Not to be confused with Eve's Plum, the rock group.
Eve Aline Plumb (born April 29, 1958) is an American actress. Plumb is best known for her portrayal of Jan Brady in the television sitcom The Brady Bunch.
In the 1969-74 ABC hit series The Brady Bunch, Plumb portrayed Jan Brady, age 11 to 15, one of three sisters. Jan had to deal with so-called middle child syndrome, displaying a certain amount of envy and mild resentment in regard to her older sister Marcia. Various episodes starring Jan (Plumb) included insecurity over wearing glasses, embarrassment over not having a boyfriend, jealousy of her older sister, and concerns over her future appearance.
Plumb portrayed Jan from 1969 until 1974. Seeking other parts and perhaps hoping to distance herself from strong identification as "Jan," she did not rejoin her television siblings for the later Brady Bunch Variety Show. During production of the show, Plumb appeared in NBC productions of Little Women, in both TV Movie and a short-lived series format.
In 1976, Plumb surprised everyone with a stunning dramatic performance in the made-for-television movie Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway, and joined the LA based Groundlings Improv comedy troupe. In the late 70s, Plumb chose to participate in the Brady made-for-TV movies that followed, including The Brady Girls Get Married which gave her a featured role, and The Brady Brides, a sitcom in which she was a co-lead. She also appeared in later Brady movies and series as well, including A Very Brady Christmas and The Bradys where she was married to Phillip Covington III. In A Very Brady Christmas Jan and Phillip are on the verge of divorce but Carol comes to the rescue and saves their marriage. In The Bradys Jan and Phillip try, in vain, to conceive a child and end up adopting a Chinese girl named Patty.
Plumb appeared steadily on stage and in television roles through the 90s, in roles both small and large. She appeared in the Saturday morning sitcom Fudge (1995–1997) as Fudge's mother, Mrs. Ann Thatcher and in the movie Fudge-A-Mania (1997), and was the original Pam Burkhart on That '70s Show (only seen in episode 6 "The Keg"). In addition, Plumb had a memorable cameo appearance in the 1988 movie I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.
She appeared as one of the "Strangers" on the December 18, 2006 premiere episode of the NBC game show Identity. She was introduced at the start of the show as "Eve Plumb from The Brady Bunch." The contestant incorrectly selected her as an "Academy Award Winner," despite host Penn Jillette cautioning the contestant that The Brady Bunch was a TV show and the Academy Awards were for films. Plumb's actual identity was a painter.
Today, Plumb resides in Laguna Beach, California, with her second husband Kenneth Pace (a computer consultant). She works as an artist, has served as a member of the Laguna Beach Board of Adjustments/Design Review Board since February 2002, and was elected chair pro-tem of that board in February 2005. She served as pro-tem of the board until her third term expired in January 2008, at which time she declined to reapply for the board.
Of all the Brady Bunch child cast, Plumb arguably has worked most consistently to carve an acting career distanced from her role on the show. This has apparently led to conflicting feelings about The Brady Bunch. In an article published by the Chicago Tribune in the 1990s on The Real Live Brady Bunch, Plumb participated in a performance (albeit not as "Jan") and was met by enthusiastic fans who asked "What was your favorite episode?". Plumb replied somewhat jokingly "The last one." Seeing their disappointment, she modified her answer by saying "The Grand Canyon episode was kind of cool."
Plumb has since stated that she and the other Bradys have an unspoken agreement to always be courteous and polite to fans of The Brady Bunch.
In a TV Land special, The Brady Bunch 35th Anniversary Reunion Special: Still Brady after All These Years, broadcast on September 29, 2004, Plumb stated that she had never seen The Brady Bunch Movie. When asked to give the audience an update on her life today, she stated that she was "still auditioning."
