Marcia Brady Actress Reveals Years Spent Abusing Drugs (Photos)

Child stars tend to be at high risk for a hard time during adulthood. It can be heartbreaking to watch a talented young actor grow up to become nearly unrecognizable after years of substance abuse. 

One actress who faced this problem is Maureen McCormick, known for starring as Marcia Brady in “The Brady Bunch.” On the show, Marcia was the perfect child of the group, but in real life, Maureen was at the beginning of a long struggle.

During her time on the show, McCormick received a lot of attention. According to AWM, she landed the role at the age of 13 and grew up on the set. 

After “The Brady Bunch,” McCormick struggled to find roles in Hollywood due to typecasting and the fact that she played such a famous role for so long, Newsiosity notes. Due to her squeaky-clean image, she was overlooked for a number of roles, including the prison film “Midnight Express.” Because of this, she began to suffer from depression and bulimia and turned to drugs to ease her pain, which led to years of drug abuse.

“I was so addicted to cocaine, it nearly destroyed me,” McCormick said in an interview. “It became my everything.”

McCormick spent most of the 1980s and ’90s doing stage work, before appearing on several celebrity reality shows in the 2000s. In 2007, she appeared on “Celebrity Fit Club,” which she won, and in 2016, she competed on “Dancing With The Stars.”

Fortunately, McCormick has completely turned her life around and is healthy and happy today. She wrote about her struggle in her book, “Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice.”

In the book, McCormick describes the long-term effects of drugs and the dangers of living a drug-fueled lifestyle. She explains that she spent much of her time after “The Brady Bunch” doing cocaine and other drugs in “seemingly glamorous” cocaine dens, AWN reports.

The years of battling drug abuse and an eating disorder certainly had permanent effects on her health, as well as her career. She went into rehab to treat her drug addiction several times. At one point, the actress was even treated in a psych ward.

Today, McCormick is fully recovered and lives in Los Angeles with her husband.

Sources: AWM, Newsiosity / Photo Credit: AWM