the-andy-griffith-show-bully-from-the-brady-bunch-got-his-start-on-show

‘The Andy Griffith Show’: Bully From ‘The Brady Bunch’ Got His Start on the Show

One child actor made his mark on television by terrorizing multiple sitcom children as the resident bully in shows like “The Andy Griffith Show” and “The Brady Bunch.”

Actor Russell Schulman made a name for himself in the late 1960s with a series of guest spots on sitcoms. The blonde-haired actor got typecast as a sitcom bully. Schulman made his first turn into villainy by appearing in one of the last few episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show.”

Griffith’s on-screen son Opie was too big and well experienced in dealing with bullies himself by that point in the show. Instead, Schulman had a different target. Schulman’s character Edgar Watson picked on Mike Jones, the young son of Sam Jones. Both Sam and Mike later became the focus of the spinoff show “Mayberry R.F.D.”

During the episode, Schulman’s character bullied Mike at school. At one point, he mocked Mike by pretending to be afraid of him. “Save me! He’s going to hit me! Save me! Save me!” the character joked as Mike glowered at the bully.

Fortunately for Mike but unfortunately for Schulman’s character, Opie oversaw the exchange between the two. And he gave Mike some much-needed advice that helped Mike deal with his bully once and for all. But Schulman wasn’t done with his bullying ways just yet.

Russell Schulman Joins ‘The Brady Bunch’

After his appearance on “The Andy Griffith Show,” Russell Schulman moved onto other shows. First, he appeared on “Family Affair” as a bully at a boys club called the Daredevils. He also guest-starred as a student menace in “The Brady Bunch.”

It proved to be one of the actor’s biggest guest spots. Schulman was a menace in the show that the Bradys just couldn’t shake. In “A Fistful of Reasons” he targets Cindy and makes fun of her lisp as the character Buddy Hinton. Peter ends up coming to Cindy’s aid during the episode but receives a black eye for his trouble.

The character made two more appearances in the show in  “Baby Talk” and “Peter Chicken.”

The feud between Schulman’s Buddy and Peter Brady eventually reaches its boiling point. In a moment that had fans cheering, Peter gives Buddy a punch to the face and knocks a tooth loose. In a bit of ironic twist, Schulman’s character ends up with a lisp himself.

The actor stopped acting in 1972 with one of his last credits being a guest spot on “My Three Sons.”But his work as a love to hate bully continues to find new audiences.