Let me tell you a story about late-night phone calls and deep friendships. Celebrated horse trainer Gary Contessa used to get these calls from none other than David Cassidy. “We’d talk horses all night,” Gary reminisces to Closer. “David knew sires and broodmares like no one I’ve ever met. We learned from each other. He was one of my best friends.” Picture this: at the dawn of the 1970s, David Cassidy was a superstar. His green eyes, feathered hair, and velvety singing voice made him a heartthrob. But fame came with its own baggage. “They get flustered, and I get flustered,” David once said. “It’s no fun when they rip your clothes.”
A Haunting Legacy
David's journey wasn’t just about the glitz and glamour. The memory of his disapproving father, Broadway actor Jack Cassidy, loomed large over him. Jack, a Tony-winning star, had sneered at his son’s television success. Tragically, Jack passed away in a fire in 1976 before they could reconcile. “I didn’t have a chance to say, ‘I love you,’” David confessed. This unresolved tension with his father left a deep scar that David carried throughout his life.
Early Years and Formative Influences
Born in 1950 to Jack Cassidy and his first wife, actress Evelyn Ward, David spent much of his childhood with his maternal grandparents. “What always made me sad about David was how happy he was remembering the years before fame,” Chip Deffaa, co-author of David’s autobiography C’mon, Get Happy: Fear and Loathing on the Partridge Family Bus, tells Closer. “He showed me the little woods he used to run around at Eagle Rock Reservation in West Orange, N.J. He would say those were his happiest times.”
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David learned about his parents’ divorce from a neighborhood kid. Even though he had a long-distance relationship with Jack, it didn’t stop David from idolizing him. “His father did such a miserable job raising him — the wounds were so deep,” says Deffaa, “but the odd thing was, as a grown man, David was still in awe of his father. He would tell me his father was the greatest performer he ever saw.”
Rise to Stardom
When David arrived in LA in 1969, Jack helped his teenage son find a manager. David appeared on episodes of Ironside, Marcus Welby, M.D., The Mod Squad, and more before being cast as Keith Partridge in The Partridge Family, which also co-starred his stepmother, Shirley Jones. “David and I had a great thing going. He would even come to my house and help me with my kids,” Shirley, 88, the mother of Shaun, Patrick, and Ryan Cassidy, tells Closer.
The sitcom, inspired by the Cowsills family musical group, wasn’t a ratings juggernaut but became extremely popular with younger viewers, making David a sensation. “I Think I Love You” topped the charts, and the Partridge Family earned a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist of 1970, even though David and Shirley were the only cast members who sang on their recordings. David began playing sold-out concerts on weekends while filming the series on weekdays.
Behind the Scenes of Fame
“He was a really good guy,” Brian Forster, who took over the role of Chris Partridge in the second season, tells Closer. “He was obviously really busy all the time.” So busy that David needed to ask his assistant to buy Christmas presents for his castmates — and was appalled to learn that everyone received a bottle of scotch from him, even the children! “David was like, ‘I am so sorry,’” says Brian, who was given a replacement gift of a Swiss army knife by the star.
But David’s worldwide fame never impressed his father. “Jack would tell him, ‘I earned my success,’” says Deffaa. “‘You’re only a success because a network puts you on TV every week. People see you whether they want to or not. You have nothing to do with it.’ David believed that to a certain extent.”
After the Spotlight
Burnt out, David left The Partridge Family in 1974. “I have an image of myself in five years. I’m living on an island. The sky is blue, the sun is shining. And I’m smiling, I’m healthy, I’m a family man,” he said. His post-Partridge career included more albums, stints on television, in Las Vegas, and on Broadway — but it all failed to make him happy. “If you saw him at the stage door after a concert or after a Broadway show, he would be cheerful and smiling with the fans,” says Deffaa. “But there was a degree of unhappiness in him that he never got past.” David sought solace in alcohol and drug use, which ruined his three marriages and caused his extended family to distance themselves.
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Legacy and Reflections
His daughter, actress Katie Cassidy, was raised by her mother and stepfather. David had a closer relationship with his son Beau, an actor and singer-songwriter born during his third marriage. “When Beau wanted to be in Little League, David not only went to every game, he also became Beau’s coach,” says Deffaa, who adds that David never wished for his kids to become performers. “He had so many bad memories of the years when he was supposedly on top. He felt that show business had not been good to him in his youth, and he didn’t want that for them.”
David passed away from liver failure in 2017 at the age of 67. Per his wishes, his remains were scattered at New York’s Saratoga Race Course, where he’d found a different kind of success as a Thoroughbred owner and breeder. “David tried hard to beat his demons,” says his friend Gary. “He never stopped trying to be a stronger, better person.”
—Reporting by Katie Bruno
For more on this story, pick up the latest issue of Closer magazine, on newsstands now.
