Remember cute Cousin Oliver from 'The Brady Bunch'? He's 54 and became a musician

Robbie Rist once said that “I think that artists have a better chance at making great art if they know as much about every different area in the industry as they can.” AmoMama finds that he not only sought to find out more about his art but also other forms that he is currently pursuing as Stanton Daily reports.

Robbie Rist started his career like any other star, unknown and with lots of ads to his name in the 70s. IT would be a long way to go till he got his first real gig as Cousin Oliver on the last season of the classic sitcom, The Brady Bunch. He would go on to act in several TV series before getting the chance to prove his talents as a voice actor in Doc McStuffins and as Michelangelo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Along the way, the actor was also trying his hand in music and sharpening his skills enough to produce the music for the Sharknado franchise.

Rist was born on April 4, 1964, in Los Angeles, California to German immigrants who were determined that their son would grow up disciplined despite the impending fame that followed his first commercial gig.

“My parents are very old-school German immigrants who have this small town, work ethic ‘thing.’ They told me point-blank… ‘It doesn’t matter what you do or what you make, we have to let you do this, this is our decision and if you start screwing up we will just kill you and make another kid who looks just like you and we won’t miss you at all Robbie.’”

So, Robbie took his parents seriously and went to make numerous ads but with the work ethic that the parents had raised with him. “I had done something like 100 commercials and had done the John Denver TV show and worked with Jonathan Winters and all kinds of stuff.” The actor was thrilled to change course and so being cast as Cousin Oliver in The Brady Bunch was much welcome. Unfortunately, the producers had already decided to cancel the shoe due to poor ratings and so his role didn’t last.

Although he was only in six episodes, Robbie had fun. “I had fun, all I knew was I was getting out of school. I got to stand on a piece of tape and say some words every once in a while and people would laugh. It was great for me. Then again, when you’re nine, everything is great.”

Although Robbie’s rarely invited to The Brady Bunch reunions and was even called “obnoxious” in Barry Williams’ book Growing Up Brady, he has good memories of the show. These days, he makes music and is involved in production.

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