Not Mrs Brady! Florence Henderson claims she caught STD after affair with New York City mayor in 1960s
25
View
comments
Revelation: Florence Henderson claims she caught crabs after having sex with politician John Lindsay in the 1960s
It doesn't quite fit in with the show's wholesome image.
A former Brady Bunch star has claimed she once caught a STD after having a one night stand with the then-mayor of New York City.
Florence Henderson, who played mother Carol Brady, said she awoke with 'little black things' crawling all over her body after cheating on her husband with career politician John Lindsay.
Mrs Henderson, now 77, makes the revelation she had crabs in her soon-to-be released memoirs, Life is Not a Stage.
She said went against her better judgement and slept with the married politician at the Beverly Hills Hotel in the 1960s.
She writes: 'I was lonely. I knew it wasn't the right thing to do. So, what did I do? I did it.'
According to the memoir, set to be released in September, she went home later that night and awoke to a grisly surprise the next day as she saw 'little black things' crawling over her bed and body.
An urgent call to a doctor took care of the problem, known medically as pubic lice, and Lindsay sent her flowers and a note of apology.
She writes: 'Guess I learned the hard way that crabs do not discriminate but cross over all socioeconomic strata.
Illicit affair: Florence Henderson, pictured as Carol Brady in the 1960s, says she had a one night stand with John Lindsay, who was then the mayor of New York
'He must have had quite the active life. What a way to put the kibosh on a relationship.'
Mr Lindsay, who died in 2000, was was mayor of New York from 1966 to 1973, and before that, he was a U.S. congressman.
He launched a brief bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. His wife of 51 years died in 2004.
Henderson is probably best known for her work on The Brady Bunch, a comedy about a blended family that ran between 1969 and 1974 and remains popular worldwide.
But the book devotes only a chapter to that part of her life, and she shoots down the oft-told story that she had an off-screen affair with Barry Williams, who played her eldest teenaged stepson, Greg Brady.
She writes: 'Barry did have a serious crush on me, which I understood and helped him get past.
'Let us just say that if he had entertained a roll in the hay with me, I would never have done it.'
The two, separated in age by 20 years, remain good friends to this day, she adds.
For the most part, the book focuses on Mrs Henderson's childhood in an abusive home, her struggles with papal edicts about birth control, her Broadway stardom, and her second marriage to her therapist.
Co-written with Joel Brokaw, it will be published by Hachette's Center Street imprint on September 20.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKymqLWww8GisWiZoqm2pLjEZmlpaGhngXh7oauYnbFdd8Kvr8dmqq2ZomKTrbvRnqWcnV19sq%2BwxKuqqKZdp7K3scClqmabkaq0qcCMfIl6eoNitaLCyKeeZquVrXqPsdZmkKiqm2K6osXOq2RqcWZlwG%2B006aj