TORONTO — Florence Henderson, one of the most beloved TV moms ever, is celebrating her 80th birthday this Valentine’s Day.
Henderson became a pop culture icon by playing Carol Ann Brady on The Brady Bunch but she has worked steadily as a singer and actress for more than six decades.
At 80, Henderson is still appearing on television. She hosts Who’s Cooking With Florence Henderson on U.S. cable channel RLTV and she will guest star on Trophy Wife this year.
To celebrate Henderson’s milestone birthday, here are 10 fun facts about her.
• Henderson played Carol Brady 143 times on television between 1969 and 1990. She appeared in 117 episodes of The Brady Bunch, nine episodes of The Brady Bunch Hour, 10 episodes of The Brady Brides, the TV movie A Very Brady Christmas and six episodes of The Bradys.
WATCH: The opening theme for The Brady Bunch.
• Henderson was in Norway filming the movie Song of Norway when she found out that she landed the role of Carol Brady. Unable to return to Hollywood immediately, the first few episodes of The Brady Bunch were filmed without Henderson and her scenes were filmed later and edited into the episodes.
• Henderson played Carol Brady’s mother in the 1995 big screen comedy The Brady Bunch Movie, in which Shelley Long played Carol Brady.
• Henderson is the second-oldest surviving member of the original cast of The Brady Bunch. Ann B. Davis, who played Alice the housekeeper, is 87. Barry Williams (Greg) is 59; Christopher Knight (Peter) is 56; Mike Lookinland (Bobby) is 53; Maureen McCormick (Marcia) is 57; Eve Plumb (Jan) is 55; and Susan Olsen (Cindy) is 52. Robert Reed, who played Henderson’s husband Mike Brady, died in 1992 at 59.
WATCH: Florence Henderson performs “I Have To Tell You” in 1954.
• Henderson was the youngest of 10 children born to Elizabeth and Joseph Henderson of Indiana.
• In real life, Henderson is a mother of four — sons Joseph and Robert, daughters Barbara and Elizabeth — with her first husband, Ira Bernstein. Henderson divorced Bernstein in 1985 after nearly three decades of marriage. In 1987, she married John Kappas, who passed away in 2002.
WATCH: Florence Henderson performs with Dean Martin.
• In 1962, Henderson became the first woman to guest host The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
• Henderson spent one season on the Today Show as the “Today Girl,” where she did lifestyle reports and the weather. Among those who followed her in the position was Barbara Walters.
WATCH: Florence Henderson appears in a commercial for Wesson oil in 1986.
• Henderson appeared regularly on Hollywood Squares and on such game shows as The $25,000 Pyramid, Weakest Link and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire — where she won $32,000 for charity. She also competed on Dancing With The Stars in 2010 (she and Corky Ballas were the fifth pair to be eliminated). She also appeared on a special episode of The Price is Right in 2012.
• Henderson is a longtime friend of Shirley Jones, who played mom Shirley Partridge in the 1970-74 series The Partridge Family. Jones, who turns 80 next month, reportedly turned down the role of Carol Brady.
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