<Tr> <Th> Children </Th> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <P> Robert Reed (October 19, 1932--May 12, 1992) was an American actor . </P> <P> From 1961 to 1965, he portrayed Kenneth Preston on the popular legal drama The Defenders, alongside E.G. Marshall . He is best known as the father Mike Brady, opposite Florence Henderson's Carol Brady, on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch, which aired from 1969 to 1974 . He reprised the role of Mike Brady in several later reunion programs . In 1976, he earned two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his guest - starring role in a two - part episode of Medical Center and for his work on the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man . The following year, Reed earned a third Emmy nomination for his role in the miniseries Roots . </P> <P> Reed was born John Robert Rietz, Jr., in the northern Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois . He was the only child of Helen (née Teaverbaugh) and John Robert Rietz, Sr., who were high - school sweethearts and married at 18 . Reed attended the West Division School in Community Consolidated School District 62 until 1939 . His father worked for the government, and his mother was a homemaker . Reed spent his later childhood years in Muskogee, Oklahoma, as well as Navasota, Texas . In Oklahoma, his father, John Sr., worked as a turkey / cattle farmer . </P>

Who played mike brady in the brady bunch
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