httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-JBJi3MfZI
Ms. Henderson defended the original television show from its detractors, who ridiculed it for its simplistic, impossibly wholesome plots and its idealized portrait of family life.
Photo Before the series, Ms. Henderson had built an impressive reputation with stage work.
On “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1955, she and John Raitt sang a duet, “People Will Say We’re in Love,” as part of a two-hour television tribute to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.In the 1950s and ’60s she appeared on music-driven series like “The Bell Telephone Hour,” “Oldsmobile Music Theater” and “The Dean Martin Show.” She also appeared on a 1958 audience participation series, “Sing Along,” and game shows like “The Match Game” and “Password.”
Florence Agnes Henderson was born on Feb. 14, 1934, the youngest of Joseph and Elizabeth Henderson’s 10 children, in Dale, Ind., near the Kentucky border.
Ms. Henderson recalled working from the age of 8, babysitting and cleaning other people’s homes, and sometimes singing a folk or country song in exchange for groceries.
Ms. Jones turned up as a sitcom mom with five children on “The Partridge Family” at the same time the Bradys were on the air.
With few if any music or variety series on the schedule, Ms. Henderson turned to guest appearances on a wide range of series, including “Medical Center,” “Ally McBeal,” “Happily Divorced” and “30 Rock.” She made multiple appearances on “The Love Boat” and “Fantasy Island,” which specialized in guest-star ensembles, and in television movies.
When prime time entered its reality-series phase, she found a place on “My Fair Brady,” which starred Christopher Knight and his girlfriend, and as a font of maternal wisdom on “The Surreal Life.” In 2007, she became the host of a Hollywood-talk show, “The Florence Henderson Show,” on the cable channel RLTV. She also appeared in television commercials for decades and refused to apologize for doing them, referring to the form as a serious acting challenge.
After a bad beginning in “Song of Norway”, a poorly received musical biography of the composer Edvard Grieg, Ms. Henderson made few feature films.