David Cassidy lied about dementia, drinking?
Former teen idol David Cassidy did not have dementia, as he claimed nine months before his death, a documentary filmed months before his death, has revealed. The actor and singer also told the makers that he lied about giving up drinking.
In an excerpt released from the documentary, David Cassidy: The Last Session, Cassidy told producers that his problems arose from alcoholism. “I have a liver disease,” Cassidy told one of the producers in a recorded telephone call after an emergency hospital admission in September.
“There is no sign of me having dementia at this stage of my life,” he went on add. “It was complete alcohol poisoning. The fact is, I lied about my drinking.”
Cassidy shot to fame in the 1970s with the TV show The Partridge Family, and had teenage girls swooning with his hits Cherish and I Think I Love You, was arrested thrice for drunken driving between 2010 and 2014 and ordered rehab in 2014.
Speaking of his alcoholism, Cassidy told the documentary producers, “I did it to myself, to cover up the sadness and the emptiness.” The project chronicles the singer’s attempts to make a comeback and cope with dementia.
Cassidy, who died last November in Florida at 67, married thrice and left a son, Beau, and a daughter, Katie. “We, the Cassidy family, were not affiliated with the documentary. All we are interested in is maintaining the legacy of the icon he was,” Beau Cassidy said in a statement on Wednesday.
Co-producer Saralena Weinfield told People magazine that the project’s makers were unsure at first what to do with the footage and the telephone recording.
“We didn’t want to exploit him. But he was honest about what killed him and we decided that his legacy would be best served if we shared that,” Weinfield said.