Florence Henderson got a horrible makeover from the ''Star Trek'' makeup artist right before her ''Brady Bunch'' audition

Live long and Brady.

We all love to watch Florence Henderson as Carol Brady in The Brady Bunch, but very few of us know just what a long trek it was for Henderson to win that role.

According to Barry Williams's book, Growing Up Brady: I Was a Teenage Greg, Florence Henderson had originally declined to audition for the role of Carol because the timing of the screen test conflicted with her current nightclub act as a singer. Luckily, Florence was able to squeeze the audition in thanks to some very acrobatic time management on her part that would allow her to zip from Texas, where she was performing, over to Los Angeles. There she could audition for the role, and then, the same day, fly home to Texas where she would perform that night.

This already sounds incredibly difficult as is, but adding to the pressure was the fact that when Henderson arrived in Los Angeles, there was no one available to do her makeup for the screen test. She thought fast and quickly requested the help of a makeup artist on the set of Star Trek. 

Henderson said, "I was sitting in a makeup chair between William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and like six or eight space monsters. None of them had any idea who I was or made any attempt to be friendly, which really bugged me. Anyway, this makeup guy proceeded to put makeup on me which was absolutely unbelievable. Put it this way: Mr. Spock ended up looking more attractive than I did. It was awful!"

In Henderson's opinion, the makeup was too overdone for someone like Carol Brady to wear, and she was worried her look would cost her the role. Ever a trooper, Henderson decided that the best way was through, and during her audition with Sherwood Schwartz, she immediately made lighthearted fun of the situation.

She said, "I went to the Brady soundstage and I said to Sherwood, 'Look, I just want you to know that I think this makeup is all wrong for Carol Brady, or any other living human creature. So remember, when you see these eyelashes flapping around in the breeze, I think they look stupid too."

Luckily, Henderson's quips proved to Sherwood Schwartz that she was well apt to do comedy. In retrospect, Henderson said, "Maybe I should thank that terrible makeup man because, in a way, his botch job helped me get the part."

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8 Comments

IndianaRockz 8 months ago
Woulda been funny if she did the audition wearing Spock ears.
Runeshaper 8 months ago
It's funny how some things may seem odd, horrible, or silly at the time, but can also go in your favor (-:
bdettlingmetv 8 months ago
Sorry, I don't like it either when somebody drops a comment just to poo-poo on something, but this is rubbing me all the wrong way. She flies in with no prep (did she NOT have an LA-based agent to arrange this stuff?), gets squeezed in AS AN 11:59 PM FAVOR from a guy who makes up monsters and males, and then decides the world should know what a bad job it was. Since it all worked out in the end what does she actually have to complain about?

Sorry, I like her just fine and am happy for her accomplishments, so I will bid you all a hearty 'get off my lawn' and go be crotchety somewhere else.
Rick 8 months ago
Now that's a great bit of trivia.
Andybandit 8 months ago
Too bad she didn't win a role on Star Trek, if their makeup artist did her makeup. Glad she won the role on TBB.
KJExpress 8 months ago
It would have been interesting to see how bad she really looked.
IndianaRockz KJExpress 8 months ago
I don't understand how she couldn't just do her own makeup like every other female who wears makeup.
KJExpress IndianaRockz 8 months ago
I suppose it has to do with lighting and stuff. Maybe street make-up wouldn't be enough? Sounds like she couldn't have done any worse, though.
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