I've heard that they were barely speaking when he died, only Karen and a family friend/nurse visited him in his last weeks. How awful that her mom kept them apart.
From what I understand Robert was very young when he separated from his wife in his 20’s, I believe his daughter was an infant at the time. He allowed his daughter to be legally adopted by her stepfather. I think at the time he thought that was the best thing for his daughter. I believe I read a close friend stated he regretted that decision. He signed away his parental rights. Robert was so young I don’t know if he understood the implications of what he was doing. I don’t know this for a fact but it could be the ex-wife and stepfather had something to do with not letting her have a relationship with her dad. I remember seeing an interview with one of the Brady kids as an adult mentioning that after his daughter appeared in the Brady Bunch episode she was supposed to come back to California and spend the summer with Robert. For unknown reasons that visit never happened by all accounts he was upset about it. So sad. I hope Robert Reed has found peace he certainly faced a number of struggles in his life - as many of us do.
I think not having a relationship with his daughter was what was really at the root of his unhappiness. Both of them were missing a major piece of themselves and were ultimately robbed of a lifetime of memories. Reed’s story reminds me of Oscar Wilde. He spent years trying to conceal his sexuality but also didn’t have a relationship with his kids which no doubt affected him - he died extremely young aswell, younger than Reed. I do believe that there’s a link between heartbreak, depression, long-term stress and the likelihood of developing chronic illness…whether it’s cancer or in Wilde’s case meningitis
No, he hated the anxiety and paranoia that he experienced on a daily basis from having to hide it. You can’t hate being gay - you either like men sexually or you don’t. That whole conversion therapy is so stupid and invalid
This is another great clip of this very conflicted persons life! I will be posting other comments about this clip later on! He was definitely one hurting person. I wonder why they don’t mention stuff That probably happened with his friends and about the strained relationship with his parents.
Just add and shows thing thing are actually as they seem. Back then I view him as the most stable father fugure vs my pop who was mr monster, could be a father figure is a myth
Reed was under contract to Paramount and had to do the pilot for the show and could not be released from it. He thought it wouldn't last because the scripts were saccharine and not an accurate reflection of a blended family and overloaded with gags. He was a serious actor who had been on The Defenders and did a ton of Shakespeare. He fueded for the entire run of the show with Lloyd and Sherwood Schwartz over the writing and direction of the series and walked out several times but always loved the cast. He refused to participate in what was the last episode of the series because the storyline about Bobby and hair tonic was too stupid. Reed was not the first choice to play Mike Brady. They wanted a then unknown Gene Hackman who Paramount refused take a risk on. Ann B. Davis was not meant to be Alice either and Florence Henderson wasn't cast as Carol because of a show that conflicted. They got a different actress who was let go when Henderson suddenly became available again.
