David Cassidy, a singer and actor whose androgynous features and jaunty voice made him a 1970s teen heartthrob on the “The Partridge Family” television show, died on Tuesday at age 67, his publicist said.
Reuters reports 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.
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.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment