David Bruce Cassidy
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David Cassidy achieved global fame as Keith Partridge on The Partridge Family 1970, becoming the highest paid live entertainer by age 21. His fan club exceeded those of Elvis Presley and The Beatles. He earned 18 gold records before quitting touring in 1974 after a tragic fan death. He died from organ failure in 2017 at age 67.
Names, aliases, and relatives of David Cassidy — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
David Cassidy by the numbers — life, work, and family.
David Cassidy — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
David Cassidy was born on April 12, 1950 in New York City to actors Jack Cassidy and Evelyn Ward. When he was five, his parents divorced; his father married actress Shirley Jones. By age 10, he moved to California with his mother. He was expelled from multiple schools and barely completed a year of college. At 18, he performed in the short-lived Broadway play The Fig Leaves Are Falling which closed after four performances.
In 1970, Cassidy landed the role of Keith Partridge on The Partridge Family, unaware that his stepmother Shirley Jones would play his on-screen mother. The show ran for four seasons, making him a global teen idol. He earned 18 gold records, including the hit I Think I Love You. At his peak, he was paid $50,000 per concert and his official fan club was the largest in pop history, surpassing Elvis Presley and The Beatles. A tragic 1974 concert stampede at London’s White City Stadium killed a 14-year-old fan and injured 650, leading Cassidy to quit touring and the show.
Cassidy married Kay Lenz in 1977 divorced 1983, then horse trainer Meryl Ann Tanz in 1984 divorced 1988, and Sue Shifrin in 1991 divorced 2016. He had a daughter, Katie Cassidy, with Sherry Williams during an extramarital affair, and a son, Beau, with Shifrin. He struggled with alcoholism and was arrested for DUI in Florida in 2008. In 2015 he filed for bankruptcy after a UK tour that netted only £408.
Cassidy’s impact as a teen idol was immense: his fan club exceeded those of Elvis and The Beatles. He ranked #1 on TV Guide’s list of TV’s 25 Greatest Teen Idols in 2005. His daughter Katie Cassidy continues his musical legacy. He is best remembered for his role as Keith Partridge and his 18 gold records.
The complete filmography of David Cassidy — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
A wall of memorable lines from David Cassidy — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
My Father Had a Tremendous Influence on Me, and I Think Many Children Who Come from Broken Homes, Esp. When They’re Very Early. My Dad Left When I Was 3 1/2, and He Left My Mom and I. It Was Something in Order to Empower Myself. I Think All Children, Psychologically Need to Empower Themselves, Because They Can’t Put Their Arms Around, What It Is. I Made It My Fault, There’s Something Wrong with Me, and It Was Spending Time on the Couch, and Spending the Time Going Through the Process That I’m Now the Happiest Ever Been in My Life, the Most Successful I’ve Ever Been in My Life.
I Was Young, I Was Always Ready, and They Were All so Willing. I’ll Admit I Did Things That I Now Think Were Degrading for the Women Involved, and for That I’m Ashamed.
If I Take Another Drink, I’m Going to Die – Physically, Mentally, Emotionally, Spiritually. I’m Dead. You Know, They Say It’s a Slippery Slope. It’s Not a Slippery Slope. It’s from 12:00 to 6:00 on the Clock and the Whole Face Is Ice. One Sip, One Drink, Because There Is No Such Thing, Not to an Alcoholic. You Have One and You’re Done. I’d Be Done.
My Father Didn’t Seem Satisfied with Anything I Did. He Criticized Everything About Me.
I Look Fine. I’ve Had No Surgery Apart from an Operation I Had Decades Ago to Remove the Fat Under My Eyes. My Mum Looked 30 When She Was 60, so I Guess I Owe It All to Genes and Hair Dye. I Was Silver-white by the Time I Was 35, but Having Gray Hair Makes Me Look Washed Out. My Wife and Son Have Both Said That Gray Hair Doesn’t Suit Me Because I Have a Boyish Face. It Was a Problem When I Was 18 and Looked About 12 but It’s Probably Working to My Advantage Now.
I Was One of the Wealthiest Young Male Entertainers in the World Then, but 10 Years Later I Had Nothing to Show for It. by the 1980S I Was Broke and Had to Rebuild My Life.
So Much Wasted Time.
On His Mother’s Evelyn Ward’s Alzheimer’s Disease Mom Was a Wonderful Singer, Actress and Dancer. She Was so Full of Life, He Recalls. to Watch the Decline of Someone Who Raised You, Who Was so Vibrant, Is the Most Painful Thing I Have Ever Experienced.
I Certainly Never Drank or Took Any Drugs or Narcotics, Contrary to Whatever Has Been Printed, When I Was Doing the Partridge Family or Thereafter for That Matter. I Am Most Definitely an Alcoholic. and the Interesting Thing About It and the Way You End up with Multiple DUIs – I Never Got Arrested for Anything Until I Was Basically 60 Years Old. and I Have Very, Very Strong Values About What I Am and Who I Am.
On His Mother Evelyn Ward’s Death, for Me, It Was a Beautiful Thing That She Finally Passed Because She Was so Healthy. That’s Something I Struggle with a Lot.
Little-known facts about David Cassidy — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
At his peak, Cassidy was the world’s highest paid live entertainer, and his official fan club was the largest in pop history – exceeding Elvis Presley and The Beatles.
Out of the approximate $500 million that The Partridge Family 1970 made, he was initially paid $600 per week, but commanded upwards of $50,000 per concert appearance. His renegotiated contract boosted his weekly salary to $6,000 per week plus some participation.
Daughter Katie Cassidy posted on social media site Twitter: My father’s last words were so much wasted time. This will be a daily reminder for me to share my gratitude with those I love, and to never waste another minute…thank you, Dad.
He was a close friend of John Lennon, whom he greatly admired.
Claimed in his 1994 autobiography that he turned down an offer in the early ’70s to record an album of songs written by Lou Reed and produced by David Bowie who wanted to experiment with his teenybopper image.
Following his passing, he didn’t have any public memorial service nor funeral. His remains were cremated and his ashes scattered at the race track.
His acting mentor was real-life former stepmother Shirley Jones, with whom he enjoyed a wonderful relationship, both in real life and while working on The Partridge Family 1970. He admitted to having a crush on Shirley since the age of 6, when his family took him to see her movie Oklahoma! 1955.
Decided to quit The Partridge Family 1970, after the fourth season, ostensibly because he was tired of the role and wanted to work on other projects, but also because of a tragic mob-stampede at one of his UK concerts in 1974. Cassidy was rushed by an out-of-control crowd, which resulted in over six hundred British fans being seriously injured, including a teenage girl who died four days thereafter.
At the height of David’s reign as a teen idol, he fronted an anti-smoking campaign despite having been a smoker. This was largely in response to his father Jack’s death – which occurred when Jack accidentally dropped a lit cigarette onto a couch, starting a fire that gutted his apartment with himself in it.
14 year-old fan Bernadette Whelan died of heart failure on 30 May 1974, from injuries sustained while attending a 26 May Cassidy show at London’s White City Stadium. 650 fans were injured in a crush. Cassidy was so affected that he quit both touring and The Partridge Family 1970.
In February 2017 he claimed he had been diagnosed with dementia in 2014. He also announced his retirement from performing. However a few months later he admitted he did not have dementia and had used it as a cover for his alcoholism.
Son of actress Evelyn Ward and actor Jack Cassidy.
In his stage performances, Cassidy often joked playfully about his Partridge Family days. Yet he also said that some of their music could really hold up as soft rock, if people gave it a chance. He cited Doesn’t Somebody Want to be Wanted as the song he was always most proud of, claiming that it has a lot of the characteristics required for good, soft folk rock.
Lost a lot of money investing heavily in the 1990s dotcom boom when the bubble burst.
Daughter Katie Cassidy is a singer who recently covered her father’s song I Think I Love You. She was featured in a VH1 five-part documentary series on the last forty years of teen music performers, Bubblegum Babylon 2002.
In an interview, Shirley Jones reported that at the height of the The Partridge Family, David Cassidy would work all week on an episode and then fly off on weekends to perform concerts. He would often show up on set looking very exhausted.
Father of Katie Cassidy via an extramarital affair with Sherry Williams David was married to Meryl Ann Tanz at the time.
Ranked #6 on Vh1’s 100 Greatest Teen Stars.
Older half-brother of Shaun Cassidy, Ryan Cassidy, and Patrick Cassidy.
Made his Broadway debut in 1969 in the musical The Fig Leaves Are Falling at the same time his father Jack Cassidy and stepmother Shirley Jones opened on Broadway in Maggie Flynn. Both shows were notorious flops, the former closing after four performances.
Became friends with Leif Garrett while filming The Spirit of ’76.
In an attempt to break from his Keith Partridge persona, he posed nude for Annie Leibovitz for a photo in the 11 May 1972 Rolling Stone magazine.
Ranked #1 in TV Guide’s list of TV’s 25 Greatest Teen Idols 23 January 2005 issue.
Sued Sony for several million dollars over profits from The Partridge Family, but was only awarded $158,000.
In 1986 he owed $800,000 and only had $1,000 to his name.
In 2008, he publicly admitted to having struggled with alcoholism for most of his life and to being treated for the disease on three separate occasions in rehab. Two years later, as if to lend emphasis to said announcement, Cassidy was arrested in Florida on November 3 for DUI.
Both he and his stepmother, actress-singer Shirley Jones, made the cover of the prestigious Life magazine at age 21. He in 1971, and she in early 1956.
Best friend of Danny Bonaduce.
Ranked #98 on VH1’s 100 Sexiest Artists.
Ironically for a teen idol whose appearances tended to spark riots during the 1970’s, his final UK tour – in 2015 – made a profit of only £408. He filed for bankruptcy that same year.
Starred in the play Time in London with Laurence Olivier in 1987. It was Olivier’s final stage performance although he was only seen via a previously filmed segment.
Had an operation at age 11 on his left optical nerve which was wrapped around a blood vessel, sometimes resulting in a lazy eye when he was over-tired, and had his gall bladder removed in 1972 after a concert in Wildwood, New Jersey.
Father of Beau Cassidy with Sue Shifrin.
Lead vocalist and lead guitarist of The Partridge Family 1970.
Before relocating to live in Las Vegas, NV, Cassidy & his family resided for several years in the Fairfield County town of Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Had several hair transplants in later years.
Said he knew his mother, Evelyn Ward, who was suffering from dementia recognized him before she died with a single tear in her eye.
Was allergic to garlic.
His mother, Evelyn Ward, died on December 23, 2012, at age 89.
Friends with Larry Hagman, and Larry Manetti.
Best known by the public for his role as Keith Partridge on The Partridge Family 1970.
Mentioned in the song Jackie’s Strength by Tori Amos.
Was a fan of Julie London’s music.
A former pop idol he quit the pop world in 1974 after earning 18 gold records to live in Hawaii and concentrate on horses after marrying race horse breeder Meryl Tanz which lasted 10 years.
Had therapy three times a week for three years in the late 1980s.
His voice was enhanced on some songs by Jim Haas.
His father was of half Irish and half German ancestry. His mother was of mainly Colonial American English descent, with a smaller amount of Irish and Swiss-German roots.
Co-host, with Erica Shaffer, of an infomercial for TimeLife’s Billboard #1 Hits of the 70s music collection.
His hit song I Think I Love You was featured and sung on the album You and Me by Declan Galbraith.
Was a lifelong supporter of the Democratic Party.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about David Cassidy.
Celebrities similar to David Cassidy — same craft, ranked by reach.
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