‘I almost died’: Susan Olsen recalls on-set ‘Brady Bunch’ accident that left her unrecognizable

Susan Olsen, the actress who played Cindy Brady on the popular 1970s TV show The Brady Bunch, recently shared a scary story. It was about a nearly deadly accident while filming the first episode, “The Honeymoon.”

During an honest conversation on The Real Brady Bros podcast, Olsen, now 63 years old, told her former co-stars Barry Williams, Christopher Knight, and Mike Lookinland (who played Greg, Peter, and Bobby Brady) about the shocking incident, found by People. They had no idea it had happened.

The accident took place while Olsen, who was about eight years old at the time, was having makeup applied to her legs. She was standing on a makeup chair when something fell from the catwalk above, where lighting equipment was kept. The falling object first hit a makeup artist, then bounced off another makeup artist, and finally struck Olsen directly in the face. The hit was very hard. “I almost died,” she said, remembering what happened.

Olsen’s injuries were serious. Her face swelled badly, giving her two black eyes and a swollen nose. On the podcast, Olsen explained that the close-up shots of Cindy Brady in the first episode look blurry not because of a camera problem, but because the crew was trying to hide her injuries. She also mentioned that the swelling could still be seen in some of the early publicity photos.

The Brady Bunch pilot started with injuries

After the accident, there was a mix of fear and quiet strength. Olsen’s mother came to comfort her. Florence Henderson, who played Carol Brady, saw what happened and was upset that some crew members didn’t seem to care. Olsen remembered Henderson standing up for her, saying, “‘That hit that little girl really hard,’ and everybody’s going, ‘No. She’s fine.’”

Olsen was in a lot of pain and wanted to cry, but the director of the episode, John Rich, surprised her by telling her how brave she was, which stopped her from showing how much she was hurting. Because Olsen’s injuries were so noticeable, the production team brought in a famous makeup artist named Hal King, who had worked with Lucille Ball on I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show. King’s skill helped cover up Olsen’s black eyes and swelling.

Olsen, a big fan of Lucille Ball, was excited to work with such a well-known makeup artist. She even joked with him about how her bruises changed color daily, saying, “My bruises are purple today, Hal.” Even though the accident was serious and Olsen’s injuries were obvious, her family decided not to sue Paramount, the studio behind The Brady Bunch.

Olsen shared on the podcast that this choice was made to protect her role on the show, but she now wishes they had taken legal action. “The saddest news is that we didn’t sue Paramount because I would have made more off of that than the show,” she said, pointing out how the decision hurt her financially in the long run. She also talked about how Henderson made sure the producers understood how badly she was hurt when she came back to set.

She insisted that everyone see her injuries and made it clear she wasn’t “fine.” Hearing about this accident was a surprising moment for the Brady Bunch cast members on the podcast. Knight admitted he had never known about Olsen’s serious injury.