Meeting Maureen McCormick
By Scott Gibson

Maureen was guest of honor at a "Baby Boomerama" convention in Denver in September of 1992. Hundreds of people from all walks of life turned out to meet her--old, young, people in business suits, people in leather and chains--one guy had her image tattooed on his arm and had her autograph it. Maureen answered questions for an hour and a half and then posed for photographs and signed autographs. She was gracious, charming, and utterly delightful.

During her appearance, Maureen displayed patience, generosity, wit, and a overall down-to-earth persona. She mentioned that her hobbies included searching for antiques and gardening, and that she fairly regularly sees or talks with former "Brady" cast members, particularly Eve Plumb and Barry Williams. She remembered Robert Reed as a gracious and kind man, and spoke well of everyone whose name came up, people like Anne Francis, Faye Dunaway, and Elizabeth Montgomery.

Two anecdotes Maureen related stay with me. She recalled filming the "Brady" episode in which Marcia and Greg are competing to see who is the best driver. Maureen said that on the Friday that they finished shooting that episode, she was leaving the Paramount Studios in her own car and was involved in an accident which resulted in her hitting her face on the steering wheel, and (shades of the "The Subject Was Noses" episode), her nose swelled up! Fortunately, it turned out that nothing was broken.

The other came up when a member of the audience asked her what the kids from "The Partridge Family" were like. She mentioned that she had known Danny Bonaduce slightly, because he lived not too far from her, but that she had never met any of the other cast members. She smiled and added, "You know, people always seem to think that because 'Partridge Family' came on right after our show on Friday nights, that we and The Partridges were like next-door neighbors or something, and that we all saw each other regularly."

I was one of the hundreds standing in line to speak to her and get an autograph. At one point, one of the convention officials approached the line and assigned a cut-off point (ironically, the person right in front of me!) and said, "Maureen has to leave. I'm sorry, but no one after this person can get her autograph or talk with her." Yet, despite this, Maureen was gracious enough to hang around until everyone in line (which included 75 or so after me!) got to meet & speak with her. What class!