Florence Henderson is most well-known for her role as Carol Brady on TV's The Brady Bunch , but she started her career on the stage, in musicals such as Oklahoma! and South Pacific . She starred on Broadway in the long-running musical Fanny , and in 1962, she became the first woman to guest host The Johnny Carson Show . Her talent for skit comedy also allowed her to make frequent appearances on Dean Martin's variety show. In 1968, she was cast as Carol Brady on the popular TV sitcom, which ran from 1968 to 1974, and is still on air today. Joel Brokaw coauthored Tyler Perry's #1 New York Times bestseller Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings .