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Susan Olsen's parents tried to get her to quit show business as a child
Olsen's dream was to go into acting, but it wasn't a dream her father shared.
Even with all of the glitz and glamor, there are downsides to fame, like everything. For example, sometimes an excess of success can bring out the worst in people, and if you're a child star, there's nothing worse than living with a show parent. While show parents are determined to make their child a star, it can sometimes come at the cost of the mental and emotional wellness of the child.
We all believe that show business is the place to make your dreams come true, but nobody talks about what you have to give up. For many children, they are forced to give up any semblance of normalcy in their lives, a shift that can be even more daunting if their parents have more passion for the dream than they do.
Because so many of the actors in The Brady Bunch were children, it's natural to be nervous about such young people growing up in the spotlight. However, Susan Olsen, known as Cindy Brady, was lucky enough to have parents who were constantly looking out for her best interests and her own happiness.
In an article in The Spokesman-Review, Olsen is quoted as having told Fox News, "A lot of those sad stories you hear about concerning child stars are really the product of parents who pushed their kids into the business."
Luckily, Olsen's parents weren't trying to shove her into acting — in fact, it seems that they were more concerned with attempting to keep her out of it. The actor said, "I had a father who was constantly trying to bribe me to get out of it... He wanted me to just go to school and be a regular kid. My parents were not pushing me at all. I had to fight for my right to stay in."
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