Barry Williams

Barry William Blenkhorn, known professionally as Barry Williams, was born on September 30, 1954, in Santa Monica, California, to Doris May Moore and Canadian-born Frank Millar Blenkhorn, of English, Scottish, and German ancestry. The youngest of three boys, Williams grew up alongside brothers Craig and Scott in Pacific Palisades, California, where actor Peter Graves lived nearby. He decided as a child that he wanted to pursue acting, and in 1967 made his television debut in a Christmas episode of Dragnet 1967.

Guest roles on numerous television series followed, including Adam-12, The Invaders, That Girl, Mission: Impossible, The Mod Squad, Here Come the Brides, Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C., Marcus Welby, M.D., and Bartleby, the Scrivener. In 1969, Williams was cast as Greg Brady, the eldest of the Brady sons, on the ABC series The Brady Bunch, which ran through 1974. He also voiced the character in the first season of the ABC Saturday morning animated series The Brady Kids (1972–1973). Following the cancellation of The Brady Bunch, Williams continued appearing in television guest roles while also becoming involved in musical theater, touring with productions of Grease, The Sound of Music, Pippin, and West Side Story.

Williams reprised the role of Greg Brady across multiple reunion projects, including the variety series The Brady Bunch Hour (1976–1977), the television film The Brady Girls Get Married (1981), the Christmas film A Very Brady Christmas (1988), and the drama series The Bradys (1990). In 1989, the Young Artist Foundation honored him with its Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Award for his portrayal of Greg Brady. He appeared in a cameo as a record producer in the 1995 feature film The Brady Bunch Movie, and his 1992 autobiography, Growing Up Brady: I Was A Teenage Greg, co-written with Chris Kreski, became a New York Times bestseller. The book was later adapted into a 2000 television film starring Adam Brody as Williams.

On Broadway, Williams appeared in productions between 1972 and 1991, with credits including Pippin, City of Angels, and My Romance. His Broadway debut came in 1988 in the musical Romance/Romance, in which he took over the lead male role of Alfred/Sam from Scott Bakula, appearing opposite Tony Award nominee Alison Fraser. In 1984, Williams played the English con man Hannibal on the top-rated daytime drama General Hospital, a role that represented a departure from his Brady Bunch image.

Williams also appeared in the films Wild in the Streets (1968) and Mega Piranha (2010), and had television roles on Highway to Heaven, Murder She Wrote, Full House, That '70s Show, and Scrubs. Between 2001 and 2002, he played Manager Dean "The Machine" Strickland in 13 episodes of the sitcom Hollywood 7, featuring the British pop group S Club 7. In 2008, he appeared in episode six of the VH1 series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew as a friend of patient Chyna, discussing the negative impact of drinking on his own life and career. Williams played himself in the 2003 film Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, and appeared briefly as an audience member in the 2002 music video for Peter Gabriel's "The Barry Williams Show."

In January 2001, Williams was fined $52,000 by Actors' Equity Association for starring as Captain Von Trapp in a non-union tour of The Sound of Music. He responded by filing a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, arguing that the fine was illegal because he had resigned from the union in September 2000 before the tour began. Equity, which alleged Williams had been a member since 1974, maintained he was still a member when contract negotiations for the role began. Williams was reinstated as a member in good standing in 2005 after he unionized a non-Equity production of A Christmas Carol in late 2004.

Williams joined his Brady Bunch castmates for the 2019 HGTV series A Very Brady Renovation, and in 2021 starred in the Lifetime Christmas film Blending Christmas alongside Brady Bunch co-stars Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland, Susan Olsen, and Robbie Rist. In 2022, Williams, Knight, and Lookinland competed together on season eight of The Masked Singer as "Mummies," being eliminated on "TV Theme Night." Williams competed on season 32 of Dancing with the Stars in 2023, partnering with Peta Murgatroyd. In 2026, he appeared as a cast member on the Australian version of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, arriving as the second celebrity after New Zealand model and actress Rachel Hunter.

Williams has a son, Brandon Eric Williams, born in January 2003 with his second wife Eila Mary Matt, and a daughter, Samantha Rose Williams, born in April 2012 with ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Kennedy. As of 2019, he has made Branson, Missouri, his home and tours with the musical group Barry Williams and the Traveliers.