BRADY BUNCH Star Dishes on Ditching Drugs: ‘Happy to Be Sober’
By Movieguide® Contributor
THE BRADY BUNCH star Maureen McCormick’s life changed when she gave up drugs and got sober.
“I feel incredibly lucky that I found sobriety. It’s been everything to me,” McCormick, who played Marcia Brady on the show, told Us Weekly. “It’s not easy in the beginning at all, but it gets better every day. It does, you know? I’m so happy to be sober and to be really clear and comfortable in my skin.”
She’s now been sober for 40 years, and her husband, Michael Cummings, who she married in 1985, played a huge role in her abstinence.
“My husband was a big part of that for me…It’s an amazing journey. I feel very blessed to have him in my life,” she said.
Aside from her husband, McCormick’s parents and close friends also helped her turn her life around.
She dove into why she got into drugs in the first place in her book Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice.
“I sought refuge in seemingly glamorous cocaine dens above Hollywood. I thought I would find answers there, while in reality I was simply running farther from myself. From there, I spiraled downward on a path of self-destruction that cost me my career and very nearly my life,” she wrote.
“Over the years I battled drug addiction and bulimia,” McCormick continued. “I was treated in a psych ward, went in and out of rehab, and looked to God for answers…If there was coke, I had to stay up and do every last flake, even if it meant going without sleep for days. Nothing else mattered.”
According to Fox News Digital, it was her husband that gave her one last chance to sober up.
“He came to me and said, ‘If you ever do this drug again, I’m gone, I’m leaving,” McCormick remembered. “It woke me up. It was like the coldest shower you could ever take. There’s just no way I’m gonna lose somebody that I love.”
For those who struggle with addiction, McCormick advises “to throw that phone book out and…do not hang out with anyone who’s using. I had to literally say goodbye to so many people that I was hanging out with.”
Movieguide® previously reported on THE BRADY BUNCH:
Though THE BRADY BUNCH only aired for five seasons, the sitcom’s stars say it still has a lasting impact in their hearts and for their fans.
“So, it was sometimes awkward and sometimes fun, but I’ve always enjoyed people watching the show,” Barry Williams, who played Greg, said in a recent interview.
As each of the Brady children grew up on screen, so did the actors and actresses off screen.
“There were a lot of changes,” he said. “You could hear the voice changing, you could see the hair changing, you could see the growth spurts going on with all of us.”
Despite navigating adolescence while filming, Williams said he is thankful for the time on the show.
“We maintain our relationships, we’ve seen all the major events of our lives together: marriages, children sometimes marriages that split. Now our children are graduating,” he said. “We’ve always had a Brady family together. I’m fortunate that I’ve been able to diversify and do different things.”
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