Probably Robert Reed who played Mike Brady, one of America’s favorite television Dads, on The Brady Bunch for (nearly) it’s entire run from 1969 to 1974.
Reed was a classically trained actor with an impressive theater repertoire and was considered one of the most talented American Shakespearean actors of his generation. He transitioned into television work in the late 1950’s and by the time he accepted the Brady role in 1969 he already had a respectable TV resume including two series; The Defenders and Dr. Kildare.
However, since the beginning of the Brady Bunch Robert Reed struggled with the series. He accepted the part with the understanding that the show, while still a comedy, was going to treat the subject of a blended family, and all it’s inevitable complexities, strong emotions and dramatic moments, with a much more serious tone than turned out to be the case. Indeed, the show barely made any mention of the Bradys as a blended family, choosing instead to advance it as a campy, often innocuous sitcom. Robert Reed expressed disgust over the silly plots, cartoonish situations, and the shallow, overly-sanitized dialogue. He and the show’s creator, Sherwood Schwartz, argued frequently, perhaps every episode, over Reed’s contempt for the writing. Reed felt the series wasn’t maturing but instead was relying too heavily on banal topicality, tiresome shtick, two dimensional characters, and wasn’t pushing any boundaries. But he stuck with the show because, at the end of the day, it was paying work.
However, it all came to a head at the end of the 5th and final season. The final episode, which featured Bobby turning Greg’s hair orange using some sort of tainted hair tonic, does not include Mike Brady. Prior to filming, Reed again went after Schwartz in a profanity laced tirade arguing that the plot was beyond ridiculous and defied logic. Schwartz was fed up and told Reed not to come back and that his contract for season 6 would not be renewed. Some say Reed quit. In any case, the episode went through a last minute shake-up to write Mike Brady out. The rest of the cast were understandably upset and confused at Robert’s sudden departure. He had always been on good terms with his TV family and indeed they used to think of him as a father figure even off set.
Schwartz was perhaps planning the dismissal as other anticipated cast replacements were expected for season 6. The introduction of Cousin Oliver (who everyone agrees was one of the worst characters in a TV show) was intended to eventually replace one of the boys. There are also rumors that Mike was to be killed off, separated, or sent on a long project somewhere and replaced with Carol’s original husband. However, the network suddenly and unexpectedly cancelled the show after Season 5. So, none of it mattered anyway as the final episode, without Mike Brady, turned out to be the series finale.