Ann B. Davis, ‘Brady Bunch’s’ Alice, Dead at 88

“She loved doing what she did,” Davis’ agent tells The Wrap about her role on the hit television series

ABC

Ann B. Davis, who was best known for playing housekeeper Alice Nelson on the hit ABC series “The Brady Bunch” died Sunday in San Antonio, Texas.

Davis fell and hit her head in her bathroom on Saturday morning and suffered grave injuries. She was taken to a hospital where she died a day later, her agent Robert Malcolm told TheWrap.

As Alice, Davis played a warmhearted housekeeper to one of television’s  first blended families, the Bradys – comprised of two divorcees and their six children., in the 1970s.

Malcolm said he began working with Davis in 1992 and enjoyed having her as a client. “She was a really nice woman,” he said. “She was easy and she just didn’t make any waves.”

The actress was born in Schenectady, New York, on May 5, 1926.

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She studied at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she was a pre-med student but later changed her mind and decided to study drama. Davis graduated in 1948 with a degree in drama and speech.

Ann B. Davis attends the TV Land Awards, Santa Monica, April 14, 2007 (Getty Images)
Ann B. Davis attends the TV Land Awards in 2007 (Getty Images)

She landed her role as Alice, the Brady family’s loveable housekeeper in 1969, and appeared on the hit television series during its entire five year run.

Before joining “The Brady Bunch,” Davis co-starred on “The Bob Cummings Show” in the 1950s, which earned her two Emmy Awards, according to her IMDB page.

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In 1960, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Over the years, Davis appeared in several Brady Bunch TV movies, including “The Brady Girls Get Married” (1981), “A Very Brady Christmas” (1988), and “The Brady Bunch Movie” (1995).

In 1994, she published a cookbook titled Alice’s Brady Bunch Cookbook, with Brady Bunch inspired recipes.

After retiring from acting, Davis moved to Texas. “I think she was happy with what she did. She loved doing what she did. She loved that family [of Brady Bunch actors],” Malcolm said. “But at some point she said it was over and she left showbiz.”

Davis lived with her close friend Bishop William Frey and his wife. She is survived by her twin sister Harriet. Ann B. Davis was 88.

Watch a clip of her on “The Brady Bunch” below:

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