Florence Henderson

Florence Henderson, born Florence Agnes Henderson on February 14, 1934, in Dale, Indiana, was an American singer and actress whose career spanned six decades. She was the youngest of ten children, born to Elizabeth Elder, a homemaker, and Joseph Henderson, a tobacco sharecropper.

During the Great Depression, her mother taught her to sing at the age of two, and by age 12, she was performing at local grocery stores. She graduated from St. Francis Academy in Owensboro, Kentucky, in 1951 and moved to New York City to enroll in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Florence Henderson began her career on stage, performing in musicals such as "Oklahoma!" and "South Pacific" at Lincoln Center. She made her Broadway debut in the musical "Wish You Were Here" in 1952 and later starred in the long-running musical "Fanny" in 1954.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, she appeared on various TV shows, including "I Spy," "The United States Steel Hour," and "The Patti Page Show." She also sang in the industrial musical "Good News About Olds" for Oldsmobile in 1959 and performed on "Tonight Starring Jack Paar" in 1960.

Her most famous role came in 1969 when she starred as Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom "The Brady Bunch." The show ran from 1969 to 1974 and became a cultural icon, with her portrayal of the loving and nurturing mother earning her widespread acclaim.

She continued to work in television, hosting her own talk show, "The Florence Henderson Show," and a cooking show, "Who's Cooking with Florence Henderson," on Retirement Living TV.

Florence Henderson was married twice, first to Ira Bernstein from 1956 until their divorce in 1985, and then to Dr. John George Kappas, a certified hypnotist, from 1987 until his death in 2002. She had four children: Joseph, Barbara, Elizabeth, and Robert Bernstein.

She passed away on November 24, 2016, at the age of 82 from heart failure.

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