Story highlights Florence Henderson: "I am so shocked and sad"

Actress Ann B. Davis, who played Alice on "The Brady Bunch," has died

She died after falling and hitting her head Saturday morning, a friend says

Her character anchored the show with witty one-liners and a cheerful attitude

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.

JUST WATCHED 'Brady Bunch' actress Ann Davis dies Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH 'Brady Bunch' actress Ann Davis dies 01:03

Photos: 'The Brady Bunch': Where are they now? Photos: 'The Brady Bunch': Where are they now? 'The Brady Bunch': Where are they now? – Florence Henderson, the iconic TV mom, died Thursday at the age of 82, her manager, Kayla Pressman, said. Henderson played Carol Brady from 1969 to 1979. Her life story wasn't as ideal as the character she played. She grew up poor in Indiana, with an alcoholic father and a mother who left when she was just 12 years old, she said. Henderson used her singing talent to entertain the family and help make ends meet. Her big break came in 1951 when she landed a starring role in Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!"





Hide Caption 1 of 9 Photos: 'The Brady Bunch': Where are they now? 'The Brady Bunch': Where are they now? – Maureen McCormick, now 60, played Marcia Brady for the five years "The Brady Bunch" was on the air. She has since released a country album, appeared on the fifth season of VH1's "Celebrity Fit Club," competed in "Dancing with the Stars" and written a tell-all book , "Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice." Hide Caption 2 of 9 Photos: 'The Brady Bunch': Where are they now? 'The Brady Bunch': Where are they now? – Everyone's favorite housekeeper, Alice Nelson, was played by Ann B. Davis on the sitcom. Davis died 2014 after suffering a subdural hematoma the day before. She never regained consciousness. Davis retired from show business in the late '70s, but popped up here and there. Davis appeared in commercials and several stage productions, and in the 1995 "Brady Bunch" movie, she played a truck driver, convincing a runaway Jan (Jennifer Elise Cox) to return home. Hide Caption 3 of 9 Photos: 'The Brady Bunch': Where are they now? 'The Brady Bunch': Where are they now? – Barry Williams, 62, went on to appear in TV shows like "Three's Company," "General Hospital" and "According to Jim" since playing Greg Brady in the '70s. Williams still has those curls, as well as a lingering crush on his former TV mom -- he gave her an intense kiss on the lips during the " The Talk's" "Brady Bunch" reunion. Off-camera, he's a father of two and also an author with the memoir, "Growing Up Brady: I Was a Teenage Greg." You can keep up with Williams on his blog, The Greg Brady Project. Hide Caption 4 of 9 Photos: 'The Brady Bunch': Where are they now? 'The Brady Bunch': Where are they now? – Eve Plumb appeared on several sitcoms after her days as middle child Jan Brady. In 1995, Plumb starred on "Fudge," the TV comedy based on Judy Blume's books. She headed back to the '70s in 1998 to play Jackie Burkhart's (Mila Kunis) mom on "That '70s Show." She had brief stints on both "All My Children" and "Days of Our Lives." The 58-year-old is also an accomplished painter. Hide Caption 5 of 9 Photos: 'The Brady Bunch': Where are they now? 'The Brady Bunch': Where are they now? – Since playing Peter Brady, Christopher Knight, 59, has had cameos on several TV shows and movies, including the 2009 comedy "Spring Breakdown." Knight has also dabbled in reality TV, starring on VH1's "My Fair Brady" alongside ex-wife Adrianne Curry. In 2013, he revealed to Oprah Winfrey that he struggled with his relationship with his parents as an adolescent. "My family is nothing like 'The Brady Bunch,'" he said . "Matter of fact, they hated it." Hide Caption 6 of 9 Photos: 'The Brady Bunch': Where are they now? 'The Brady Bunch': Where are they now? – At 55, Susan Olsen no longer wears her hair of gold in curls, but she'll always be Cindy Brady to fans. Since "The Brady Bunch," Olsen has worked as a graphic designer, a radio talk show host and an actress on series like "The Young and the Restless." Olsen has debunked the rumors of a romance between her on-screen older sisters, Eve Plumb and Maureen McCormick, but she confirmed in 2013 that there's still a rift between the two actresses. Hide Caption 7 of 9 Photos: 'The Brady Bunch': Where are they now? 'The Brady Bunch': Where are they now? – Mike Lookinland, 55, played Bobby Brady on the sitcom. He later took a seat on the other side of the camera, working on The WB's "Everwood" and the "Halloween" franchise, and then after 20 years in film moved on to making concrete countertops . Lookinland says he's been sober since his drunk driving incident in 1997 Hide Caption 8 of 9 Photos: 'The Brady Bunch': Where are they now? 'The Brady Bunch': Where are they now? – After playing Mike Brady on "The Brady Bunch," Robert Reed appeared in several TV movies and series, such as "Medical Center," "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble" and "Rich Man, Poor Man." Reed died in 1992 at 59. Hide Caption 9 of 9

"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."

In real life, Davis said she wasn't quite as handy around the house as her character.

"I basically don't do that well with children, although my sister says I'm a great aunt," she told People magazine in 1992 , adding that she hated to cook.

"When it's my turn in the house," she told the magazine, "we just eat out."

Even so, Davis penned "Alice's Brady Bunch Cookbook" in 1994, featuring recipes from the show and anecdotes from life on the set.

Actress Florence Henderson, who played mom Carol Brady on the sitcom, said she was devastated to learn of Davis' death Sunday.

"I am so shocked and sad to learn that my dear friend and colleague, Ann B Davis, died today," Henderson said in a Facebook post. "I spoke with her a couple of months ago and she was doing great!"

Davis had planned to study medicine at the University of Michigan but caught the acting bug from her brother, who was a dancer in the national company of "Oklahoma," according to a biography of the actress on IMDb.com.

Her big break in Hollywood came when she won the role of Charmaine "Schultzy" Schultz, the secretary on the 1950s sitcom "The Bob Cummings Show," IMDb said.

But to generations of American TV viewers, she was best known as Alice.

Frey, who knew Davis for 38 years, said fans often told her that they felt like they'd been raised by the character of Alice.

"Look how well you turned out," she would reply, according to Frey.

"All of us wish we had an Alice. I wish I had an Alice," Davis told People.

"What you see on 'The Brady Bunch' was who she was," Frey said. "She was a very faithful Christian person."

Davis mostly retired from show business in the late 1970s to settle down in an Episcopal community.

"I'm convinced we all have a God-shaped space in us, and until we fill that space with God, we'll never know what it is to be whole," she told People.

Even as she turned her focus more toward religion, she appeared in commercials and several stage productions.

In the 1995 "The Brady Bunch" movie, she played a truck driver, persuading a runaway Jan to return home.

While she also shone in movie and stage roles, she told the Archive of American Television that she loved working on the small screen.

"The neatest thing about television is that they write for you. ... They find out what you can do, what you do best, how it works, and how they can use you. And so from there on, it's wonderful. Because it's different. It's not like playing the same play forever and ever and ever," she said. "But the character's still the same. It just gets better and more developed. So that's great fun."