|
 Cassidy, who was diagnosed with dementia in his
60s, entered a Florida hospital over the weekend and succumbed
to organ failure. He died in the hospital's intensive care unit,
his publicist, Jo-Ann Geffen, said in a telephone interview.
Geffen released a statement from his family that said Cassidy
died surrounded by loved ones "with joy in his heart and free
from the pain that had gripped him for so long."
With dark hair cascading over his shoulders, hazel eyes and a
look that emulated many rock stars of the day, Cassidy was cast
at 19 in "The Partridge Family" for his sex appeal to girls, not
his singing. When the show's producers discovered Cassidy's
melodious voice, he became lead singer in the family band.
He played the teenager Keith Partridge whose widowed mother -
portrayed by his stepmother, Shirley Jones - formed a touring
pop band with her offspring, traveling to gigs in a
multi-colored bus.
The sitcom produced a number of hit songs, including "I Think I
Love You," which reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart in 1970,
the year the show debuted.
The Oscar-winning Jones was his mentor as well as his co-star,
and the two remained friends and collaborators long after the
show ended in 1974.
"At first, David was overwhelmed with the whole thing and his
ego blew way up," Jones told Life magazine in 1971. "And I think
he hoped that some of those adoring fans would come a little
closer to his own age."
On his own, as a performer who played guitar and piano in
addition to singing, Cassidy sold millions of copies of his
debut album, "Cherish," in 1972. He drew large crowds of mostly
teen and pre-teen girls at concerts around the world.
Girls tried to pierce security perimeters to touch the star and
spent their allowances on merchandise emblazoned with his image,
including lunch boxes and 3-D postcards. His fan club was one of
the largest of its kind.
The fandom surrounding Cassidy approached the hysteria of
Beatlemania a decade earlier and culminated in a stampede at a
1974 show in London. Hundreds were injured, and a 14-year-old
girl caught in the crush died days later.
[to top of second column] |
Cassidy announced soon afterward he would not stage another global
concert tour.
TROUBLED LIFE, STALLED CAREER
Cassidy was born in New York City in 1950 to actors Jack Cassidy and
Evelyn Ward, and he announced his interest in show business at age
3, when he was coming home in a taxi from seeing his father in a
stage show.
After his parents divorced, Cassidy lived with his father and his
new wife, Jones. Cassidy appeared in a short-lived Broadway show and
had guest roles on television before his breakthrough in "The
Partridge Family."
It would give him the best years, by far, of his career.
Cassidy had an acclaimed guest role on the television show "Police
Story" in 1978 and continued to record albums in the decades that
followed, with sporadic success on the charts. He also performed in
musical theater on Broadway, in London's West End and in Las Vegas.
But he struggled financially for years and declared bankruptcy in
2015.
Cassidy also confessed to abusing drugs and alcohol and was arrested
multiple times for driving under the influence.
He said on the talk show "Dr. Phil" in 2017 that he had to get drunk
to visit his mother when she was in the hospital. She died of
dementia, as did his grandfather.
Cassidy told People magazine that he was in denial for a time about
his own dementia. "But a part of me always knew this was coming," he
said.
Cassidy, who lived in Florida late in life, was married three times
and is survived by his son, Beau, and his daughter, Katie, who have
both had their own careers in show business.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta in New York and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los
Angeles; Additional reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas;
Editing by Mary Milliken and Peter Cooney)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
