‘Brady Bunch’ Star Susan Olsen Says She ‘Almost Died’ While Filming Show’s Pilot Episode

The actress was 7 years old when the family sitcom’s first episode aired in 1969.

Susan Olsen attends the premiere of HGTV's "A Very Brady Renovation" in Los Angeles on Sept. 5, 2019. Rachel Luna/Getty Images

“The Brady Bunch” star Susan Olsen, who played Cindy Brady, the youngest child of the Brady brood, says an on-set accident that occurred while she was filming the family sitcom’s first episode nearly proved fatal.

Olsen, 63, made the revelation while chatting with her costars Mike Lookinland, Christopher Knight, and Barry Williams during an April 22 episode of “The Real Brady Bros” podcast, hosted by the latter two actors. The trio played her onscreen siblings Bobby, Peter, and Greg, respectively.

While discussing the pilot episode, “The Honeymoon,” Olsen recalled being struck on the head by falling set equipment.

“I got injured,” she said, adding that she “almost died.”

Olsen, who was 7 years old at the time, said she was getting makeup applied to her legs when the accident occurred.

“I was standing on a makeup chair, and something from the catwalk where they keep all the lights and everything fell. It hit the makeup man first, glanced off the body makeup woman, and hit me in the face,” she recounted.

Olsen said the impact caused two black eyes and swelling to her nose and face.

“I [looked] different. And you can even see it in some of the early publicity shots,” she said.

“The saddest news is that we didn’t sue Paramount because I would have made more off of that than the show,” Olsen joked. “I remember loving it because I looked like I was in a horror film.”

Created by screenwriter Sherwood Schwartz, “The Brady Bunch” was set in the Los Angeles suburbs and chronicled the lives of married couple Mike and Carol Brady and their blended family of six children.

The pilot episode premiered on Sept. 26, 1969, leading to the show’s five-season run. The ABC sitcom concluded in 1974, with its final episode, “The Hair-Brained Scheme,” airing on March 8 of that year.

The series led to a variety of spin-offs, including the 1976 variety show “The Brady Bunch Hour” and the 1981 telefilm “The Brady Girls Get Married.”

The sitcom “The Brady Brides,” which was also released in 1981, centered on the lives of the two oldest Brady girls, Marcia and Jan, after they got married.

The holiday drama “A Very Brady Christmas” premiered seven years later, and in 1990, the sequel “The Bradys” made its debut on CBS, exploring the lives of the Brady children as adults.

Other projects included the films “The Brady Bunch Movie” (1995) and “A Very Brady Sequel” (1996).