushed his teeth more.

Plaque buildup is horrible!

I don’t mean to shit in the punch bowl, but Robert Reed DID NOT have a perm. He just happened to live through the era that men’s hairstyles got long enough that he didn’t have to fight his curly hair anymore.

Doesn’t mean it looked particularly good on him, but it was natural.

R161 Bob had a bonafide perm circa 1973

R161, that’s *not* the curly hair people are talking about. We’re talking about later seasons of BB.

Reed took all six kids on an all expenses paid trip to England because he wanted them to visit Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare’s birthplace) and to see a Shakespeare play. And, oh yeah, they went over there on the Queen Mary. I know…MARY!

Also....didn't he gift them all with Super 8 cameras for that trip? (or maybe prior?). Do you remember "Brady Home Movies"?

Reed got a little too skinny (pre-AIDS). The longer hair emphasized that.

^^Oh god now the Brady bunch Robert Reed stans are taking over what was a funny thread.

He had very curly hair but usually brushed and sprayed it to look straight-ish. - you can see how his hair in the pics at OP and R118 isn’t naturally straight. He simply let his freak flag fly in the later BB seasons.

Everyone assumed, then and now, that it was a perm — but many longer articles about the show usually discuss the hair-thing at some point.

The white/grey suited him.

Barry Williams talks about their hair in “Growing Up Brady” and on the lecture circuit.

“ Barry opened his presentation with a few comically presented anecdotes about his experiences as a Brady. He talked about the bizarre clothing of the era and the unusual preference the Bradys had for green and orange. He also talked a bit about being cast as Greg Brady, which made his career take off and gave him a lifelong alter ego. He mentioned that originally, the mother and the girls were supposed to be the brunettes and the father and boys were to have the hair of gold. (Somehow “All of them had hair of gold, like their father” doesn’t sound quite right) Once Florence Henderson and Robert Reed were cast, however, the blond boys and brunette girls were ditched and the six kids that eventually became the Brady Bunch got selected instead. As he was talking about the whole color issue (hair, clothes, wallpaper) he showed a clip from the 1993 special called “Bradymania, a Very Brady Special”. The clip illustrated Robert Reed’s amazing hair transformation that took place over the course of the 5 year run. Remember the 1969 and 1970 episodes when Mike Brady had that really short, dark brown hair? In ‘71 his hair grew a little longer and in ‘72, those curls mysteriously appeared in his hair. It has long been rumored that Robert Reed and some of the other Brady men went out and got perms before the fourth season. The truth of the matter, according to Barry, is that Robert, himself, and Chris Knight had naturally curly hair that they had tried to tame for the first three seasons and eventually gave up all of the bizarre hair maintenance rituals they had to go through to keep it straight. Barry briefly mentioned Mike Lookinland’s encounter with Miss Clairol, which explained his dark hair at the beginning of the series, but the hair hassles Florence Henderson and Susan Olsen went through, though mentioned in the book, were not discussed in the presentation.”

I don’t believe him.

I don't believe him, either.

He's been acting since the late 1950s. You mean they kept straightening his hair, like for this 1961 film? Also many episodes from early 1960s TV series "The Defenders" also on YouTube - straight hair.

They also died actresses' hair. Allegedly.

*dyed

Perm or natural?

Here's Hawaii (instead of arid L.A.). Florence said it was natural.

"the unusual preference the Bradys had for green and orange."

My mom brought me a shirt that was peach and green and had a zipper closure. I called it my Brady Bunch shirt.

It was basically like the shirt in the picture except that gray/black parts were "acid" green.

This is the third or fourth (have lost count) DL thread in recent memory on Robert Reed. As with all previous things turn into a fucking debate about Mr. Reed's hair.

Robert Reed had thick wavy/curly hair as a child and young teen. By adulthood using various means those curls were smoothed out apparently.

You can see from pictures in link that when Robert Reed's hair was kept very short it was often straighter. Allowed to grow longer and waves or curls appeared.

Robert Reed did a semester at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. That explains his more serious acting ambitions.

Northwestern boasts a pretty extensive list of alumni who have gone onto great things in theatre, acting, communications, etc.. This includes that Markle woman along with Charlton Heston, Cloris Leachman, Stephen Colbert, Zach Braff, Jennifer Jones, Patrica Neal and DL fave Agnes Nixon

The correct answer is the MOOPS

I basically have the same type of hair. If cut short, it doesn't look curly at all. If I grow it out, it gets wavy and if I'm in heat and humidity, it gets very curly.

But, I'll also say I think Bob started using products in his hair during the BB run. The hair was very deliberately being styled that way and there had to have been product involved to get it to look that "set". It almost looks wiggy at times.

LOL....I just realized I wrote "If I'm in heat..." in the above post.

Well, that DOES make a difference how my hair looks...

If Robert Reed let his hair grow long enough he probably could have had a rocking Jewfro

In interviews after he came out Dick Sargent gave bit of insight to what being gay in Hollywood meant.

Being a relatively small world (Hollywood) as with same around world gays knew each other or at least of each other.

Dick Sargent said his career (such as it was) did not suffer greatly after he came out, but by doing so lifted a tremendous weight off his shoulders.

Robert Reed, Rock Hudson, Paul Lynde, Dick Sargent an rest of gays in Hollywood who were from generations born before WWII had to navigate a different world by say 1970's. Things were changing, but not fast enough and worse many just couldn't sort themselves out in their own heads.

R99

Jim Nabors as young teen and man wasn't bad looking. He was in fact a big ole slab of hot country meat.

Peter Brady made me all tingly.

Boy in the Plastic Bubble rocked my little gayling world. I remember watching it the night it aired, and was so upset when it was over. I wanted more of the story!. I was 7 years old.

Robert really was handsome as hell in his younger years and even early days of TBB.

He just hit the age wall - HARD - right in the middle of that run.

Jim Nabors was never hot. He had a particularly unattractive mouth. And his falsetto giggles were a boner killer.

R190 well SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE!

Saw him when he replaced Rober Redford in Barefoot in the Park...charmless, not funny.

I never particularly found Reed as anything but blandly good looking, but he looks insanely hot at r180!

Didn't he teach Shakespearian acting at UCLA at one point? (Reed I mean...not Travolta!)

He's here:

Reed did several eps of Mannix while also doing BB. Both were filmed at Paramount, and there was never a problem. He was a semi regular as Lt. Adam Tobias, and got along with Mike Connors. It was weird he did both. I met the actress Glynnis O'Connor once, and asked about Boy In The Bubble. She said even if she crushed on Travolta, it was apparent he bonded with Diana Hyland. Glynnis was getting over Robby Benson at the time.

[Quote] while also doing BB.

His Waterloo.

Reed was a horse's ass during the Defenders, according to E.G. Marshall.

^ When did he say that?

He doesn't say as much here.

Here's a list of clips where Reed is mentioned. John Amos is first. He describes Reed as a consummate professional.

On a readthrough with E.G. Marshall, William Shatner and Robert Reed, Ed Asner mentions that the first two were inaudible while Robert Reed was "wonderful, lovely and up there."

Paul Bogart: "[Robert Reed] was diligent. He worked hard."

John Amos: "Bobby sucked a mean dick, and took my BBC like a fuckin' champ!"

Charles S. Dubin (director, The Defender): "Robert Reed was good. Nice."

I just think that Reed was embarrassed by TBB, and didn't want to be there to begin with. He had come off The Defenders, which was considered a high class show, and he felt he was better than a stupid sitcom. (He probably would have been happy to do a smarter sitcom like MTM.) From what I gather, he did the pilot for the money, never believing it would get on the air. I understand him wanting to bring some sense of reality to the series, but he just came off acting like a cross between a prima donna and horse's ass.

Imagine if he had been cast as the Professor on Gilligan's Island and wanted to bring some sense of reality to that show? The Diva antics would have been off the charts.

[quote] he felt he was better than a stupid sitcom.

[quote] From what I gather, he did the pilot for the money

If true, then he was completely delusional.

If you're doing something for the money, then you are NOT better than the project you're working on.

The two go hand-in-hand.

Robert Reed just didn't want to admit it.

Then again, there are a lot of things he didn't want to admit.

Which is why he was such an angry cunt.

R208 - Reed did the silly pilot for the money because pilots paid fairly well, they were usually never seen by anyone other than network execs, and the chances of the one pilot you did during Pilot Season, out of the dozens and dozens that got made that year, actually getting picked up for the Fall Schedule were actually quite small.

To have that pilot turn into a show with I five year run is like getting hit by lightning.

To have that random pilot turn into a beloved cultural touchstone for the last half a century is like getting hit by lightning while walking in the moon.

But I imagine doing a pilot does not contractually obligate you to doing a season.

He could have left after the pilot, but if he did the pilot for money he was probably doing the season for money, all assuming the show would end after 8 or 13 episodes.

Agnes Moorehead wasn't thrilled with Bewitched. She did the pilot and first season believing series wouldn't last, but show became a hit so that was her sorted. Later on after Dick York was given the push not long afterwards Ms. Moorehead requested to be fewer episodes so she could pursue other work.

Way American sitcoms are done actors never know when something will be a hit. Usually only the pilot is done then if things go well rest of a season (IIRC) is shot. If all that goes well then comes shooting a second season and so forth.

While it can be done (as with Darrin Stephens) shows are loathe to swap out a one actor for another to do same major character. It would have been confusing to audiences if Robert Reed was replaced as Carol's husband in second or subsequent series I suppose rationale went. Otherwise there may have been a more of a risk suits would have told Robert Reed to take his Shakespearian acting and fuck off.

So I guess audiences responded so well to Reed's wholesome handsome American father from the beginning he got a generous contract which locked him in the show. And made him bitter. And wealthy.

Speaking of not being true to yourself why did Murial shut down the thread on the lying thieving non binary piece of shit after 24 posts? Yet we can trash that half-black, jewish, tubby lying republican queen until the cows come home.

What is her arcane reasoning?

R214 is a Republican troll.

Look you fucking dickhead, and I'm being nice, the thread was closed after 24 posts. Why? Because we were insulting a non binary lying piece of garbage. Murial in other words who closed it down is a vile piece of garbage just like you. Wallow in your lies like you wallow in the shit of bulls.

What is up with her crap of closing threads? What is she the trans Putin? Not Pretty.

r216 is just another bigot. And clearly a George Santos fan.

[Quote] Murial in other words who closed it down is a vile piece of garbage

Why are you giving Muriel content, then?

To call her out on closing down threads that she deems in her pea brained to not line up with her personal agenda. You can do that you know. Or maybe you don't.

Anyway, let's get back to the topic

Bob never recovered from missing out on this fabulousness:

Don't forget Robert Reed's tour de force performance as Supt. Dancer in "Nightmare in Badham County".

For those who've never seen Nightmare in Badham County it's about close to soft porn as network television got 1976. Lesbianism, rape.... it's all in there.

Is that real Jan or fake Jan at the Hollywood Bowl?

It's real Jan, Eve Plumb.

I never cared for the fake Marcias, Jans, Cindys on the revivals.

Jennifer Runyon was a prettier, sexier Cindy in the Christmas movie. She had also been on Another World with Chris Knight, and had dated him at that time.

Fake Jan was my least favorite, film/TV career after her appearance meager.

Is that a haiku?

Travolta was never in a romantic love with Diana Hyland. He adored her as a mother figure.

Robert Reed was unhappy that he didn't have a successful career performing prominent roles in quality dramas., and that he had to live the double life of a closeted gay man.

[quote] Barry Williams and Susan Olsen said he hated himself because he was gay. But that's what he was

Oh, dear.

If this was during Robert Reed's ill fated perm era, his cuntiness is completely understandable.

R14 That where the DL marketing tag line came from...

"Data Lounge. The doctor is in...your ass"