- Born
- Birth nameBarry William Blenkhorn
- Height5′ 11″ (1.80 m)
- Barry William Blenkhorn grew up in Santa Monica, California and, after he turned 4 years old, he became one of those annoying kids who were bound and determined to get into show business. He was neighbors with actor Peter Graves whom he idolized and asked for advice on how to become an actor and his response was that he just thought about it. At the age of 11, he changed his name from Barry William Blenkhorn to Barry Williams. He then got an acting coach and took some scene study courses in Sherman Oaks and took courses for film and television techniques which later he landed a lead role in an educational school industrial called "Why Johnny Can Read" and landed roles in TV commercials. Then he had guest roles in TV shows such as Run for Your Life (1965), Here Come the Brides (1968), It Takes a Thief (1968), Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969) and Mission: Impossible (1966), but then success came for him when he landed the role of "Greg Brady" in the blockbuster hit family sitcom series The Brady Bunch (1969). After the first season, he and his TV siblings made a Christmas album signed by Paramount Records which sold terribly as critics called them 6 kids who couldn't sing so Barry took singing lessons and released a single by the same record company called "Sweet Sweetheart" hoping to have a solo album released but producers thought he should wait for that moment while he was making records with his TV siblings as they made 3 more records, did summer tours and had their own animated TV series The Brady Kids (1972) on which some of their songs were featured. After the series ended in 1974, Barry started performing solo in concerts and then took up musical theatre and landed numerous successful roles in shows like "Pippin", "West Side Story", "Oklahoma", "Movie Star", "Grease", "The Music Man", "Romance/Romance", "City of Angels" and "The Sound of Music" and still did the odd acting appearance in front of the camera like in Police Woman (1974), Three's Company (1976), Highway to Heaven (1984), Murder, She Wrote (1984), and a stint on the daytime soap General Hospital (1963) and the MTV series Hollywood 7 (2001) as well as in all the "Brady Bunch" reunion shows. In 1978, he did try taking a shot at pursuing a solo career and signed up with Private Stock records but their label went out of business. However, in 1999, he did release a tribute album called "The Return of Johnny Bravo" doing cover songs that expressed him as a singer as well as celebrating 30 years of The Brady Bunch (1969). He continues to do musical theatre as well as touring with his music and public speaking.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Greg Russell Tiderington <[email protected]>
- SpousesTina Mahina(July 9, 2017 - present)Eila Mary Matt(January 30, 1999 - January 25, 2005) (divorced, 1 child)Diane Martin(July 1990 - 1992) (divorced)
- ChildrenBrandon Eric WillamsSamantha Rose
- ParentsDoris May MooreFrank Blenkhorn
- RelativesCraig Blenkhorn(Sibling)Scott Blenkhorn(Sibling)
- The Brady Bunch (1969) co star Christopher Knight was best man at his first wedding.
- In 1992, Barry wrote "GROWING UP BRADY...I Was a Teenage Greg", which spent more than three months on the New York Times bestseller list.
- Peter Gabriel's song "The Barry Williams Show", from the album "Up", was not intended as a reference to Barry Williams; it wasn't until after the song was written and recorded that Peter Gabriel found out that there was an American actor named Barry Williams. To make up for this, Peter Gabriel invited Barry Williams to appear in the video for the song.
- Lost to Danny Bonaduce in a celebrity boxing match.
- Hosts a program on Sirius Satellite Radio's Totally '70s channel Sunday thru Friday from 2pm to 6pm.
- [When asked if he had dated Florence Henderson in real-life]: It was flattering that she gave me any attention at all. So what was clearly an example of a nice lady humoring her young co-star instead gets turned into 'Greg Brady is dating Carol Brady!'
- [on his on- and off-screen chemistry with Florence Henderson, who played Carol Brady]: When those little things called hormones start kicking in, you get excited by even inanimate objects. It wasn't that I sought to bed her. I just wanted to spend time with her.
- [Of Florence Henderson]: I did have a crush on her - I was also, like 16. I think that my approach to going out and Florence's were slightly different. Did I wish maybe in Fantasy world that it could turn into a romantic encounter? Yes, but the reason that I asked her to go out was to talk about music and performing. I would go to her sometimes when I was struggling with issues. Before my name was called and I was ready to go out, Florence appeared at the theater backstage. It's this kind of loyalty and support and caring... thus is the way she was in life with people. I learned so much about how to be in public from her graciousness.
- [About Florence Henderson's sense of humor]: Well, she kept the mood, very, very delight. She would do anything to make people laugh. She like to tell jokes, sometimes, she like to tell off-color jokes. Things that Carol Brady would never say. She was able to 'reign us it,' and keep us in line.
- [Who interpreted [Florence Henderson]'s real-life persona]: Florence Henderson, the matriarch of [The Brady Bunch (1969)] would be the first to admit that her life was anything but 'picture perfect.'
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