BRADY BUNCH Child Star’s Paychecks Kept His Family Afloat

Published: June 13, 2025

By India McCarty

Former child actor Christopher Knight says his BRADY BUNCH paycheck helped keep his family going during hard times.

“It really chills me to even think [about where I would be without THE BRADY BUNCH],” he said during a recent episode of “The Real Brady Bros” podcast. “I don’t know.”

Knight explained that there were “some issues” in his family that “the Bradys helped, us in our family, all of us, to do to some degree. I mean, literally, there might not have been a way to exist where we were without some way of making those payments, if I may.”

“I just think it gave us the resources to pay the rent,” he continued. “I do believe that my folks would have not existed much longer. I mean it would have gotten to that point. And there would have been all kinds of drift. Drifting where, I don’t know.”

Knight shared that his BRADY BUNCH paychecks “got me to 18. Got me to 18 and then eject.”

Christopher Knight Says ‘My Folks Would Not Have Existed Much Longer’ Without His ‘Brady Bunch’ Paycheck as a Child https://t.co/mmGiayp4rw

— People Parents (@People_Parents) June 10, 2025

The former child star has been open about his feelings towards being the family’s primary breadwinner at such a young age. During an appearance on the “I Choose Me With Jennie Garth” podcast, he asked, “Isn’t that your parents’ job to work, not you?”

Knight described his home life as “chaotic and not abundant,” sharing that when money ran low, his father told his mother to feed the children “every other day.”

In an interview on the “Classic Conversations” podcast, he shared that his mother, a frustrated artist and painter, often criticized THE BRADY BUNCH in front of Knight, as she didn’t see it as “art.”

“I would have to live through all that negativity at home,” he said. “Knowing at the same time, I’m here in part because of you and supporting the family. The whole thing was inside-out.”

Despite his turbulent home life, Knight said THE BRADY BUNCH set was a “wholesome environment” that he benefited from, citing his close friendships with his onscreen “brothers” Barry Williams and Mike Lookinland.

“It might’ve been 53 years ago that we met, but we’ve been sort of revolving — and evolving — in each other’s worlds for those 53 years,” he told PEOPLE. “So we are respectful, close friends and know each other very, very well…We’re family first and foremost!”

While Knight’s home life was not easy, fans of THE BRADY BUNCH are happy to hear he forged such strong bonds with his onscreen siblings.

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