in a publicity shot for
The Defenders, 1961 Reed made his first guest-starring appearance in an episode of
Father Knows Best in 1959. This led to guest roles on
Men into Space and
Lawman, as well as his first credited film appearance in
Bloodlust! In 1961, Reed landed his first television starring role in
The Defenders alongside fellow Studebaker Theater performer
E.G. Marshall, with the two playing a father-and-son team of defense attorneys.
The Defenders was a hit with audiences and earned a total of 22
Primetime Emmy Award nominations (E.G. Marshall won two Emmys for his performance while the show won twice for
Outstanding Drama Series). Ratings for the series were high during its first three seasons, but fell when
CBS moved the series from Saturday nights to Thursday nights. CBS canceled
The Defenders in 1965. While appearing on
The Defenders in 1964, Reed made his Broadway stage debut as Paul Bratter in
Neil Simon's
Barefoot in the Park, replacing
Robert Redford. For the remainder of the decade, Reed appeared primarily in television guest spots, including roles in
Family Affair,
Ironside,
The Mod Squad, and
Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theatre. He also appeared in the 1968 film
Star! and in the Broadway production of
Avanti! Reed was the producers' second choice for the role of Mike Brady after
Gene Hackman was rejected because he was largely unknown at the time. Also starring on
The Brady Bunch was actress
Florence Henderson, who played the role of Mike's wife
Carol Brady after
Shirley Jones turned down the role in favor of
The Partridge Family. Also cast on the series was
Ann B. Davis as the Bradys' maid,
Alice Nelson. Despite earning poor reviews from critics and never cracking the Top 30 during its five-season run,
The Brady Bunch remained an audience favorite of the 1970s. Since its cancellation in 1974, the series had a healthy afterlife in
syndication and spawned several spin-off series and two television reunion films, along with two parody films. From the very beginning of the sitcom's debut in September 1969, Reed was unhappy with his role as Mike Brady. He felt that acting in the often silly program was beneath his training as a serious
Shakespearean actor. Producers and directors found Reed difficult to work with both on and off the set. However, all of the cast got along well with him. In his efforts to bring more realism to the sitcom, Reed often locked horns with the program's creator and executive producer Schwartz. Reed regularly presented Schwartz with hand-written
memoranda detailing why a certain motivation did not make sense or why it was wrong to combine elements of
farce and satire. Schwartz generally ignored Reed's suggestions, although in an attempt to alleviate tension, Schwartz occasionally allowed Reed to direct some episodes. In a 1983 interview, Reed admitted that he often butted heads with Schwartz, stating, "We fought over the scripts. Always over the scripts. The producer, Sherwood Schwartz, had done ''
Gilligan's Island...Just gag lines. That would have been what The Brady Bunch'' would have been if I hadn't protested." in a publicity shot for
The Brady Bunch, 1973 Reed was particularly appalled by what would turn out to be the show's final episode "The Hair-Brained Scheme." He sent Schwartz a memo, picking apart his problems with the episode, but Schwartz did not receive the memo promptly enough to alter the script as Reed wanted. As a result, Reed refused to appear in the episode altogether. Reed later claimed that he originally accepted the role for financial reasons, but tried to remain positive despite his creative differences with Schwartz by reminding himself the series was primarily about the children. Reed masked his dissatisfaction in front of the camera, always performing professionally without any indication of his unhappiness. Despite his discontentment with the show, Reed genuinely liked all of his co-stars and was a father figure to the younger cast members. Co-star
Susan Olsen became friends with Reed's daughter Karen, who made a guest appearance in the episode "The Slumber Caper." Reed's final appearance in the series was in the penultimate episode "The Hustler." His final line in that episode was "Now I can get my car in the garage." During the run of
The Brady Bunch, Reed also had a recurring role as Lieutenant Adam Tobias on
Mannix, from 1969 to 1975, After Reed's agents overbooked him for a film in England with
Anglia Television, his cancellation led to the 1972 court case of
Anglia Television Ltd v Reed. Later career After
The Brady Bunch series ended in 1974, Reed acted on stage and made guest star appearances on other television series and television movies, including
Pray for the Wildcats and
SST: Death Flight. He won critical acclaim for his portrayal of Pat Caddison, a doctor who comes out as
transgender, in a two-part episode of
Medical Center in 1975. The episode also earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Also that year he appeared in the TV-movie
The Secret Night Caller, as a respectably married man with a compulsion to make obscene phone calls to women he barely knows. Reed appeared in the television film
The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976), the miniseries
Rich Man, Poor Man (1976), and the miniseries
Roots (1977). Despite critical acclaim, the series was canceled the following year. In 1986, he played the role of Lloyd Kendall on the daytime soap opera
Search for Tomorrow. He also made multiple appearances on
Fantasy Island,
Hunter,
The Love Boat and
Murder, She Wrote. Despite his dislike of
The Brady Bunch and the character of Mike Brady, Reed continued to appear in
Brady Bunch spinoffs and sequels for the remainder of his career. In 1976, Reed reprised the role of Mike Brady in the variety show
The Brady Bunch Hour, a role he openly embraced because it afforded him the opportunity to sing and dance. He would later appear in the television film
The Brady Girls Get Married (1981) and the television film
A Very Brady Christmas (1988). In 1990, he reprised the role of Mike Brady for the final time in the drama series
The Bradys. but
The Bradys was canceled after six episodes, well before the episode could be produced. Reed made his last onscreen appearance in an April 1992 episode of
Jake and the Fatman, "Ain't Misbehavin'". Shortly before his death, Reed appeared in the touring production of
Love Letters, opposite
Betsy Palmer, and taught classes on
Shakespeare at
UCLA. == Personal life ==