Geri Reischl

Reischl was adopted when she was three days old. She recalled that her mother told her she was adopted when she was four or five years old because she did not want her to develop the idea that there was something wrong with being adopted.

Reischl's first appearance was at the age of six playing Gretl in a production of The Sound of Music, starring Patrice Munsel, at the Melodyland Theatre in Anaheim, California. There, she was discovered by a talent agent who signed her and got her parts in two commercials. She was then signed to an exclusive contract with Mattel Toys until she was retired in 1971 by the company at the age of 11. Her last Mattel commercial was for Mattel's Rock Flowers series of fashion dolls, and according to Reischl the series' 'Heather' doll was patterned after her likeness.{{cite journal|last=Eury|first=Michael|date=August 2020|title=Fake Jan Gets Real: An Interview with The Brady Bunch Variety Hour's Geri Reischl|journal=RetroFan|publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |location=United States|issue=10|pages=46–52}}{{cite web |title=1971 "Rock Flowers" Mattell Doll Commercial |url=https://archive.org/details/1971RockFlowersDollsCommercial |website=Internet Archive |accessdate=7 September 2020 |date=1971}}

During her career, Geri appeared in over 40 commercials. From 1979 to 1983, she appeared in a series of Wizard of Oz-themed commercials for the breakfast cereal Crispy Wheats-n-Raisins, in which she played Dorothy. On television, Reischl appeared on Gunsmoke, The Interns, Apple's Way and The Bold Ones. In addition, Geri filmed a television pilot with Rene Simard entitled Rene and the Proteens. She also starred in two low-budget horror films: The Brotherhood of Satan (1971) and I Dismember Mama (1974).{{cite web|url=http://www.gerireischl.com/about/|title=About Geri Reischl |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009041649/http://www.gerireischl.com/about/ |archivedate=October 9, 2012}}

Reischl is best known for portraying Jan Brady in nine episodes of The Brady Bunch Hour during the 1976–77 television season.{{cite web|title= What's in a TV name?| work= Ask Dick Kleiner, The Fort Scott Tribune| first= Dick |last= Kleiner| authorlink= Dick Kleiner |date=4 February 1977|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4dYfAAAAIBAJ&pg=3886,1850426&dq=geri-reischl&hl=en | via= Google News}} Her appearances as Jan have been referred to as 'Fake Jan',{{cite book|title=Love To Love You Bradys: The Bizarre Story Of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour|year=2009|publisher=ECW Press |isbn=978-1-55022-888-5|pages=266}} a term which Reischl has since embraced as a "badge of honor" and her personal brand. She was selected from over 1,500 girls, including Kathy Richards, who auditioned for the role in 1976 and supposedly came in second place for the part.{{cite book|title=Love To Love You Bradys: The Bizarre Story Of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour|year=2009|publisher=ECW Press|isbn=978-1-55022-888-5|pages=26}} Reischl had not watched the original The Brady Bunch show at the time, since she was too busy with schoolwork, playing and singing with her band, and acting in television commercials and movies to watch much television. The rest of the cast immediately welcomed her and made her feel at ease on the show.

After The Brady Bunch Hour, Reischl went back to high school and after graduating she held a job in a doctor's office while continuing to audition. Reischl was given the role of Blair Warner in the television pilot Garrett's Girls (later renamed The Facts of Life), but was forced to give it up due to her contract with General Mills.{{cite book|title=Love To Love You Bradys: The Bizarre Story Of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour|year=2009|publisher=ECW Press|isbn=978-1-55022-888-5|pages=267}}

Reischl sang and played guitar in a California band Sand Dabs from 1974 to 1976. Later, she performed at U.S.O. clubs, Magic Mountain, Knotts Berry Farm, the Harrah's Club, and with Marty Robbins at the Palomino Club of North Hollywood. She was one of Sammy Davis Jr.'s "Kids" in his Lake Tahoe night club act, and also performed with Red Skelton.

In the summer of 1976, Reischl toured the United States and Montreal doing an act with Canadian singer René Simard.{{cite web|title=Rene Simard plays in Montreal| url= http://www.gerireischl.com/1976/09/04/rene-simard-plays-in-montreal/|date=4 September 1976}} Because of her interest in country music she made a guest appearance on the show Pop! Goes the Country in 1977 that was filmed at the Grand Ole Opry.

Reischl released a re-recording of her Brady Bunch Hour performance of "Your Song" titled "Fake Jan Sings for Real" on September 25, 2011. A studio album, 1200 Riverside, was released later the same year on November 1. It was well-received critically.

Reischl married in 1979 and had two children. She and her husband divorced in 2010.{{Citation needed |date=August 2023}}

• Fake Jan Sings For Real (2011)
• 1200 Riverside (2011)

{{reflist}}

• {{official website|http://www.gerireischl.com}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120306224225/http://1200riverside.com/ Website for 1200 Riverside]
• {{IMDb name|0718392}}

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Category:Living people

Category:Actresses from Los Angeles

Category:American child actresses

Category:American women country singers

Category:American country singer-songwriters

Category:American film actresses

Category:American musical theatre actresses

Category:American television actresses

Category:Musicians from Greater Los Angeles

Category:Actors from Greater Los Angeles

Category:20th-century American guitarists

Category:20th-century American women guitarists

Category:21st-century American women

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)