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Not to be confused with Eve's Plum, the rock group.

Eve Plumb (b. April 29, 1958) is an American actress. Plumb is best known for her portrayal of Jan Brady in the television sitcom The Brady Bunch.

Jan, the Middle Sister

As Jan was the middle child, Plumb was often given scripts in which her character had to deal with so-called middle child syndrome, displaying a noted jealous streak in her against her older sister Marcia. Various stories featuring Plumb included insecurity over wearing glasses, embarrassment over not having a boyfriend, jealousy of her older sister, concerns over her future appearance, and more. It can be argued that, given the challenges her character faced she had one of the more complex roles on a fairly conventional sitcom. Sherwood Schwartz was quoted as saying this was intentional due to Plumb being the best actress among the three girls.

Beyond The Brady Bunch

Plumb portrayed Jan from 1969 until 1974. Seeking other parts and perhaps hoping to distance herself from strong identification as "Jan", she did not rejoin her television siblings for the later Brady Bunch Variety Show. During production of the show, Plumb appeared in NBC productions of Little Women, in both TV Movie and a short-lived series format.

In 1976, Plumb surprised everyone with a stunning dramatic performance in the made-for-television movie Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway, and joined the LA based Groundlings Improv comedy troupe. In the late 70s, Plumb chose to participate in the Brady made-for-TV movies that followed, including The Brady Girls Get Married which gave her a featured role, and The Brady Brides, a sitcom in which she was a co-lead. She also appeared in later Brady movies and series as well, including A Very Brady Christmas and The Bradys.

Plumb appeared steadily on stage and in television roles through the 90s, in roles both small and large. She appeared in the Saturday morning sitcom Fudge (1995-1997) as Fudge's mother, Mrs. Ann Thatcher and in the movie Fudge-A-Mania (1997), and was the original Pam Burkhart on "That '70s Show" (only seen in episode 6 "The Keg"). In addition, Plumb had a very memorable cameo appearance in the 1988 movie I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.

Mixed feelings

Of all the Brady Bunch child cast, arguably Plumb has worked most consistently to carve an acting career distanced from her role on the show. This has apparently led to conflicting feelings about The Brady Bunch. In an article published by the Chicago Tribune in the 1990s on The Real Live Brady Bunch, Plumb participated in a performance (albeit not as "Jan") and was met by enthusiastic fans who asked "What was your favorite episode?". Plumb replied somewhat jokingly "The last one." Seeing their disappointment, she modified her answer by saying "The Grand Canyon episode was kind of cool."

Plumb has since stated that she and the other Bradys have an unspoken agreement to always be courteous and polite to fans of The Brady Bunch.

In a TV Land special, The Brady Bunch 35th Anniversary Reunion Special: Still Brady after All These Years, broadcast on September 29, 2004, Plumb stated that she had never seen The Brady Bunch Movie. When asked to give the audience an update on her life today, she stated that she was "still auditioning."

Today

Plumb currently resides in Laguna Beach, California with her husband Kenneth Pace (1995-present). She is also an artist, and has been a member of the Laguna Beach Board of Adjustments/Design Review Board since February 2002. She was elected chair pro-tem of that board in February 2005.

External links

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