Chatty Cathy is a doll manufactured by the Mattel toy company from 1959 to 1965. The doll was first released in stores and appeared in television commercials beginning in 1960.

History[link]

Chatty Cathy spoke one of eleven phrases at random when the "chatty ring" protruding from its upper back was pulled. The ring was attached to a string connected to a simple low-fidelity phonograph record in the doll's abdomen. The record was driven by a metal coil wound by pulling the toy's string. The doll said 11 phrases when she came on the market in 1960 such as "I love you" or "Please take me with you". Seven more phrases such as, "Let's play School" or "May I have a cookie" were added to the doll's repertoire in 1963 for a total of 18 phrases. Chatty Cathy's voice unit was designed by Jack Ryan, Mattel's head of research and development; he had also been responsible for designing the Barbie doll after a German doll called Bild Lilli in 1959.

Originally, Chatty Cathy had blonde hair and blue eyes. Brunette and auburn-haired versions of the doll were introduced in 1962 and 1963 respectively; an African American version of the doll with brown skin tones was produced those same years. In 1960, two outfits were available for the doll: one included a blue dress with a white eyelet overblouse, panties, crinoline, blue shoes and white socks, and the other included a red velvet headband, red sunsuit with a red pinafore with an overskirt of white voile, red shoes and white socks. Other accessories accompanying the doll were a story and comic book, shoehorn, and paper wrist tag that was also a numbered warranty card. The doll and its accompanying accessories were advertised at less than $20.

Chatty Cathy was on the market for six years and was the second most popular doll of the 1960s after Barbie (also made by Mattel). After the success of Chatty Cathy, Mattel introduced Chatty Baby in 1962 and Tiny Chatty Baby, Tiny Chatty Brother and Charmin' Chatty in 1963. The last doll to have the word chatty in its name in the 1960s was Singin' Chatty in 1965.

Chatty Cathy, Chatty Baby and Tiny Chatty Baby were redesigned and reissued by Mattel in 1970. These dolls were completely different in appearance from the earlier Chatty dolls. Maureen McCormick, who had appeared in Chatty Cathy television commercials with her future The Brady Bunch co-star Eve Plumb in the 1960s, provided the voice of the new Chatty Cathy, which was on the market for two years.

In 1984, Mattel introduced Chatty Patty, which also had a different look from the other Chatty dolls. Mattel released special editions of Chatty Cathy in 1998 and 2001. These dolls were made to resemble the 1960 version of Chatty Cathy. They were sold only at specialty doll and toy stores and priced starting at $99.

In 1962, Mattel purchased the Dee & Cee Toy Company of Canada, which produced a Canadian version of the Chatty dolls. (By 1964 the company was known as Mattel Canada.) The dolls were made from the original American molds, but there was a notable difference in the materials: the vinyl used on the Canadian doll had a glossier look, its eyebrows were higher on its forehead, and a different type of eye was used in the doll. These differences account for the higher prices of some Canadian Chattys among collectors. Some of the doll's phrases were different, reflecting cultural differences between Canada and the United States.^{[citation needed]} These differences also made the doll suitable for export to other English-speaking countries.^{[citation needed]}

Mattel also bought the Rosebud doll company in England in 1966 and made a British Chatty Cathy that was on the market into the 1970s. These dolls were made from completely different molds and do not resemble any of the dolls made by Mattel in North America.

In popular culture[link]

The very same pull-string talking mechanisms were used in all other Mattel talking dolls and toys of the 1960s and 1970s. These included favorites like talking Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Mrs. Beasley, Drowsy, Herman Munster, Dr. Seuss characters, and all the See 'n Say toys. When Mattel introduced Baby First Step ("the world's first walking doll") in 1965 and the doll sold well, a talking version was later released. Other Mattel dolls which "learned to talk" were the Baby Tender Love line (1970), which eventually included Talking Baby Tender Love, and the Baby Beans line (1971), which spawned a Talking Baby Beans. Barbie and her many friends and relatives appeared in pull-string talking versions in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is worth noting that the Woody, Jessie, and Stinky Pete dolls based on characters from the Toy Story films (PIXAR 1995), had a pull-string as well but they were not made by Mattel.

Chatty Cathy was the inspiration for episode of The Twilight Zone entitled "Living Doll" originally broadcast November 1, 1963. June Foray, who had been the voice of the original Chatty Cathy, provided the voice for Talky Tina, the episode's evil doll. One of her phrases was, "My name is Talky Tina, and I'm going to kill you."

Sometimes the term "Chatty Cathy" can be used to refer to a particularly talkative person. In the 1987 John Hughes movie Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Neal (Steve Martin) scolds Del (John Candy): It's like going on a date with a Chatty Cathy doll. I expect you have a little string on your chest, you know, that I pull out and have to snap back. Except I wouldn't pull it out and snap it back - you would. Agh! Agh! Agh! Agh!^[1]. Also, the How I Met Your Mother episode Spoiler Alert (How I Met Your Mother) shows the main character Ted dating a very talkative woman named Cathy.

In 2007, Hallmark released the Chatty Cathy Keepsake ornament.^[2] A GEICO commercial from 2007 parodied the Chatty Cathy commercial with the dolls saying phrases about their car insurance rates.

The Chicago rock band Chatty Cathy, formed 2007, was named after this product.

References[link]

Kettelkamp, Sean;Chatty Cathy and her Talking Friends-Schiffer Publishing (1998)

External links[link]

• Television campaigns about Chatty Cathy
• Chatty Cathy at MondoCollecto.Com
• IMDb: Ann P. Ryan, the original Chatty Cathy voice

Maureen McCormick
At a booksigning for her book Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice in Maui, December 2009
Born	Maureen Denise McCormick (1956-08-05) August 5, 1956 (age 55) Encino, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, singer
Years active	1964–present
Spouse	Michael Cummings (m. 1985–present)

Maureen Denise McCormick (born August 5, 1956) is an American actress and recording artist. She is most widely known for her career as a child actress, during which she portrayed Marcia Brady on ABC's The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974.

Early life and career[link]

McCormick was born in Encino, California, the daughter of Irene (née Beckman) and William McCormick, a teacher.^[1] At the age of six she won the Baby Miss San Fernando Valley beauty pageant.^[2] McCormick first appeared on national U.S. television in 1964 for Mattel toys on Barbie and Chatty Cathy doll commercials. She lent her voice to a redesigned Chatty Cathy doll in 1970. Through the later 1960s McCormick appeared in two episodes of Bewitched and played guest roles on I Dream of Jeannie, Honey West, The Farmer's Daughter and My Three Sons.

Marcia Brady[link]

McCormick played the eldest daughter, Marcia, who had five other siblings. She had a perky and popular personality in The Brady Bunch, an American television sitcom about a blended family that aired from late 1969 to early 1974 on ABC, Friday nights at 8 p.m. After its cancellation Brady Bunch episodes were rebroadcast in syndication for decades as children's programming, gathering a long lasting, cross-generational popularity that led to spinoffs and movies.

Later career[link]

After The Brady Bunch, McCormick made guest appearances on many television series such as Happy Days, Donny & Marie, Love Boat, Vega$, Streets of San Francisco and Fantasy Island, along with supporting roles in a few B-movies such as 1979's A Vacation In Hell, Skatetown, U.S.A. and 1987's Return to Horror High. However, perhaps owing to the ongoing broadcast of Brady Bunch reruns in syndication, she may have become typecast. McCormick later claimed she failed to get a part as a prostitute or heroin dealer for the movie Midnight Express because of this.^[3] McCormick was the first actress to play Rebecca Crane on the soap opera Passions but she was not put on contract.

In 2007, McCormick was a cast member on the fifth season of VH1's reality show Celebrity Fit Club, hoping to lose 30 pounds she had gained since her mother died of cancer and needing to move her disabled brother into an assisted living facility. McCormick lost 34 pounds and, in June of that year, was the individual winner of the series. In 2008, she became a spokesperson for Children International.^[4] Later that year, she became a cast member on the CMT reality show Gone Country. This led to a spin-off reality series called Outsiders Inn in which she opened a bed and breakfast inn in Newport, Tennessee. On March 15, 2009, McCormick appeared on Comedy Central's roast of Larry the Cable Guy.

She also appeared in an episode of Scrubs as J.D.'s dream wife; however, she is married to him as Marcia Brady.

Personal life[link]

McCormick and fellow Brady Bunch cast member Barry Williams had a sporadic romance during the original series run, with their first romantic kiss happening in the summer of 1972, while filming the Hawaiian episodes.

In her autobiography, McCormick wrote that her grandmother died from syphilis in a mental institution, having gotten the disease from her husband who had caught it in Europe at the time of World War I (and who committed suicide a week after his wife's death). McCormick's mother had contracted syphilis in utero and McCormick dealt with a life-long, but unfounded, fear she would also get the disease.^[5] Hence, McCormick later said her favorite scenes in The Brady Bunch were those that called for her to cry, since this allowed her to release feelings she drew from those fears.

Following the cancellation of The Brady Bunch, McCormick went through years of addiction to cocaine and Quaaludes that harmed her career. McCormick later claimed she sometimes traded sex for cocaine. She flubbed an audition with Steven Spielberg for a part in Raiders of the Lost Ark, showing up high on cocaine and sleepless for three days. She lost her reputation for reliability in Hollywood, and one producer threatened that she would never work as an actress again. She also dealt with bouts of depression and bulimia.^[2][6]

On March 16, 1985 she married Michael Cummings, who had never seen or heard of The Brady Bunch. They fell in love upon meeting in a church.^[7] McCormick and Cummings have one child, daughter Natalie Michelle, born May 19, 1989. The family lives in Westlake Village, northwest of Los Angeles.

After her marriage, McCormick went through a series of interventions, stints in rehab and experimental therapies. She says treatment with psychologist Eugene Landy, who had also treated Brian Wilson, set her back. Although she began to get sober after marrying her husband, McCormick still suffered from depression and paranoia. McCormick once threatened to jump from a balcony in front of her husband.^[7] She and her husband were at first wary of medication, but McCormick has been treated with antidepressant medication such as Prozac since the 1990s. McCormick also said she was helped by her friendships with former Brady Bunch cast members.^[2][3]

In April 2007, on the TV series Dr. Phil, McCormick talked about a family dispute, accusing her brother of both elder abuse and alienating their father from his other children to gain control of his finances.^[8]

Autobiography[link]

On October 14, 2008, with wide and sometimes controversial publicity, she released her autobiography Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice, which debuted at number four on The New York Times Best Seller List and stayed on the list for three weeks.^[9] The book was published by HarperCollins and was acquired by the Director of Creative Development, Lisa Sharkey. While promoting the book she was a guest on many news and talk shows such as Access Hollywood, The Howard Stern Show, Good Day L.A. and Paula's Party. The Today Show reportedly aired an interview with McCormick about the book rather than switch to a story about the 2008 recession.^[10] McCormick said a movie would likely be made about her autobiography.^[11]

Other TV, film and stage work[link]

• In 1976, she played a teenage prostitute on the TV series The Streets of San Francisco.
• On February 5, 1989, she reprised her role as Marcia Brady in a dream sequence episode of the short-lived sitcom Day by Day. The episode brought together the Brady family in a dream to slacker son Ross who neglects schoolwork to watch a Brady Bunch marathon. McCormick scored big laughs in the satiric segment playing a visibly pregnant Marcia.
• In 1993, she played herself on an episode of Herman's Head.^[12]
• In 1994, McCormick played the role of Rizzo in the Broadway production of Grease.
• In 1997, she played the title role in Get to the Heart: The Barbara Mandrell Story.
• In 2000, she played Rebecca Hotchkiss on Passions for 10 episodes; after her stint ended, she was replaced by Andrea Evans.
• In 2001, she played Mrs. Strawther on Son of the Beach.
• In 2003, she appeared in Scrubs in a dream sequence where protagonist J.D. imagines Marcia Brady as his ideal bride (he shushes her when she points out that her name is actually Maureen McCormick).
• In 2003, she appeared as herself in a "bonus feature" entitled "Child Stars on Your Television" ^[13] in the DVD release of Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.^[14]
• In 2007, she played a shy, clumsy woman who was the eventual object of Jason Alexander's desires in the Brad Paisley country music video, "Online".^[15]
• In 2009, she participated in the Comedy Central Roast of Larry the Cable Guy, which aired on March 14.

Recording career[link]

McCormick recorded four albums with the Brady Bunch cast and toured with them. In 1972, she released her first solo single with the songs "Truckin' Back to You" and "Teeny Weeny Bit (Too Long)." A year later McCormick recorded an album with Brady co-star Christopher Knight. The pop LP, called Chris Knight and Maureen McCormick, carried both duets and solo tracks by the two young television stars. McCormick's second solo single was "Little Bird", backed with "Just a Singin' Alone", had mild chart success in the western US. McCormick performed "Little Bird" on American Bandstand and the show's host Dick Clark encouraged her to follow a singing career. McCormick released another single in 1973, "Love's in the Roses", backed with "Harmonize."

More than twenty years later McCormick released her first solo album, a country CD called When You Get a Little Lonely (1995). Although not a commercial success, it gathered mostly positive reviews. In 1997, she played country singer Barbara Mandrell in the television biography Get to the Heart: The Barbara Mandrell Story and in 2008 competed for a record contract on the CMT reality show Gone Country.

Biographical portrayals[link]

• Kaley Cuoco portrayed McCormick in Growing Up Brady. McCormick's character Marcia Brady has been portrayed by Christine Taylor in The Brady Bunch Movie and A Very Brady Sequel.

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Maureen McCormick

• The Official Maureen McCormick Web site/Fan Club
• Maureen McCormick at the Internet Movie Database
• McCormick, Maureen. Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice. William Morrow, October 14, 2008. ISBN 978-0-06-149014-9
• Book review of Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice