Tic-tac-toe.
You can picture it now: boys on one side, girls on the other; Dad and Mom, top and bottom, Alice in the middle. Was it 50 years ago, 20 years ago, last weekend that you last saw that tic-tac-toe? Doesn’t matter, you’ll look for it again. And again, clicking around. And in the new book “Happiness Included” by Eve Plumb with Marcia Wilkie, you’ll read about it.
At a time when most kids are busy with toys and bikes, playing with friends and exploring, Eve Plumb was being judged.
It happened shortly after her new neighbor, who happened to be a Hollywood agent, invited Plumb’s mother to take then-six-year-old Plumb to a TV commercial audition. Plumb said she went to the casting-call, did as she was told, and landed the part. Just like that.
Following instructions came second-nature to her, she says. As the last child born to a musician-turned-talent scout and a housewife, Plumb’s siblings were teenagers when she entered the world, and their parents took Plumb everywhere with them. Immersed in a mostly-adult world, she absorbed the respect and expectations involved.
She was awkward, therefore, when she started school. Other kids overwhelmed her and teachers were later dismissive of Plumb’s growing career. Still, she continued to work — “as something I did, not something I wanted.”
She had TV commercials and several minor roles in various television programs under her belt when, at age 10, she was sent on a casting call that she remembers clearly. Dozens of hopeful little actors were separated by age and hair color; when she was called up, she went into a room, presented her authentic self, and she ignored all the decoy toys on display. She was professional. She followed directions.
She got the part, but though the five years she spent on The Brady Bunch are arguably the ones she’s most widely known for, they don’t define Eve Plumb. She’s made sure of that…
Here’s a story of a famous lady — one that’s full of insider tales, set-the-record-straight facts, updates, and all the nostalgia you can handle. It’s easy to read and share-able all around. No matter how old your inner child is, in fact, or who you watch The Brady Bunch with now, “Happiness Included” is lovely.
Here, Plumb (with Marcia Wilkie) writes about growing up in front of the camera, 1960s-style, and how she eased herself into post-series life at the ripe old age of 15. At a time of wall-to-wall detective shows, cable and streaming, and violence on TV, it’s a tale that’s as wholesome as the sitcom in which she starred, full of sweet things about former co-workers, honesty about post-stardom, and gratitude for role models and on-the-job teachers. Despite (or because of?) the bruises Plumb shares in her lifestory, readers will be totally charmed.
You won’t find a lick of scandal inside this book, so relax. There’s no salacious secret-telling or tabloid-like tattles here. No, “Happiness Included” is comfort food for the eyes, and it ticks all the boxes.
TERRI’S GRADE: A