Brady Bunch matriarch Florence Henderson dies

Florence Henderson, the iconic mom from the popular television show The Brady Bunch, has died. She was 82. Henderson was already a Broadway star when producers cast her as Carol Brady in the first sitcom to feature a blended family. The show premiered in 1969 and ran until 1974. But it was so popular that the cast soon came back in several different spinoffs, the last of which aired in 1990. Henderson attributed the enduring success to its broad appeal. "It represents what people always wanted: a loving family. It's such a gentle, innocent, sweet show, and I guess it proved there's always an audience for that," she said in a 1999 interview. Henderson continued to act between iterations of The Brady Bunch, making guest appearances on several popular shows, but she was always known as Carol Brady.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.