BARRY WILLIAMS Biography - Actors and Actresses

 
 

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BARRY WILLIAMS

Name: Barry William Blenkhorn                                                           
Born: 30 September 1954 Santa Monica, California U.S.                                   
                                                                                         
Barry William Blenkhorn (born September 30, 1954), known professionally as Barry         
Williams, is an American actor best known for his role as Greg Brady in the ABC         
television series The Brady Bunch.                                                       
                                                                                         
Barry Williams was born in Santa Monica, California to Doris May Moore and               
Canadian-born Frank Millar Blenkhorn of English, Scottish and German ancestry.           
He decided as a very young child that he wanted to be an actor, and in 1967 he           
made his television debut in an episode of Dragnet. He played guest roles in             
That Girl, Mission: Impossible and The Mod Squad before being cast as Greg Brady         
in The Brady Bunch sitcom in 1969. As the eldest of the kids, his story lines           
often involved his many romances, and as the Greg character reached his mid-teens       
the show's producers began to groom and promote Williams as a teen idol.                 
                                                                                         
With the shows demise in 1974, Williams was unable to attract the type of high           
profile roles that might have expanded on his earlier success. He resumed               
playing guest roles on television, and became involved in musical theater,               
touring with productions such as Grease, The Sound of Music and West Side Story,         
as well as making unsuccessful attempts to establish a career as a recording             
artist. However he was later able to capitalize on his type-cast of being "Greg         
Brady". Amid a procession of appearances in TV and movies that played up his             
famous teen role, Williams ended up landing a role that was quite a depature             
from the Brady state of mind, and that could have shaken off that image if the           
role was held longer: briefly in 1984, he was tapped to play English con man             
Hannibal, who conspired with Holly Sutton Scorpio (Emma Samms) on the top-rated         
General Hospital. Although the appearance was well-received, Williams was not           
asked back after his initial story arc was concluded.                                   
                                                                                         
His 1992 autobiography, Growing Up Brady: I Was a Teenage Greg, written with             
Chris Kreski, spent three months on the New York Times bestseller list. The book         
was adapted into a 2000 TV movie titled Growing Up Brady that starred Adam Brody         
as Williams.                                                                             
                                                                                         
Always proud of his success with The Brady Bunch, Williams has appeared in               
various Brady TV movie reunions, including the hit 1988 Christmas movie "A Very         
Brady Christmas" where his sole family problem is missing his wife, Nora. His           
problem is solved when Nora shows up at the Brady house on Christmas with a             
poinsettia in hand. He also has built a cabaret act that pays tribute to his             
past, and has played himself in the film Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003),       
which is about a former child star who finds himself out of work. In 2000, when         
Eminem had a hit with "The Real Slim Shady," Williams released his own parody           
version, "The Real Greg Brady."                                                         
                                                                                         
In 2001-2002 Barry played Manager Dean "The Machine" Strickland in 13 episodes           
of the TV sitcom S Club 7 in Hollywood which featured the British pop group S           
Club 7.                                                                                 
                                                                                         
Williams appeared briefly as an audience member in the music video of Peter             
Gabriel's song "The Barry Williams Show" (2002), which is not about the actor.           
Gabriel said he hadn't known about Williams when he wrote the song.                     
                                                                                         
Williams participated in a Celebrity Boxing match with former Partridge Family           
TV star Danny Bonaduce, but lost to Bonaduce, who is a martial arts black belt.         
                                                                                         
Barry also appeared with his former Brady Bunch co-star Christopher Knight (Peter       
Brady) on a 2006 episode of the Fox network sitcom That '70s Show. He and Knight         
played a gay couple who moved in next door to the Formans. He and Knight have           
remained close friends since their Brady Bunch days, and he appeared in several         
episodes of Knight's reality show series My Fair Brady.                                 
                                                                                         
Barry Williams currently hosts The Barry Williams Show Sundays through Fridays           
from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time on Sirius Satellite Radio's "Totally '70s"           
channel.                                                                                 
                                                                                         
He often takes part in the annual "World's Largest Disco" event in Buffalo, NY           
where he dances. Williams is now divorced from his second wife and has a son             
named Brandon born in 2003.                                                             
                                                                                         
In December of 2007 he launched a unique fan portal named The Greg Brady Project.       
The site features ongoing conversations with Barry, fans and other celebrities.