A Very Brady Pimple
Oct. 18, 2001 -- -- Bob Dole spoke up about erectile dysfunction. June Allyson told us not to be embarrassed by adult diapers. Now Christopher Knight — the former child actor who played Peter on The Brady Bunch — has found his cause. Zits!
Just when you thought there was an actor to speak up for every unwanted bodily function, along comes Knight as the anti-acne advocate for a campaign called "Healthy Skin, Healthy Outlook."
Maybe it's just a case of the pimples to you. However, more than 17 million teenagers suffer from the embarrassment of acne to some extent. It's the most common skin disorder in the United States and it's been shown to affect self-esteem, causing self-consciousness and even depression.
"The difference between acne and a lot of other problems we go through is that we can do something about this," says Knight. "But many people just suffer."
The squeaky-clean Peter Brady never had this problem. In the 117 episodes that aired between September 1969 and August 1974, Peter and his Brady siblings never dealt with the horrors of being a "pizza face."
Memories of Johnny Bravo
But let's face it:, real-life problems were never really the show's forte. The Brady kids' lone bathroom — the sight of many domestic skirmishes — didn't even have a toilet. And while Mr. and Mrs. Brady occasionally pecked each other on the cheek, you could drive an SUV down the space separating them in bed.
Marcia might have been clocked in the nose with a football before a big date. Cindy might have been teased by the school bully because of her lisp. Greg might have been deluded into believing he was rock star "Johnny Bravo." But the Bradys never tangled with bad skin, like the rest of us.
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, more than 40 percent of adolescents have acne severe enough to require medical treatment by a physician.
"There are so many myths about acne," Knight says. "Most people think you get it from eating too much chocolate or pizza. It's just not true."
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