Lorena Blas

USA TODAY Life

Ann B. Davis, who played beloved housekeeper Alice on TV's The Brady Bunch, has died at a San Antonio hospital.

Bexar County, Texas, medical examiner's investigator Sara Horne told the Associated Press Davis died Sunday morning at University Hospital. An autopsy was planned Monday to attempt to determine the cause of death, Horne said.

Davis, who played Alice Nelson during the show's run from 1969-74, turned 88 on May 3.

She fell and hit her head in her bathroom Saturday morning, according to reports. Close friend Bishop William Frey tells CNN that she suffered a subdural hematoma and never regained consciousness.

She died early Sunday morning at a hospital in San Antonio, where she had lived for 18 years, her agent, Robert Malcolm, tells NBC News.

Known for her trademark blue dress and apron, Alice was a regular on The Brady Bunch and often brought a cheerful attitude to sometimes serious scenes among members of the television family, lead by actors Florence Henderson and Robert Reed.

Davis also returned to her famous role in the show's remakes and movie updates, including The Brady Brides and A Very Brady Christmas.

In a 2004 story in USA TODAY related to a TV Land celebration of The Brady Bunch's 35th anniversary, the never-married Davis said she was happily retired and living in a Christian community in San Antonio, where she sang in her church's choir, watched baseball on TV, played computer games and took a lot of naps.

She told USA TODAY that the only thing that disturbed her peaceful existence was Brady Bunch reunions. "This lady's trying to get retired," she said with a grumble, "and the phone keeps ringing with new things to do with The Brady Bunch."

But it was clear that she knew how important she was to the show and its impact on her, "How," Davis told USA TODAY's reporter, "could I not be part of a Brady Bunch special?"

Contributing: The Associated Press