Transcript for Friends Share Memories of 'Brady Bunch' Star Florence Henderson: Part 2  ??? here's the story of a lovely lady ??? Florence Henderson was a lovely lady. She was a wonderful friend. Who really was America's mom. She was someone to be admired. She had an uncanny ability to make people comfortable. You could turn on the "Brady bunch" and get that life lesson. Jan, you're really not being fair. You might not have been getting in your own home. Florence was a storybook tale, she grew up poor. Youngest of a gaggle of children. Her father had a drinking problem and her mother disappeared when she was 12. Carol Brady was the mother that she wished she had had. It's funny to think that someone who exudes such optimism. The chicken has a certain -- You sure need a lot of wessonality, you know, to deal with being the youngest of ten kids. She came to New York. I think she was 16 or 17 years old and with nothing. She landed within six months her first Broadway job. She was plucked from relative obscurity and wound up performing in Oklahoma. ??? Florence Henderson did "Oklahoma" on stage. But in the movie, Shirley Jones got the part. ??? Later, they became TV rivals. Here was Florence Henderson as the mom on "The Brady bunch." Shirley Jones as the mom on "The partridge family." If you were of my generation the first time you saw Florence Henderson wasn't on "The Brady bunch." You saw her on this kind of this endless stream of talk shows and game shows. She was a wonderful guest on "The tonight show" and occasionally guest hosted "The tonight show." Carol Brady she was kind of the natural step from there. Carol had to deal with everything. She had to deal with the rambunctiousness of three boys. With the squabbling of three girls. Marcia, Marcia, Marcia. With a dog who would steal people's dolls, and she handled all of it with a smile. I think "The Brady bunch" was the first blended family on television. Cindy, why don't you take Bobby upstairs and tell the girls your new brothers are here, okay? We were the first couple to sleep in the same bed, to actually let people know how you get six children. Just the idea that they might be an actual couple was a shocking thing for television. It was such a gentle sweet show. It's almost like your favorite children's book. I can't talk. I remember the Christmas episode where Carol loses her voice. I think we should postpone Christmas until mom can talk again. Miraculously, after Cindy asks Santa Claus for a miracle. You must want something for Christmas? I do. I want my mommy to get her voice back. One is granted. Sing honey, sing. Oh, come all ye faithful. And she is singing "Come all ye faithful," beautifully, I might add. The only episode in which Florence got to sing, if I'm not mistaken. I did worry a lot about Carol being too sweet. People who knew Flo well know that she has a saucy and spicy sense of humor -- never the shy, retiring Mrs. Brady that people often thought of her as. Told a great dirty joke. And it tickled her. 'Cause she's so Mary Poppins like at one end, and at the other end, she's -- she's got a Lotta puck in her. Mtv hired "The Brady bunch" to re-enact the top scenes from the movies in 1992. One was "A few good men." I want the truth! Greg, you can't handle to the truth! Did you order Marsha's grounding? You're Right I did. Now, you go to your room! And wait a minute. It gets worse. Sharon stone in "Basic instinct." Would you us the nature of your relationship you had with Sam the butcher? I had sex with him for about a year and a half. I liked having sex with him. Florence Henderson said that on television. So god bless her. When she did "Dancing with the stars." Flo was doing a very sexy and provocative tango. She was sexy for -- for an older woman. And she was really movin' it. One of her last public appearances was on "Dancing with the stars." She was there to support Maureen Mccormick, who had played her daughter on "The Brady bunch." She really was a very, very nice, really extraordinary woman. I'm so proud of you! Flo was one of those ageless and timeless people that you really expect to be around forever. And we'll all miss her. And we should all hope to be as good to one another as she was to everyone. A TV on on the mother we all  This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
Florence Henderson, who died on Nov. 24, 2016, grew up poor and the youngest in her family before moving to New York.