By Ken Hall

Eve Plumb will forever be linked to "Jan Brady," the character she played on TV's "The Brady Bunch." She considers that a blessing and a curse. "I'm labeled -- I'm reconciled to that fact," she said from her home in California. "It's a claim to fame. It's unfortunate that people don't know my name apart from my character's name."

But ever since the Bradys were cancelled, in 1974, Plumb's acting career has been one of fits and starts. "I've had some small parts, a couple of movies and some stage plays," she said. "But I haven't gone anywhere. I just haven't been in the public eye with every breath I take."

Maybe it's a good thing Plumb hasn't been offered roles non-stop since her 'Jan' days. If that were the case, she wouldn't have devoted as much time to her painting which, over the course of the last twenty-plus years, has become a passion. She took an artist's magazine correspondence course as a kid, but is self-taught for the most part.

"The only thing other than acting or voice-overs I can ever see myself doing is painting," Plumb said. "I don't have a burning desire to do something outside 'the business.' If I did I'd probably be drawing a steady paycheck instead of a tabletop still life."

Still lifes are what Plumb most often paints, almost always as oils on canvas. She works flat over thin, oil on turpentine, but never impasto. "I guess you could say I'm a traditionalist," she said. "My style is best suited for interiors. It's impressionistic realism. My list of favorite painters would include most any of the realists. And I love Norman Rockwell. To me, he's very underrated as an artist."

Plumb said she's amazed by the old Masters' ability to capture textures and light. "What we call photo-realism today was their way of representing their world," she said. "I also admire the Impressionist and 'plein air' movements. The paintings from those periods are so vibrant and breathtaking."

It took a while for Plumb to become comfortable in her own skin as an artist. "It wasn't until I was about 23 that I could stand to look at what I'd painted," she said, adding that artistry, like acting, can be a rejection-filled career. "But my worst rejections come from myself," she pointed out. "I find that if I like a painting well enough to hang it on the wall, I really don't care what people think."

As for selling her work, that's another take-it-or-leave-it proposition. "Selling a painting is fine," she said, "but I'm not really in that business yet, so they're stacking up like pancakes around here. I do want to have a career as an artist, though. Hopefully, people will be interested in my artistic abilities for what they are, not just because 'Jan Brady' paints."

Plumb said she approaches a painting with the idea of capturing a moment in time -- its "hard essence." And she enjoys the satisfaction that goes along with the creative process. "It's great to be able to sit down and accomplish something while you're waiting for Hollywood to call," she said.

Eve Plumb was born April 29, 1958, in Burbank, Calif., in a hospital literally across the street from Walt Disney Studios. In another prescient moment in her life, she was Baptized in a movie theatre. Plumb is the youngest of three children (Flora is her older sister, Ben her older brother).

When she was six, a talent agent convinced her mother to take her on a commercial audition, and she got the job. She continued to act in commercials and on television shows. Then, at age 10, she landed the "plum" role of 'Jan Brady,' the emotional middle child, on "The Brady Bunch." The program ran for five seasons and is still in syndication. It is one of TV's most famous, iconic shows.

As high school was ending, Plum was cast in the film "Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway," which represented a gritty departure from her 'Jan' persona. Several other made-for-TV movies followed, including "Secrets of Three Hungry Wives," "The Night the Bridge Fell Down," "Little Women" and "Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn" (a sequel to the "Dawn" original).

It was while filming "Little Women" in 1979 that Plumb met her first husband, Rick Mansfield, a lighting technician on the set. After only a couple of years together, the two divorced. She since has remarried, to a computer systems analyst named Ken (no last name provided). The couple got married in 1995. Plumb described him as "the best husband in the world."

The continued popularity of "The Brady Bunch" has led Plumb to reprise her 'Jan' role in productions like "The Brady Brides," "A Very Brady Christmas" and "The Bradys." In a play titled "The Real Live Brady Bunch," she played the part of Greg's agent, named Tammy.

She also appeared in the film "I'm Gonna Git U, Sucka" and has performed and written comedy at the Groundling Theatre in Los Angeles. Shows there included "Your Very Own T.V. Show" and "Girl's Club."

But it's as 'Jan Brady' that Eve Plumb will always be best remembered. "What's hard for people to understand is that 'The Brady Bunch' is not my life," she lamented. "Then, they label me as angry or bitter. They'll ask me something about the show and get an answer, but it's not the answer they want."

Still, she tries to be as discerning and polite as possible when out in public. "That's an unspoken agreement among all of us (in the Brady cast) that we should do," she said. Of the group, she stays in closest contact with Susan Olsen and Chris Knight. "But for the most part," she added, "the only time we all talk is when it's about 'Brady' business."

Eve Plumb played
"Jan Brady" on TV's
"The Brady Bunch."

Vase of Roses,
16"x20", by Eve Plumb.

 Information for this article was obtained from Actors as Artists, a book compiled by the actor and comedian Dick Gautier. To purchase a copy of Actors as Artists, signed by Mr. Gautier, you may visit his website at www.dickgautier.com.