Florence Henderson Height

Gregory lehmann says on 10/Jun/11
Many performers I like are native Hoosiers/Wally Bruner (Tipton),Jean Byron (Batesville),William Conrad (North Judson),Andrew Duggan (West Lafayette),Jo Anne Worley (Lowell),Chris Schenkel (Huntingdon),Forrest Tucker (Logansport),Red Skelton (Vincennes),Ralph Bellamy (Knox),and 5'2" Florence Henderson (Dale.) Of these,Florence is my favorite. Even before going to "The Brady Bunch," she had scored great in stage plays and as a singer (and she's a great tap dancer,too.) But even at that,with some game show appearances whipped in (she even squeezed in a "What's My Line?" panel appearance on Nov.29,1964,to nail "mystery guest" Andrew Duggan,then a "12 O'Clock High" TV series regular),nobody really knew much about this spunky Hoosier until "The Brady Bunch" premiered in 1969. Then,just like that,she sparkled as a colorful actress. I was heartbroken when she lost last fall on "Dancing With The Stars,"but it was just she lost because she wasn't good enough. (Her "goody two shoes" image hurt,too.) Still,I love Florence,who never lied she's 5'2".It's "just right" for her,along with her 104 pound weight.But she nearly died in 1954 when she caught bronchitis auditioning to play Laurie in "Oklahoma!" and developed codiene and penicillin allergies. She,too,in 1985 nabbed an "Alive And Well Spirit" award for overcoming deafness. (This time,PBA legend Nelson Burton,Jr.,a longtime "Brady Bunch" fan,coached me.)