Mike Lookinland is opening up about his rebellious phase that followed five seasons of playing the youngest brother Bobby on the iconic family sitcom The Brady Bunch.
The former child star, 65, starred on the ABC series from ages eight to 13 before embracing the freedom of his teenage years after the show ended in 1974.
“I lived my childhood in my 20s, because I couldn’t when I was a child,” Lookinland said during Monday’s episode of the Real Brady Bros podcast, which is hosted by his former co-stars Christopher Knight and Barry Williams.
“And in my 20s, I had a car and money and freedom. I was fully off the rails,” he said.
Lookinland continued, “I’m just thankful that not every man, woman, and child had a high-def camera in their pocket when I was 25, like they do now, because it would have ruined my life.”
After Lookinland left the beloved show, he continued to act. He appeared in several Brady Bunch spinoff movies and TV specials, as well as an episode of Little House on the Prairie in 1977 and the 1974 blockbuster The Towering Inferno.
He moved to Salt Lake City to attend the University of Utah, but did not graduate. In 1997, the actor was arrested for driving under the influence in Salt Lake City. On the Real Brady Bros, Lookinland said that the incident led him to seek treatment, and he has been sober ever since. He still lives in Salt Lake City with his wife, whom he married in 1987.
Knight, who played the family’s middle brother Peter, said that he stayed away from trouble while transitioning into adulthood because he did not want to disappoint their TV parents, played by actors Robert Reed and the late Florence Henderson.
“We didn't wanna disappoint Florence and Bob,” Knight, 68, said. “I mean, that was the beginning of it. It’s like there’s certain people that you just don’t wanna disappoint. I think that was stronger with me with those two than it was my own parents.”
The Real Brady Bros podcast follows Knight and Williams, who played the oldest son, Greg, as they rewatch the original series. Lookinland appeared on an episode of the podcast last year and addressed a mysterious plotline about the show’s fictional blended family with his former co-star Susan Olsen, who played the youngest daughter, Cindy.
The show, which centered around a fictional blended family, also starred actors Ann B. Davis, Maureen McCormick and Eve Plumb.
