In Real Life, Marcia Suffered From Choices Stemming From Her Addiction
Maureen McCormick’s constant drug use lead to risky sexual behavior. As a result, the actress had had three abortions by the time she turned 21. “I was 18, 19 and 20 when I had each abortion,” she wrote in her memoir. “It shows how careless I was. It shows what drugs did to me and how far I went.” Hollywood pressures didn’t just leave the eldest Brady daughter with a drug problem. She developed bulimia in an attempt to keep the perfect figure for which her character was lauded in the press. McCormick’s struggle was silenced and kept behind closed doors. Eating disorders were largely taboo before Karen Carpenter’s 1983 death put the illness in headlines, and McCormick suffered in silence.
