Who is Maureen McCormick? Well, if you are a child of the ’70s like me, you know Maureen as Marcia Brady, the eldest girl with hair of gold from the iconic sitcom “The Brady Bunch.” If you have been wondering what Maureen has been up to lo these many decades since the show went off the air, wait no longer: the former child star has just released her memoir, “Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice.” Basically, Maureen shared the same fate with many other famous kids- drugs, partying and out-of-control behavior. The difference is, she was able to do it mostly under the radar in the age before tabloids and paparazzi. Apparently, being Davy Jones’ biggest fan and worrying about being a teen model were child’s play compared to Maureen’s real life.

Growing up Brady wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

Erstwhile Marcia Brady Maureen McCormick is telling all—and we mean all—about her formative years both on and off TV, revealing new details about her depression, drug addiction, unwanted pregnancy and what can only be described as an exhaustive history of suitors in her new memoir, Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice.

In addition to discussing an unusual string of relationships with Steve Martin, Michael Jackson and her TV bro Barry Williams, the actress and sometime country singer also reveals that she once traded sex for drugs and engaged in full-on binges at the Playboy Mansion and at the home of Sammy Davis Jr.

Marcia, Marcia, oh, Marcia.

“As a teenager, I had no idea that few people are everything they present to the outside world,” McCormick, now 52, writes in the book, excerpts of which were released today. “Yet there I was, hiding the reality of my life behind the unreal perfection of Marcia Brady.

“No one suspected the fear that gnawed at me even as I lent my voice to the chorus of Bradys singing ‘It’s a Sunshine Day.’ ”

McCormick was 14 years old when the family sitcom began its four-year run in 1969 and apparently didn’t have much personal experience to draw on for the character. In the book, due out tomorrow, the actress says she came to the feel-good show from an abusive family, with a father who abused and cheated on her mother.

When the show ended, McCormick says she turned to drugs, taking cocaine and Quaaludes among other illicit substances, a habit which failed to help her secure additional employment. In the memoir, the actress also details a blown interview she had with Steven Spielberg, blaming the ill-fated meeting on her being high at the time.

[From Yahoo News]

I suppose die-hard fans of the show will care, but for most of us, this memoir is a little too late to care about. We’ve seen too many examples of cautionary child star tales to be shocked by Maureen’s story at this point. It seems like a desperate ploy for some attention after trying to jump start her career on reality shows like “Celebrity Fit Club” and “Gone Country.” Maybe if this book had come out about 20 years ago, we’d be paying attention.

Maureen is shown with her co-star, Barry Williams, who played her brother Greg on screen and her boyfriend off screen. Photo credit: Fame