One of the stars of “The Brady Bunch” has revealed the difficulties he faced after the ending of the show.
In a recent conversation, Mike Lookinland, who played Bobby Brady, admitted that his life went “fully off the rails.”
Lookinland Says Life Went “Off The Rails”
GettyLookinland appeared on the March 31 episode of “The Real Brady Bros,” alongside his onscreen brother Christopher Knight (Peter Brady) and Jaybeau Jones.
Jones brought up the question, “How come you guys didn’t end up as a mugshot?”
“No one’s ever said a bad thing about any of ‘The Brady Bunch’ kids,” he added.
Knight had some ideas as to why. “Maybe because we didn’t wanna disappoint Florence [Henderson] and Bob [Robert Reed],” he suggested, referring to his onscreen parents.
“I mean, that was the beginning of it. It’s like there’s certain people that you just don’t wanna disappoint. I think that was stronger with me with those two than it was my own parents,” he admitted.
GettyHowever, Lookinland was open about the struggles he faced transitioning from child star to adult. He revealed he “lived my childhood in my twenties because I couldn’t when I was a child.”
The freedom he experienced when he gained “a car, and money, and freedom” led his life to go “fully off the rails.”
“I’m just thankful that not every man, woman, and child had a high-def camera in their pocket when I was 25, like they do now, because it would have ruined my life,” he said.
Mike Lookinland From Child Star To Now
GettyLookinland also discussed his experiences working as a child actor, having to drop everything to attend auditions.
“What would happen a lot, several times every week, is right around the time of day when kids would go on interviews in Hollywood… the intercom would come on and say, ‘Mike Lookinland, please come to the office. Your mother’s here to pick you up.’”Â
“And I would drop everything no matter what my plans were that day… skateboarding or just any kid stuff that you might want to do,” he recalled. “Your hobby or your pursuits you had as a 10 year old, they were put aside. And I was picked up by my mother and driven the hour long drive to Hollywood to try to get on a paper towel commercial, or a guest spot on Mannix or whatever.”
Lookinland discussed his sobriety with The Huffington Post. Per Deseret News, he was charged with a DUI in 1997.
“When it became clear that the choice wasnât between sobering up or drinking, but the choice was actually between living or dying, then it became a simple choice for me,” he said.
“Life’s better, thatâs for sure.”
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