DEATH OF A POP STAR

David Cassidy found fame as a teen idol, but was troubled later in life

David Cassidy could sell the heck out of uncertainty.

I Think I Love You, the smash hit that in 1970 launched

The Partridge Family musical group plus the ABC comedywith-songs show of the same name, found Cassidy centre stage delivering such lyrics as “I think I love you, so what am I so afraid of ?/ I’m afraid that I’m not sure of a love there is no cure for.”

There was no doubt: At 20, Cassidy was the radiant man-boy to help usher young girls (and young boys, for that matter) into the untold mysteries of pubescence, adolescence, romance and rock ’n’ roll.

For all that, millions knew they loved him.

Within a few years, those legions of fans would outgrow him, just as Cassidy would outgrow himself, or, at least, what had made him a superstar. His cherubic looks would fade along with his popularity; his laddish proto-Farrah-Fawcett shag would thin.

Cassidy, who announced this year that he had been diagnosed with dementia, died Tuesday at age 67 surrounded by his family.

Cassidy’s appeal faded after the Partridge Family went off the air, although he continued to tour, record and act over the next 40 years.

Even while The Partridge Family was still in prime time, Cassidy worried that he was being mistaken for the wholesome character he played. He posed naked for Rolling Stone in 1972, when he confided that he had dropped acid as a teenager.

Cassidy would endure personal and financial troubles. He was married and divorced three times, battled alcoholism, was arrested for drunk driving and in 2015 filed for bankruptcy.