Hofstra University in Nassau County, N.Y., boasts a prestigious arboretum and bird sanctuary, student housing named after Dutch cities, notable alumni like Francis Ford Coppola, and, apparently, a Chocolate Expo that recently hosted several cast members of The Brady Bunch. (It is unclear if eating chocolate counts as a two-credit class.)
Four of the Brady kids — Barry Williams (Greg), Christopher Knight (Peter), Mike Lookinland (Bobby), and Susan Olsen (Cindy) — were on hand to sell autographs or selfies for $40 a pop, or autographs and selfies for the combined sum of $60. They also sat for a panel discussion to talk a bit about the television show that made them famous, something Williams and Knight have been doing on their Real Brady Bros podcast for over three years (and where Olsen and Lookinland frequently appear as guests).
During the conversation, Olsen was asked about her young character’s lisp, and whether it was real or an affectation.
Bobby Bank/Getty
Susan Olsen, Barry Williams, and Mike Lookinland of ‘The Brady Bunch’ at a DIFFERENT chocolate expo in New Jersey, several weeks before the one out on Long Island, if you can imagine such a thing
“That was real,” the 63-year-old Olsen said, adding that highlighting it did not make her life any easier.
“When they made the episode, it’s like, ‘Oh, thank you. Now, when I go to school, they have more ammo to tease me with,'” she recalled.
The episode Olsen is likely referencing is “A Fistful of Reasons” from the show’s second season, which really leaned into Cindy’s lisp (and the bullying she experienced). Come witness the childhood trauma below:
“I actually went to a special ‘S’ clinic when I was 19 at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts,” she continued, but added that “I really only went to the ‘S’ clinic because there was a cute guy going to the clinic as well.”
According to Olsen, her teacher told her she had a very small mouth and braces, and working with him got it “as good as it could get.”
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“I can hear it on the radio and podcasts and stuff,” she said. “Because to me, every time I say an ‘S,’ it sounds like cymbals crashing. So I’m still a bit self-conscious about it.”
This is not the first time Olsen has explained how appearing on The Brady Bunch made her time at school awkward. When remembering just how “stupid” her character was, she said she was happy the show aired on a Friday “because at least the kids [at school] have a whole weekend to maybe forget about all the stupid things Cindy did while she was in my body on TV.”
Bobby Bank/Getty
Susan Olsen in March 2025
Someone in the audience at Hofstra took some cell phone video of the full chat, which you can see below. Those chocolate-covered strawberries look good.
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