NEED TO KNOW
Christopher Knight opened up on his The Real Brady Bros. podcast about how his life might have been different if he didn’t get cast as Peter on The Brady Bunch
Knight said his family might have fallen apart without his paycheck, which paid the family’s rent
The actor, who was 10 when he began working on the show, said it gave him “chills” to consider what would have happened without that money
Christopher Knight is particularly grateful for The Brady Bunch.
On the June 9 episode of The Real Brady Bros., Knight, who played Peter Brady on the classic series, and Barry Williams, who played Greg, answered questions from fans about their time on the show.
One fan asked if the actors had ever thought about what their lives would be like without The Brady Bunch. Williams, 70, said he’s grateful for all the opportunities the show gave him and that he ended up spending at least a little time in every form of entertainment.
“I’m very happy with the way it turned out, and this kind of how I envisioned it in the very beginning,” he said of his career.
CBS via Getty
From left: Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland and Barry Williams in ‘The Brady Bunch’ in 1971
But for Knight, 67, the impact of his role as Peter was a little more practical. When the producer asked where he thought he’d be without the show, he said, “It really chills me to even think. I don’t know.”
“It would have been different,” he said. Williams pointed out that Knight is an “entrepreneur” and guessed that, without the show, he would still be doing that. “Don’t you think that kind of would have come to the surface?” Williams asked of Knight’s business acumen.
“I would hope,” Knight said, “But there there was some issues with getting to adulthood that I believe 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.”
Williams asked if he meant the show gave him a “platform” for the rest of his life.
“No, no, no,” Knight clarified. “I just think it gave us the resources to pay the rent,” he said. “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.”
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
The cast of ‘The Brady Bunch.’ From lefT: Susan Olsen, Mike Lookinland, Eve Plumb, Christopher Knight, Maureen McCormick, Barry Williams, Ann B. Davis, Florence Henderson and Robert Reed in 1969
Knight said the financial support from his work on the show “got me to 18. Got me to 18 and then eject.” Williams noted “what a burden that is for a young teenager,” to support their family.
The Brady Bunch ran from 1969 to 1974. Knight also played Peter in the animated spin-off The Brady Kids and reprised the role for the 1976 variety show The Brady Bunch Hour.
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Back in November, Knight admitted on an episode of the I Choose Me with Jennie Garth that he never wanted to be a child star to begin with. While he benefitted from the “wholesome environment” of the series, he said, “If I had kids, I would try to keep them away from show business until they’re 18.”
He said that for child stars, the “chances of falling apart” as your grow up are too high. He added, “And isn’t that your parents’ job to work, not you?” He called his family life “chaotic and not abundant.”
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