# Eve Plumb
**Eve Plumb** (born 1958) is an American actress and painter best known for playing Jan Brady, the middle daughter, on the ABC sitcom *The Brady Bunch* from 1969 to 1974, a role she has carried through reruns, reunion projects, and more than five decades of subsequent work in television, film, theater, and art.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Eve Aline Plumb, born 1958 in Burbank, California[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000589/bio/) |
| Signature role | Jan Brady on *The Brady Bunch* (ABC, 1969-1974), played throughout the network run and in several spin-offs[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/eve_plumb) |
| Career start | Began acting professionally at age six, in commercials and episodic television[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/eve-plumb/) |
| Notable early adult role | Dawn Wetherby, a teenage runaway and prostitute, in *Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway* (1976)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000589/bio/) |
| Brady spin-offs as Jan | *The Brady Girls Get Married* (1981), *The Brady Brides* (1981), *A Very Brady Christmas* (1988), *The Bradys* (1990)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000589/bio/) |
| Second career | Oil painter since the 1990s, showing in galleries around the U.S.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000589/bio/) • [4](https://www.eveplumb.tv/about) |
| Memoir | *Happiness Included: Jan Brady and Beyond*, released April 28, 2026[5](https://www.ctinsider.com/entertainment/article/actress-eve-plumb-jan-brady-madison-ct-22305697.php) |
## Early life and start in acting
Plumb was born Eve Aline Plumb in [Burbank, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/burbank-california), in 1958, the daughter of Neely Plumb, a big band saxophonist who became a producer and arranger at [RCA Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/rca-records), and dancer Flora June Plumb[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/eve-plumb/). She started acting at age six after an agent moved in next door and she booked the first audition she attended; toy commercials and television roles followed[4](https://www.eveplumb.tv/about). Early episodic work included *The Big Valley* and *Family Affair*, and she sang with the Jimmy Joyce Children's Chorus, which recorded with the Carpenters, Doris Day, and [Alvin and the Chipmunks](https://www.edgepedia.org/alvin-and-the-chipmunks)[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/eve-plumb/). By the time she was cast as Jan Brady in 1969, at age 11, she was already a veteran of prime-time shows and about 40 commercials[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/2000/09/17/whatever-happened-to-jan-brady/93c187c3-8bc9-4cc8-bdf5-142812158b84/).
## Jan Brady and *The Brady Bunch*
*The Brady Bunch* ran on ABC from 1969 to 1974. Plumb's Jan was the middle of three daughters, wedged between older sister Marcia ([Maureen McCormick](https://www.edgepedia.org/maureen-mccormick)) and younger sister Cindy ([Susan Olsen](https://www.edgepedia.org/susan-olsen)); her storylines centered on teenage anxiety about her glasses, her standing with boys, and her sense of inferiority to Marcia, source of the oft-quoted line "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!"[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/eve-plumb/).
**Distance from the role.** Plumb declined to reprise Jan in the first spin-off, *The Brady Bunch Variety Hour* (1976), because she did not want to sign the five-year contract the show required; the series was canceled after nine episodes and Geri Reischl played Jan instead[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000589/bio/). She was the only original cast member who did not take part[7](https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/opinion/tn-dpt-xpm-2010-12-16-tn-cpt-1217-ourlaguna-20101216-story.html). She had voiced Jan in the animated *Brady Kids* (1972-74), leaving that series after its first season over contract issues[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/eve-plumb/). She did return as Jan in four later projects with the original cast: the TV movie *The Brady Girls Get Married* (1981), the short-lived sitcom *The Brady Brides* (1981), the TV movie *A Very Brady Christmas* (1988), and the short-lived series *[The Bradys](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-bradys)* (1990)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000589/bio/). By her own account, some reunion work came along because "work is work"[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/2000/09/17/whatever-happened-to-jan-brady/93c187c3-8bc9-4cc8-bdf5-142812158b84/).
## Acting after the Bradys
After the series ended in 1974, Plumb sought roles that would separate her from Jan. The TV movie *Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway* (1976), in which she played a teenage prostitute on Hollywood's streets, brought quick success; later roles included *Secrets of Three Hungry Wives* and *Little Women* as Beth March[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/2000/09/17/whatever-happened-to-jan-brady/93c187c3-8bc9-4cc8-bdf5-142812158b84/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/eve_plumb). She later said she credited *Dawn* with saving her from being typecast as a child star[8](https://www.mixedtimes.com/entertainment/brady-bunch-actress-eve-plumb-recalls-how-shocking-role-saved-her-from-child-star-curse).
When parts stopped coming in during her twenties, she concluded that Hollywood could not separate Eve Plumb from Jan Brady. She went from 1983 to 1988 without a screen role, then appeared in the comedy *I'm Gonna Get You Sucka*[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/2000/09/17/whatever-happened-to-jan-brady/93c187c3-8bc9-4cc8-bdf5-142812158b84/). In 1994 she was appearing in the improvisational mockumentary *...And God Spoke*, playing herself cast as Noah's wife, and in a TV movie and Saturday morning series based on [Judy Blume](https://www.edgepedia.org/judy-blume)'s *Superfudge*; she also passed on the 1995 *Brady Bunch* theatrical movie, later saying she "just didn't have the time" because she was shooting the *Fudge* series[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-07-ca-47681-story.html).
Later credits span film and television, including *Blue Ruin* (2013) and *Monsoon* (2018), and guest and supporting roles in *Law & Order: SVU*, *That '70s Show*, *Blue Bloods*, *Army Wives*, *Bull*, *Crashing*, *The Path*, and *Grease: Live!*[4](https://www.eveplumb.tv/about) • [10](https://www.metacritic.com/person/eve-plumb/). She studied improv comedy at the Groundlings School in Los Angeles, was a rotating cast member of the Groundlings troupe, and after moving to New York performed Off Broadway in *Love, Loss, and What I Wore*, *Unbroken Circle*, and *Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating, & Marriage*[4](https://www.eveplumb.tv/about) • [11](https://archives.nd.edu/observer/1990-10-15_v23_036.pdf).
## Painting and other work
Painting began as a way to keep working when acting did not come: during the drought in her thirties Plumb concentrated on artwork, producing lithographs, and later built a painting practice in oils, showing work in galleries around the United States[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/2000/09/17/whatever-happened-to-jan-brady/93c187c3-8bc9-4cc8-bdf5-142812158b84/) • [4](https://www.eveplumb.tv/about). Her subjects range from restaurant scenes and still lifes to paintings based on film noir and Western movies, described by Plumb as "spontaneous still life"[12](https://www.eveplumb.tv/art). She has shared her interest in home renovation on HGTV's *A Very Brady Renovation* and *Design at Your Door*[4](https://www.eveplumb.tv/about), and runs PlumbGoods, a home decor company with her husband Ken Pace[13](https://parade.com/news/eve-plumb-revealed-warning-for-child-actors).
## Memoir and later reflections
In April 2026 Plumb published the memoir *Happiness Included: Jan Brady and Beyond*, which she promoted on a book tour that included stops in New York, Massachusetts, and [Connecticut](https://www.edgepedia.org/connecticut)[5](https://www.ctinsider.com/entertainment/article/actress-eve-plumb-jan-brady-madison-ct-22305697.php). In interviews around the book she told *CBS Mornings* that *The Brady Bunch* "put me where I am today" while also addressing the show's rocky start as not an instant hit and why one of her iconic lines bothered her[14](https://www.cbs.com/shows/video/ALVE01KQ7PWGWYE42V6TEEHTRMGEFP/). On the enduring association with Jan, she has been quoted as saying "I'll always be Jan Brady to so many people. I can't escape it, but I can do other things"[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000589/bio/).
## Personal life
Plumb married Richard N. Mansfield in July 1979; they divorced in 1984. She has been married to Ken Pace since September 24, 1995, and has no children[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000589/bio/). She lived for years in [Laguna Beach, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/laguna-beach-california), where she owned a historic house, served on the city's Design Review Board, and volunteered with the makeup crew for the Pageant of the Masters[7](https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/opinion/tn-dpt-xpm-2010-12-16-tn-cpt-1217-ourlaguna-20101216-story.html); she now lives in New York City[13](https://parade.com/news/eve-plumb-revealed-warning-for-child-actors).
One piece of her real estate history drew wide attention: at age 10 she bought a Malibu bungalow for $55,300, and in 2016 she sold the 850-square-foot oceanfront home for $3.9 million[15](https://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/hot-property/la-fi-hp-eve-plumb-brady-bungalow-20160923-snap-story.html).
## References
1. [Eve Plumb - Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000589/bio/)
2. [Eve Plumb - Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/eve_plumb)
3. [Eve Plumb - TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/eve-plumb/)
4. [About - Eve Plumb (official website)](https://www.eveplumb.tv/about)
5. [Eve Plumb appears in Connecticut for new memoir, CT Insider (June 15, 2026)](https://www.ctinsider.com/entertainment/article/actress-eve-plumb-jan-brady-madison-ct-22305697.php)
6. [Whatever Happened to Jan Brady? - The Washington Post (September 17, 2000)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/2000/09/17/whatever-happened-to-jan-brady/93c187c3-8bc9-4cc8-bdf5-142812158b84/)
7. [Our Laguna: All about Eve Plumb - Los Angeles Times / Daily Pilot (December 2010)](https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/opinion/tn-dpt-xpm-2010-12-16-tn-cpt-1217-ourlaguna-20101216-story.html)
8. ['Brady Bunch' actress Eve Plumb recalls how shocking role saved her from child star curse, Mixed Times (2022)](https://www.mixedtimes.com/entertainment/brady-bunch-actress-eve-plumb-recalls-how-shocking-role-saved-her-from-child-star-curse)
9. [She's Getting Past the Bradys, Sort Of - Los Angeles Times (October 7, 1994)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-07-ca-47681-story.html)
10. [Eve Plumb - Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/eve-plumb/)
11. [Observer (University of Notre Dame, October 15, 1990)](https://archives.nd.edu/observer/1990-10-15_v23_036.pdf)
12. [Gallery 1 - Eve Plumb (official website)](https://www.eveplumb.tv/art)
13. ['70s Star Who Played Jan Brady Just Revealed a Stark Warning for Child Actors, Parade (May 2026)](https://parade.com/news/eve-plumb-revealed-warning-for-child-actors)
14. [Eve Plumb reflects on life in the spotlight, CBS Mornings (April 27, 2026)](https://www.cbs.com/shows/video/ALVE01KQ7PWGWYE42V6TEEHTRMGEFP/)
15. ['Brady Bunch' star's Malibu beachfront bungalow poised for a reboot - Los Angeles Times (September 2016)](https://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/hot-property/la-fi-hp-eve-plumb-brady-bungalow-20160923-snap-story.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Child and youth screen performers › Child performers born before 1986*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license