SAD LIFE AND TRAGIC END
He captivated a generation, fought addiction and dementia, yet stayed grateful until the end
David Cassidy started out as an adored teen heartthrob, but life was never easy for him.
Nine months ago, David Cassidy revealed a secret he had been keeping for more than two years.the former teen heartthrob and star of The Partridge Family was suffering from dementia, a condition that had also plagued his late mother. “I feared I would end up that way,” Cassidy told WHO in February. subsequently, the star, who noted that 50 years of performing “took its toll,” made the decision to retire. “In the end I just really want to be happy,” he said. “I just want to enjoy life.” Sadly, the peace he sought was short-lived. On Nov. 21, Cassidy, 67, died of liver and kidney failure in a Florida hospital, surrounded by family. “I’m so grateful that I was able to hold and love the best friend I’ll ever have in his last few moments,” said his son, Beau, 26. Now, those who loved the star are mourning the loss of a man who, though adored by millions—frenzied fans at his 1970s concerts engendered the term ‘Cassidymania’— struggled with personal demons and heartache throughout his life. Born in New York to actors Jack Cassidy and Evelyn Ward, Cassidy began his career on Broadway but moved to California where he began working in television. With The Partridge Family in 1970 came a new level of fame. Just 20 years old when he landed the role of Keith Partridge, alongside his real-life stepmother Shirley Jones, “his popularity was insane,” says co-star Brian Forster. “He was always having to live up to an image.” With the massive success of his single “I Think I Love You”, Cassidy hit teen idol status and began selling out arenas all over the world.
But despite his clean image, Cassidy was troubled. As a child, the singer watched as his bipolar father struggled with alcoholism. “He was so self-involved,” Cassidy said.
Cassidy himself later turned to drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism. “It was very painful to watch him self-destruct,” longtime friend Sam Hyman previously told WHO. Adds his longtime publicist Jo-ann Geffen: “He was a complicated man. He had tremendous highs and tremendous lows, until finally the lows got the best of him.” Cassidy, a self-described alcoholic, was arrested for drink-driving in 2010, 2013 and 2014 and later went to rehab, but continued to struggle with his sobriety in the years leading up to his death. His demons destroyed his relationships with close friends and family along the way. The father of two ( he had Beau with third wife Sue Shifrin and daughter Katie, 31, with former model Sherry Williams) was divorced three times and was once estranged from his daughter, though she was by his side in the end.
“My father’s last words were ‘So much wasted time,’” the actress posted on Twitter. “This will be a daily reminder for me to share my gratitude with those I love as to never waste another minute.”
Throughout his life, one constant was Cassidy’s passion for performing. “I love what I do now more than ever,” he said in February.
“I can still sit in my living room with my guitar and play like I did when I was 17.” Now, Cassidy’s legacy will live on through the music he created—and the memories of those whose lives he touched. “David was a kind and sweet soul,” says Geffen. “He carried a lot of baggage that weighed his small frame down but he always tried to make the world a better place.”