'Brady Bunch' star Susan Olsen 'almost died' during filming of first episode

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Susan Olsen revealed she "almost died" while filming the first episode of "The Brady Bunch" as Cindy Brady.

Olsen was joined by three of her co-stars — Mike Lookinland, Christopher Knight and Barry Williams — for a re-watch of "The Honeymoon." They discussed the first day of filming the iconic pilot episode that aired in 1969.

"On the Culver lot, they were shooting something — I would assume, in the girl's bedroom — and I was getting body makeup on my legs," Olsen said during a podcast episode of "The Real Brady Bros." "I was standing on a makeup chair and something from the catwalk, where they keep all the lights and everything, fell."

"It hit the makeup man first, [bounced] off the body makeup woman, and hit me in the face."

‘BRADY BUNCH’ ACTOR ADMITS ROMANCE WITH CO-STAR WAS ‘ON-AGAIN, OFF-AGAIN’ FOR YEARS

Susan Olsen in The Brady Bunch

Susan Olsen starred as Cindy Brady on "The Brady Bunch." (CBS via Getty Images)

"You can tell, if you look at the [wedding] ceremony, and you see the three girls on one side, if you were to zoom in really tight, you can see my face is quite swollen," Olsen explained. "I look different. You can even see it in some of the early publicity shots. You can tell my face is a little swollen."

Florence Henderson, who starred as Carol Brady, was there to comfort Olsen and make sure everyone knew that the young actress had been injured. However, everyone else around insisted she was fine.

Barry Williams, Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland, Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, Maureen McCormick, Eve Plumb, and Susan Olsen, pose in a publicity image issued for the television series, "The Brady Bunch.'

Susan Olsen recalled having a swollen face during the wedding ceremony scene due to an injury she experienced during the first day of filming. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

Olsen recalled thinking at the time, "I don't want to be brave. In fact, I don't just wanna cry, I want to sob. I'm just gonna let go and forget all my pride and just sob because this hurts."

She ended up putting on a brave face and held back her tears.

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Scene from "The Brady Bunch" with the girls and their parents

From left: Florence Henderson as Carol Brady, Robert Reed as Mike Brady, Maureen McCormick as Marcia Brady, Eve Plumb as Jan Brady and Susan Olsen as Cindy Brady on "The Brady Bunch." (Getty)

Olsen's mom took her to the doctor, but the family chose not to take legal action.

"The saddest news is that we didn't sue Paramount, because I would have made more off of that than the show," Olsen joked. "But I came to work the next day. Florence was the first one to see me. She's like, 'You make sure everybody sees her.' And my mom was like, 'Oh, yes, I will.' Because everybody was trying to say, 'It didn't really hit her. She's fine.'"

"My eyes were black. I mean, I had two black eyes. My nose was swollen. My face was swollen," she said. "I remember loving it, because I looked like I was in a horror film. And then everybody knew, yes, I had gotten hurt, and I had gotten hurt very badly."

Brady Bunch stars Susan Olsen, Mike Lookinland, Eve Plumb, Christopher Knight, Maureen McCormick, and Barry Williams in a scene from the show

"The Brady Bunch" ran for five seasons, but lived on through spinoff shows and reunion films. (ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)

Paramount brought out Hal King, the makeup artist who did Lucille Ball's makeup, to cover up her bruises. King also worked with Henderson for the entirety of filming for "The Brady Bunch."

The cover-up of Olsen's injury must have worked great because her male co-stars didn't even notice. "Didn't know anything about that," Knight said during the podcast.

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Brady Bunch family on their stairs

The first episode of "The Brady Bunch" aired in 1969. (CBS via Getty Images)

"The Brady Bunch" aired from 1969 to 1974. The show starred Henderson and Robert Reed as the mom and dad, Carol and Mike Brady, who shared a blended family of three boys and three girls from previous marriages.

The sitcom followed the family's life, showcasing adventures and more.

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