Christopher Knight (actor)

{{short description|American actor (b. 1957)}}

{{Other people|Christopher Knight}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Christopher Knight

| image = 10.1.10ChristopherKnightByLuigiNovi.jpg

| caption = Knight in 2010

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1957|11|07}}

| birth_place = New York City, U.S.{{cite web|url=http://www.biography.com/people/christopher-knight-591412|work=Biography.com|publisher=The Biography Channel|title=Christopher Knight|access-date=June 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625060422/http://www.biography.com/people/christopher-knight-591412|archive-date=June 25, 2016|url-status=dead}}

| birth_name = Christopher Anton Knight

| occupation = {{hlist|Actor|businessman}}

| years_active = 1967–present

| known_for = Peter Brady in The Brady Bunch
The Brady Kids
A Very Brady Christmas
The Bradys

| spouse = {{plainlist|

  • {{marriage|Julie Schulman
    |1989|1992|reason=divorced}}
  • {{marriage|Toni Erickson
    |1995|2000|reason=divorced}}
  • {{marriage|Adrianne Curry
    |2006|2012|reason=divorced}}
  • {{marriage|Cara Kokenes
    |November 2016}}

}}

}}

Christopher Anton Knight (born November 7, 1957)[http://www.biography.com/people/christopher-knight-591412?page=2 "Christopher Night Biography"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206002536/https://www.biography.com/people/christopher-knight-591412?page=2 |date=February 6, 2018 }}. Biography.com/ Retrieved January 6, 2010 is an American actor and businessman. He is best known for playing Peter Brady in the 1970s series The Brady Bunch. He has since gone on to become a businessman and enjoyed a semi-resurgence in the public eye with television appearances in the 2000s.

Early life and work

Knight was born in New York City, New York, the son of Edward and Wilma Knight.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9vOm-7dbKyIC&q=%22Christopher+Knight%22+%22Brady%22+wilma|title=Bradymania!: Everything You Always Wanted to Know—and a Few Things You Probably Didn't|isbn=9781558504189|last1=Moran|first1=Elizabeth|year=1995|publisher=Adams Pub. }} Knight's father, an actor, was born Edward Kozumplik, to parents from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, while Knight's mother was Jewish.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XRuwDwAAQBAJ&q=Kozumplik+%22Knight%22&pg=PT553|title = Bradypedia: The Complete Reference Guide to Television's the Brady Bunch|last1 = Woehlk|first1 = Erika| date=September 2, 2019 }}[https://web.archive.org/web/20090219161646/http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=42771364&blogID=470936238 Adrianne Curry Myspace post, February 19, 2009]

File:Brady Bunch full cast 1973.JPG. Back (L-R): Christopher Knight (Peter), Barry Williams (Greg), Ann B. Davis (Alice). Second row (L-R): Eve Plumb (Jan), Florence Henderson (Carol), Robert Reed (Mike), Maureen McCormick (Marcia). Front (L-R): Susan Olsen (Cindy), Mike Lookinland (Bobby).]]

File:The Brady Bunch Christopher Knight 1973.jpg in 1973]]

The Brady Bunch and other roles

Before the Brady Bunch series, Knight had some small television roles, including an appearance on the first season of Mannix, in a 1967 episode called "Coffin for a Clown". In 1969, Knight was cast as middle son Peter Brady on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch, which ran until 1974. He was also the voice of Peter in the ABC Saturday morning cartoon The Brady Kids (1972–74).

After the end of the Brady Bunch, Knight's acting career consisted mostly of making guest appearances on other television shows (Happy Days, The Love Boat), and occasional film roles (Just You and Me, Kid, Curfew, Good Girls Don't, The Doom Generation, and Nowhere). He reunited with his former Brady costars in several subsequent series, including The Brady Bunch Hour (1976–77), the TV movie The Brady Girls Get Married (1981), the holiday TV movie A Very Brady Christmas (1988), and the drama The Bradys (1990). He also had a cameo role as a coach in the film The Brady Bunch Movie (1995).

Computer career

In 1988, Knight, a self-described "geek", left acting to pursue a business career in the computer industry. He got a job as an account sales manager for Martec, Inc. and landed that company's first million-dollar sales deal within his first 18 months on the job, for which he was named Employee of the Year. In 1989, he was named Vice President of Design System Marketing and Sales at New Image Industry.

In 1991, he co-founded Visual Software, a pioneering 3D graphics company. In 1995, he founded Kidwise Learningware, a company that manufactures interactive educational products. In 1996, he joined the keyboard manufacturer Adesso, and in 1997, he became Vice President of Marketing at iXMicro, a video hardware company. In 1998, he founded his own TV tuner company, Eskape Labs; it was purchased by Hauppauge Computer Works in 2000.

Return to television

Continuing to pursue TV opportunities, Knight appeared on VH1's fourth season of The Surreal Life. The show garnered Knight more attention than he had received in quite some time, in part because he appeared shirtless on the show, revealing a well-built body. During his stint on the show, he began a romance with castmate model Adrianne Curry, winner of America's Next Top Model cycle 1, who is almost 25 years younger than Knight. After the show, the two moved in together and got engaged, as documented on the VH1 series My Fair Brady, which premiered on September 11, 2005. The series was renewed for another season, and the couple wed in Curry's hometown of Joliet, Illinois, on May 29, 2006, in a Gothic-style wedding.[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/dailydish/detail?entry_id=5504 "Knight and Curry Plan Gothic Wedding"], San Francisco Chronicle, May 25, 2006.

Knight participated in VH-1's retrospective miniseries, I Love The '70s: Volume II. He, his family, and friends appeared on the season finale of NBC's Celebrity Family Feud on July 29, 2008.

During the 2008–09 television season, Knight hosted the syndicated game show, Trivial Pursuit: America Plays. He has hosted a series of Jonathan Goodson-produced game show specials for the Michigan Lottery, Make Me Rich. The first special was scheduled for October 16, 2009, with a second scheduled for February 2010. The show aired periodically until early 2012.[http://michigan.gov/lottery/0,1607,7-110--223933--,00.html "Michigan Lottery Debuts New TV Game Show"], Michigan.gov, October 8, 2009. Knight joined the other Brady Bunch cast members in the 2019 television series A Very Brady Renovation on HGTV.{{cite news|author=Lee, Luaine|title=Bradys go 'home' again for HGTV|work=Baltimore Sun|date=September 8, 2019|page=A&E 4}} In 2021, he starred in the Lifetime Christmas movie, Blending Christmas, alongside his Brady Bunch co-stars Barry Williams, Mike Lookinland, Susan Olsen, and Robbie Rist.{{Cite magazine|last=Jones|first=Marcus|date=2021-05-19|title=Lifetime reunites High School Musical, Brady Bunch stars for holiday movies|url=https://ew.com/tv/lifetime-holiday-movies-reunite-high-school-musical-brady-bunch-stars/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-22|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519181312/https://ew.com/tv/lifetime-holiday-movies-reunite-high-school-musical-brady-bunch-stars/|archive-date=May 19, 2021 }}

In 2022, Knight, Williams, and Lookinland competed in season eight of The Masked Singer as "Mummies". They were eliminated in the third episode, which aired as the October 3 "TV Theme Night" alongside Daymond John as "Fortune Teller".{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/the-masked-singer-season-8-episode-3-recap-shark-tank-brady-bunch-daymond-john-1235394361/|title='The Masked Singer' Reveals Identities of 'Devastated' Mummies and Fortune Teller: Here's Who They Are|author=Schneider, Michael|url-status=live|language=en-US|magazine=Variety|date=October 5, 2022|access-date=October 6, 2022|archivedate=October 6, 2022|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006011802/https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/the-masked-singer-season-8-episode-3-recap-shark-tank-brady-bunch-daymond-john-1235394361/}}

On June 28, 2024, Knight appeared as a guest on Toon In With Me, which airs on MeTV.

Personal life

Knight has been married four times.Dugan, Christina (November 28, 2016). [http://people.com/celebrity/florence-henderson-brady-bunch-costar-christopher-knight-pays-tribute-second-mom/ "Brady Bunch Star Christopher Knight on How 'Second Mom' Florence Henderson Made Him 'Shine']. People. Knight proposed to his third wife, model and reality television personality Adrianne Curry, on the season finale of My Fair Brady, on VH1, which aired on November 6, 2005. The show was renewed for a second season that began in June 2006, and focused on the couple's wedding preparations. The couple wed in Curry's hometown of Joliet, Illinois, on May 29, 2006, in a gothic-style wedding. Knight's manager, Phil Viardo, told a celebrity gossip website on May 29, 2011, that Knight and Curry were announcing their separation. The date was the couple's fifth wedding anniversary.Collins, Emma. [http://www.hollyscoop.com/adrianne-curry/adrianne-curry-and-christopher-knight-split.html "Hollyscoop Exclusive: Adrianne Curry and Christopher Knight Split"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531140903/http://www.hollyscoop.com/adrianne-curry/adrianne-curry-and-christopher-knight-split.html |date=May 31, 2011 }}, Hollyscoop.com, May 28, 2011. On February 2, 2012, on G4's Attack of the Show, Curry said the divorce had been finalized. He married his fourth wife, Cara Kokenes, in November 2016.

Filmography

=Film=

class="wikitable sortable"
Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

1979

|Just You and Me, Kid

|Roy

|

1989

|Curfew

|Sam

|

1993

|Good Girls Don't

|Montana

|

1995

|{{sortname|The|Brady Bunch Movie}}

|Coach

|

1997

|Nowhere

|Mr. Sighvatssohn

|

2000

|Family Jewels

|The Guru

|

2003

|Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star

|Christopher Knight

|

2005

|L.A. Dicks

|Bernie Taylor

|

2006

|Fallen Angels

|Belmont

|

2008

|Light Years Away

|David Sommers

|

2009

|American Pie Presents: The Book of Love

|Alumnus Guy #3

|

2012

|{{sortname|The|Lords of Salem|The Lords of Salem (film)}}

|Keith 'Lobster Joe' Williams

|Scenes deleted

2012

|Letting Go

|The Boss

|

2014

|Guardian Angel

|Brian Casey

|

2017

|Where the Fast Lane Ends

|Cooley Swindell

|

2017

|Prisoner

|Brad

|Short

2023

|Truelove: The Film

|Himself

|Documentary about Williams syndrome

=Television=

class="wikitable sortable"
Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

1967

|Mannix

|Josh

|"Coffin for a Clown" (credited as "Christopher A. Knight")

1968

|Gunsmoke

|Jimmy

|"The Miracle Man"

1969–1974

|{{sortname|The|Brady Bunch}}

|Peter Brady

|Main role

1972

|{{sortname|The|ABC Saturday Superstar Movie}}

|Peter Brady (voice)

|"The Brady Kids on Mysterious Island"

1972–1974

|{{sortname|The|Brady Kids}}

|Peter Brady (voice)

|Main role (credited as "David E. Smith" in season 2)

1974

|ABC Afterschool Special

|Joe

|"Sara's Summer of the Swans"

1976

|One Day at a Time

|Pete

|"Barbara's Emergence"

1976–77

|{{sortname|The|Brady Bunch Hour}}

|Peter Brady

|Main role

1977

|{{sortname|The|Bionic Woman}}

|Bobby

|"Max"

1978

|Happy Days

|Binky Hodges

|"Be My Valentine"

1978

|CHiPs

|Wes Miller

|"Family Crisis"

1979

|Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker

|Nick

|TV film

1979–80

|Joe's World

|Steve Wabash

|Main role

1980

|Valentine Magic on Love Island

|Jimmy

|TV film

1981

|{{sortname|The|Brady Girls Get Married|The_Brady_Bunch#The_Brady_Girls_Get_Married_.2F_The_Brady_Brides}}

|Peter Brady

|TV film

1981

|Another World

|Leigh Hobson

|Guest role

1984

|Masquerade

|Hank Totten

|"Oil"

1984

|{{sortname|The|Love Boat}}

|Peter Barkan

|1 episode

1988

|{{sortname|A|Very Brady Christmas}}

|Peter Brady

|TV film

1989

|Day by Day

|Peter Brady

|"A Very Brady Episode"

1990

|{{sortname|The|Bradys}}

|Peter Brady

|Main role

2001

|The Weakest Link

|Himself

|"Brady Bunch Special Edition"

2006

|That '70s Show

|Josh

|"We Will Rock You"

2008–2009

|Trivial Pursuit: America Plays

|Himself

|Host

2010, 2018

|{{sortname|The|Bold and the Beautiful}}

|Dr. Andrews

|2 episodes

2014

|Heartbreakers

|Hurley Fontenot

|Miniseries

2018

|{{sortname|The|Last Sharknado: It's About Time}}

|Grandpa Clarke

|TV film

2019

|A Very Brady Renovation

|Himself

|7 episodes

2021

|Dragging the Classics: The Brady Bunch{{Cite web | url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/reviews/drag-race-brady-bunch-crossover-episode-tv-review-1235007421/crossover-episode-tv-review-1235007421/ | title='Dragging the Classics: The Brady Bunch' Delivers a Satisfying Twist on a Beloved Sitcom: TV Review | date=June 30, 2021 }}

|Peter Brady

|Paramount+ special

2021

|Blending Christmas

|Brian

|TV film

2022

|The Masked Singer

|Himself/Mummy

|Season 8 contestant; Group costume with Barry Williams and Mike Lookinland

References

{{Reflist|40em}}