text: Florence Henderson, widely known for her role as The Brady Bunch matriarch Carol Brady, has died. She was 82. 
   
   Henderson died surrounded by friends and family at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering heart failure, the actress’ manager Kayla Pressman said in a statement to the Associated Press on Thursday. She was hospitalized just a day prior. 
   
   Born in Dale, Indiana, to farmer Joseph Henderson and his wife Elizabeth, Henderson was the youngest of 10 children. 
   
   After graduating from Indiana’s St. Frances School in 1951, Henderson went on to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. 
   
   CBS via Getty Images 
   
   In January 1956, she married Ira Bernstein, whom she shared four children with —Barbara, Joseph, Bob and Elizabeth — but later divorced in 1985. 
   
   Florence Henderson in 1960 Pictorial Parade/Moviepix/Getty Images 
   
   Prior to scoring her leading role on the 1969 sitcom The Brady Bunch, which propelled her to international stardom, Henderson starred on the Broadway stage — Wish You Were Here (1952), Fanny (1954), The Girl Who Came to Supper (1963) and South Pacific (1967) — and appeared in guest roles on multiple TV series and films. She was also the first woman to guest-host The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson during a transitional period in 1962. 
   
   Florence Henderson as Carol Brady with The Brady Bunch cast ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images 
   
   Henderson became a frequent presence on morning show Today, appearing for a year as one of its Today Girls, from 1959-1960. In her role, Henderson covered fashion stories and human-interest pieces. 
   
   Henderson starred in every episode of all five seasons of The Brady Bunch and later appeared as Carol Brady in spin-offs The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, The Brady Girls Get Married, The Brady Brides, The Bradys and The Brady Bunch Movie. 
   
   In the decades that followed, Henderson made a slew of guest appearances on a variety of popular series, including Ally McBeal and 30 Rock. 
   
   Florence Henderson in 1990 Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images 
   
   In 1987, Henderson wed Dr. John George Kappas, whom she remained married to up until his death in September 2002. 
   
   Other notable roles include The Love Boat, Murder, She Wrote, season 11 of Dancing with the Stars, and her hosting duties on Retirement Living TV’s The Florence Henderson Show from 2008 until her death. She earned her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1996. 
   
   She also hosted a TNN cooking show, called the Country Kitchen, which profiled well-known Southern chefs across the country. Later, reality TV came calling and Henderson had a turn on VH1’s The Surreal Life. 
   
   Florence Henderson in 2010 Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images 
   
   Florence Henderson in October Earl Gibson III/Getty Images 
   
   Just days before her death, Henderson attended the first night of the DWTS finale to support Maureen McCormick, her former onscreen daughter. 
   
   Florence Henderson on Monday Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty Images 
   
   The actress is survived by her four children and five grandchildren. ||||| LOS ANGELES (AP) — Florence Henderson, the wholesome actress who went from Broadway star to television icon when she became Carol Brady, the ever-cheerful mom residing over "The Brady Bunch," has died. She was 82. 
   
   She died surrounded by family and friends, her manager, Kayla Pressman, said in a statement late Thursday. 
   
   Millions loved, and kept on loving, the innocent sitcom about a blended family. "The Brady Bunch," first aired in 1969, returned to television in various forms again and again, including "The Brady Bunch Hour" in 1977, "The Brady Brides" in 1981 and "The Bradys" in 1990. It was also seen endlessly in reruns. ||||| Beloved TV mom Florence Henderson, who portrayed Carol Brady on the blended family sitcom The Brady Bunch, has died at 82. 
   
   Henderson died Thursday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, after being hospitalized the day before, said her publicist, David Brokaw. Henderson had suffered heart failure, her manager Kayla Pressman said in a statement. 
   
   Family and friends had surrounded Henderson's hospital bedside, Pressman said. 
   
   The Brady Bunch ran between 1969 and 1974 on ABC and, with most or all of the original cast, spawned made-for- television movies, a variety show, a weekend morning cartoon series and a musical side project. The show was a constant presence on TV dials for several years after its cancellation through syndication reruns. 
   
   An attempt to reboot the franchise for a new generation of television viewers in 1990, The Bradys, was short-lived. 
   
   Henderson played the grandmother when a new cast was assembled for The Brady Bunch Movie in 1995, with Shelley Long portraying the mother in the motion picture. 
   
   In the original show, Henderson and her three daughters "with hair of gold, like their mother" move in with architect Mike Brady and his three brown-haired boys, a second marriage for both parents. 
   
   The late Robert Reed, right, and Florence Henderson, centre, are shown in an early episode of The Brady Bunch. The children on the show were portrayed by, from left to right, Christopher Knight, Barry Williams, Mike Lookinland, Maureen McCormick, Eve Plumb and Susan Olsen. (Paramount Television/Courtesy of Getty Images) 
   
   The pilot began with man and wife trying to get away on their honeymoon, but through a series of misadventures and hijinks, they end up taking the children and the dog along. A New York Times reviewer deemed the pilot "family situation comedy carried to the apex of ludicrousness," but viewers ate it up. 
   
   "It represents what people always wanted: a loving family. It's such a gentle, innocent, sweet show, and I guess it proved there's always an audience for that," Henderson said in 1999. 
   
   While the show was upbeat and often saccharine, the subject of second marriages was relatively new ground for television at the time. The sitcom was created by Sherwood Schwartz, who had previously hit with Gilligan's Island. 
   
   Varied appearances after hit show 
   
   Maureen McCormick, who played her oldest daughter Marcia, was among the earliest to pay tribute to Henderson on social media early Friday. 
   
   Florence Henderson was a dear friend for so very many years & in my <3 forever. Love & hugs to her family. I'll miss u dearly #RIPFlorence — @MoMcCormick7 
   
   After the show's main run ended, Henderson was a frequent guest on game shows and acted in guest appearances on shows such as The Love Boat, Murder, She Wrote, Ellen, Ally McBeal and 30 Rock. 
   
   She also appeared on stage and in musical theatre, which harkened to the beginning of her career, which included performances on Broadway and in touring shows in productions such as Fanny, The Sound of Music, Oklahoma! and Girl Who Came to Supper. 
   
   In recent years she appeared on reality shows The Surreal Life and Dancing With the Stars and for several seasons hosted Country Kitchen on The Nashville Network. 
   
   Florence Agnes Henderson was born Feb. 14, 1934, in the small town of Dale in southern Indiana. She was the 10th child of a tobacco sharecropper of Irish descent. 
   
   Florence Henderson appears in 2008 at the Hollywood Walk of Fame presentation for TV producer Sherwood Schwartz, second from right, along with, from left to right, Gilligan's Island actress Dawn Wells, and the Brady Bunch's Susan Olsen and Christopher Knight. (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images) 
   
   In grade school, she joined the choir at a Catholic church in Rockport, Ind. 
   
   After high school she moved to New York, where she enrolled in a two-year program at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, her studies financed by a theatrical couple who had been impressed by her singing when they saw her perform in high school. 
   
   Brady Bunch matriarch dead at 822:17 
   
   Henderson married theater executive Ira Bernstein and the couple had four children before the union ended in divorce after 29 years. 
   
   Her second husband, John Kappas, died in 2002. 
   
   Pressman said she is survived by her children; Barbara, Joseph, Robert and Lizzie, their respective spouses, and five grandchildren. 
   
   Robert Reed, who portrayed Mike Brady on the sitcom, died in 1992, while Ann B. Davis — the family's wisecracking housekeeper — passed away in 2014. 
   
   Schwartz died in 2011. 
   
   Sad to read about the passing of Florence Henderson, one of the lovliest, most loveable and beloved people in our business — @carlreiner
target: – Florence Henderson, the wholesome actress who went from Broadway star to television icon when she became Carol Brady, the ever-cheerful mom residing over the Brady Bunch, has died. She was 82. She died surrounded by family and friends, her manager, Kayla Pressman, said in a statement late Thursday. Millions loved, and kept on loving, the innocent sitcom about a blended family. The Brady Bunch first aired in 1969, returned to television in various forms again and again, including the Brady Bunch Hour in 1977, the Brady Brides in 1981 and the Bradys in 1990, the AP reports. Henderson studied at New York City's American Academy of Dramatic Arts after graduating from the St. Frances school in Indiana in 1951, People reports. Her pre-Brady career included numerous starring roles on Broadway and appearances in movies and TV shows including the Tonight Show, which she became the first woman to host, in 1962. After the Brady Bunch ended, Henderson appeared on shows including the Love Boat; Murder, She Wrote; Ally McBeal; and 30 Rock, the CBC reports. She also appeared on reality shows including Dancing With the Stars in recent years as well as hosting Retirement TV's Florence Henderson Show. She is survived by four children from the first of her two marriages. (Last year, she revealed that she still liked to date younger men,)