Happy Birthday, Mrs. Brady!

Today marks pop culture icon and lifelong Catholic Florence Henderson’s seventy-fifth birthday. Born Florence Agnes Henderson in Owensboro, Kentucky, she studied at St. Francis Academy, a local girls’ high school run by the Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand. After graduation she went to New York, making her Broadway debut in 1952. (No information is available for this photo, taken during the years when she was appearing on stage and television.) But it was with the role of Carol Brady that she achieved icon status. Through it all, Florence Henderson has never forgotten her roots. During Season Six of The Surreal Life, she refused to do a nun skit, out of respect for those who taught her. Today she does promotional videos for the Sisters: “I have such a connection [to the sisters] because of all the sisters did for me as a child. I want to educate people about these incredible women. What they do is empowering— for everyone.” For what it’s worth, Ann B. Davis joined an Episcopal religious community in Colorado. What’s next? Deacon Greg?