Ann B. Davis, Alice on 'Brady Bunch,' dies

Actress Ann B. Davis, an American television legend who held "The Brady Bunch" together in her role as housekeeper Alice Nelson, died Sunday. She was 88.

Bishop William Frey, a close friend of Davis, told CNN the actress died at a hospital in San Antonio, Texas, where she was treated after hitting her head in a fall. The actress suffered a subdural hematoma, he said, and never regained consciousness.

Appearing in her trademark light blue maid's uniform with a white apron, Alice anchored "The Brady Bunch" with her cheerful attitude and witty one-liners.

As the sitcom's famous theme song played, showing each member of the Brady family's face in a grid, the devoted housekeeper was always smiling in the center.

In a 2004 interview with the Archive of American Television, Davis described how she created the iconic character.

"I made up a background story. I did have a twin sister, so I used that as a basis. ... I cared very much about this family. It was my family. It was as close to my family as Alice would ever get. I would have died for any single one of them at any point," she said. "You know, they wrote me such gorgeous things to do, as the intermediary between the kids and the adults, and between the boys and the girls. And they gave me funny things to do."

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