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‘The Brady Bunch’: Barry Williams Opens Up on Working With Marlo Thomas in ‘That Girl’

“The Brady Bunch” wasn’t the first sitcom for actor Barry Williams in his career. He appears on another classic TV show, “That Girl.”

Williams talked about his time with star Marlo Thomas during an MeTV Tampa Bay interview with Mike Deeson.

“Well, what would you like to know?” Williams said to Deeson. “Was she beautiful? Was she vivacious? Absolutely.

“She was terrific,” Williams, who played older brother Greg on “The Brady Bunch,” said. “She was very kind. (And) she was a groundbreaker with that show, Marlo Thomas. Single woman, working, finding her way in life. I think all those kind of shows gently stated, as they were, helped move those agendas forward.”

Williams appears in the third-season episode “7 1/4” as an autograph seeker. Thomas, the daughter of entertainer-TV star Danny Thomas, starred as Ann Marie. In this episode, she’s just starting a job promoting a soft drink and that doesn’t sit well with her boyfriend Donald, played by Ted Bessell.

It would be one year later when Williams would start a five-season run as part of “The Brady Bunch.”

‘The Brady Bunch’ Actor Recalls Many of the Show’s Guest Stars

One of the things which became a drawing card for young fans to tune into “The Brady Bunch” was its guest stars.

You never knew who was going to show up one week to the next. Williams told Deeson one of them that really impressed him was Brooklyn Dodgers/Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale.

“He was a big treat to have on the show and he was very cool,” he said. Another Dodgers player who would guest star was first baseman, Wes Parker.

Other sports stars to show up included New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath.

Now Namath, who led the Jets to a Super Bowl victory, had quite a rep with the ladies. Williams talks about how one of his “The Brady Bunch” costars fell head over heels with him on the set.

“Florence Henderson [Carol Brady] had a huge crush on Joe and made no bones about it,” Williams said. “He was constantly making her ‘red-faced.’ But Joe was great. He came in, he was very low-key. [And] he brought a football with him and we would throw the football in our Brady backyard in between takes. That was great fun for us.”

One more football connection: Deacon Jones, who was part of the Los Angeles Rams’ “Fearsome Foursome” defensive line.

Obviously, music fans remember “The Monkees” lead singer Davy Jones coming on and making Marcia Brady [Maureen McCormick] swoon a bit.