Former Partridge Family Star David Cassidy Reveals He Has Dementia
Two years after getting pretty much sober, David Cassidy was performing at The Canyon Club in Agoura, California, on February 18 when he forgot the lyrics to his hit songs and rumors began to spread that he had fallen off the wagon.
It was that incident that was the impetus for the former Partridge Family star to reveal that in 2015 he had been diagnosed with the early stages of dementia.
On todays Dr. Phil, the 70s teen heartthrob tells TVs top doc that his first symptoms were revealed when friends or family members ask you, Remember, I just told you this two days ago? and theres no memory of it thats when I began to be very concerned.
Cassidys fear of a dementia diagnosis actually began years earlier when he watched his mothers mind slowly being lost to the disease. He was so affected that he filmed a public service announcement for Alzheimers Disease in 2011.
Also on todays episode of Dr. Phil, Cassidy discusses the status of his current relationship with his family and his fear of being a burden to them, as well as whether or not he believes his past alcoholism contributed to his condition.
Cassidy, who has been divorced three times, says he doesnt have a relationship with eldest daughter Katie, who has starred on Melrose Place and Arrow, but he is close to his son Beau, 26.
I can still sit in my living room with my guitar and play like I did when I was 17.
Was Ron Howard On The Partridge Family Show
Having starred in The Partridge Family for four seasons, Shirley Jones knows something about child actors, and as she puts it, Ron Howard is probably the best child actor Ive ever worked with. In Partridge Family, Danny Bonaduce was wonderful but crazy. We had another boy. He was a nightmare.
Who is Shaun Cassidys mom? In 2020, Cassidy returned to the stage with his one-man show The Magic of a Midnight Sky. Cassidy is the eldest son of Academy Award-winning actress Shirley Jones and Tony Award-winning actor Jack Cassidy.
What caused the fire that Jack Cassidy died in?
In the early morning of December 12, 1976, Cassidy lit a cigarette and fell asleep on his Naugahyde couch. Asleep, he dropped the cigarette, igniting the couch. The flames spread throughout the apartment and building.
What happened Keith Partridge? US teen idol David Cassidy, best known as Keith Partridge on the hit 1970s series The Partridge Family, has died at the age of 67 from organ failure. His death was confirmed by publicist Jo-Ann Geffen, who shared a statement from his family.
David Cassidy Discusses His Mother’s Struggle With Alzheimer’s Disease
The Partridge Family star and musician David Cassidy is speaking out in support of the Alzheimers Foundation of America in honor of his mother, who is struggling with the disease.
Although he was known for his big television family, and was actually the step-son of his TV mom Shirley Jones, Cassidy is his mother’s only son. Her mind started to disappear about 10 years ago, right around the time her husband died. Now, she has severe dementia, and Cassidy stresses on Starting Point today how crucial companionship has been to fighting the progression of the disease.
This is terribly important for someone experiencing it with a family member or friends, companionship is essential keeping them present and being, Cassidy explains.
Cassidys mother still recognizes him, but she has been found wandering around at night, lost.
To help other people avoid this scary situation, Cassidy is speaking out and spreading awareness about the disease. He says that the Alzheimers Foundation of America can be a great source for solutions for the disease that he refers to as an “epidemic.”
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The Partridge Family Wasn’t Much Of A Stretch
Though they played blood relatives on The Partridge Family, Shirley Jones and David Cassidy actually shared a connection via marriage in real life. Shirley got hitched to Cassidy’s dad, actor Jack Cassidy, when David was 3 years old, but according to a 2006 UK Sunday Express interview, the atmosphere was nothing like their TV family. ” was jealous of Shirley, who was a big star at 21, and then he was jealous of me,” David told the paper, claiming his father was “a manic depressive and an alcoholic” who was “consumed with Irish Catholic guilt.”
Jack and Shirley split up in 1974 after a chaotic several decades together, according to HuffPost. Despite his dad and stepmom’s marital struggles, David maintained affection for Shirley, confessing to the UK Sunday Express, “I don’t see her often, but I love her. She was a good role model and friend. She taught me a lot about dealing with fame.”
Unfortunately, that seems to have changed over time. According to Shirley, who spoke with Closer Weekly in 2015, “David has not had a relationship with anyone in the family for years. We are sick over it.”
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Who Is The Lover Of Arrow
Oliver and Laurel had romantic feelings for each other in the beginning of the series, but at least one of them moved on. A love story between Oliver and Felicity took shape starting in season 2, culminating in a wedding in season 6.
Who is Black Canary husband? At her Golden Age debut, the Black Canary was the alter ego of Dinah Drake and participated in crime-fighting adventures with her love interest , Gotham City detective Larry Lance.
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Jones Says She’s Actually Very Different From Shirley Partridge
To many, Shirley Partridge represented an ideal mother figure, and fans connected deeply with the character. Though widowed, the matriarch managed to exude fun and charisma all while being the sole provider to her five children.
However, Jones says that she always feels the need to remind fans that the show was fiction. In reality, she says, no mother is perfect. “This is a television show, this is not real life. There was a lot of Shirley Partridge that was me, but there’s also a lot that wasn’t,” she told the Television Academy Foundation. “A lot of kids said, ‘I grew up with you, and I wanted my mom to be just like you and I wanted to come and live with you and be in the band,” she recalled. “It’s nice, but I always felt sorry for these kids because obviously there’s something lacking in their life,” Jones added.
Still, the actress says she’s always understood the appeal and endurance of the show, which still holds a place in the heart of fans. “They don’t make television shows like that anymore, and I think the public itself is hungry for that kind of television. That’s why TV Land does well when they show the shows again like The Brady Bunch and Partridge and all the wonderful shows of the ’70s. Because there’s not much like that to watch for a family on television today. The major channels just don’t have it,” she said.
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Shirley Jones Pays Tribute To Tv Son Real
Shirley Jones is shown on Wednesday, July 27, 2016, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Credit: Invision / AP
Shirley Jones has paid tribute to her TV son and real-life stepson David Cassidy, following the singer-actors death Tuesday at age 67.
Long before he played my son on The Partridge Family, David Cassidy was my stepson in real life. As a little boy, his sweet sensitivity and wicked sense of humor were already on display, and I will treasure the years we spent working and growing together, Jones, 83, told Entertainment Tonight.
She added, I will also find solace knowing that David is now with his dad, actor Jack Cassidy, to whom she was married for 19 years until divorcing in the mid-1970s.
My heart is with Davids daughter, Katie, his son, Beau, and with Shaun, Patrick, and Ryan, whom I know are deeply missing their brother today, Jones, a supporting actress Oscar-winner for 1960s Elmer Gantry, continued. Thank you for the enormous outpouring of affection you have offered our family at this difficult time.
Cassidy, who became a teen heartthrob playing Keith Partridge on the 1970-74 ABC musical sitcom about a family band, died of liver and kidney failure following years of substance abuse. He had revealed earlier this year that he was also suffering from dementia.
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Cassidy Didnt Know His Stepmother Had Been Hired On The Partridge Family Until After He Was Cast
Shirley Jones played Shirley Partridge, a widow with five children with whom she forms a popular act that travels on a psychedelic bus. The Oscar-winning actress and Cassidys stepmother, was cast as Shirley Partridge but Cassidy didnt know she got the part until after he was cast as Keith.
He has his own agent and didnt even know I was set for the lead, Jones revealed. He asked me how I felt about it. I said, Great! I am crazy about him. Hes very talented. Then, he went back to David and told him, Your stepmother is going to play the lead. How do you feel about that? And he replied, I think its great!
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Cassidys Daughter Katie Cassidy Currently Appears On The Tv Series Arrow
Katie Cassidy currently plays Laurel Lance/Black Canary on the TV series, Arrow, which is about the DC comics superhero, Green Arrow. She also has a popular lifestyle and fashion blog, Tomboy KC.
Katie is Cassidys daughter from a relationship with Sherry William Benedon. The pair had a strained father-daughter relationship.
I wasnt her father. I was her biological father, but I didnt raise her. She has a completely different life, he admitted in a 2017 interview with People Magazine. However, he did say he was proud of her.
Shes very talented, he said. Its hard for me to even accept how old she is now, like 30.
David Cassidy Was Surrounded By His Family In The Hospital
David Cassidy and Sue Shifrin were married from 1991 to 2014.
As Cassidys health deteriorated, he was surrounded by his family in the hospital. He was in an induced coma but he is currently conscious and surrounded by family, his rep told UK Express. David Cassidys health has been troubled for some time. In early 2017, Cassidy revealed that he had been diagnosed with dementia. David Cassidys tragic family history of dementia has always haunted him and now its here. The former star of TVs The Partridge Family said Monday he is battling the memory-destroying brain disorder,USA Today reported at that time.
According to USA Today, the former teen idol of the 1970s said he decided to stop touring as a musician to concentrate on his health and happiness. The newspaper quoted him as saying, I want to focus on what I am, who I am and how Ive been without any distractions, he says. I want to love. I want to enjoy life.
25th May 1974: Hordes of screaming girls are separated from their idol David Cassidy by a pane of glass at the Thames television studio in London.
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Who Has Black Canary Slept With
At least until one New Years Eve party, where she confessed her love and kissed him. Dinah, of course, walked in on the kiss, and left Oliver as a result. While he claimed that he didnt intend to cheat , he did later sleep with .
What is White Canarys real name? Sara Lance, also known by her alter-ego White Canary, is a fictional character in The CWs Arrowverse franchise, first introduced in the 2012 pilot episode of the television series Arrow, and later starring in Legends of Tomorrow.
Is Dinah Lance related to Laurel Lance?
Professor Dinah Lance is a Greek and medieval history professor at Central City University. She is the mother of the late Laurel Lance and Sara Lance, as well as the ex-wife of Quentin Lance. After Saras apparent death in the sinking of the Queens Gambit, Dinah eventually left her husband and surviving daughter.
Why does John Diggle have a son instead of a daughter? Due to the events of The Flash episode Flashpoint, Diggles family history is altered: his daughter Sara has been erased from existence and replaced by John J.J. Diggle, Jr., as a result of a timeline change caused by Eobard Thawne, correcting the Flashpoint reality created by Barry Allen.
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Coming To Terms With Teen Idol Status
He became one of the biggest draws, regularly playing in front of tens of thousands of people around the world. His shows even had riots, with one 14-year-old girl passing away in the hospital after a pre-existing heart condition got triggered during a gate stampede in London. Clearly shaken to the core, an upset David addressed the press to express his difficulty making sense of the incident. He didnt attend the funeral as to not draw the media, but spoke with her parents and sent flowers.
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David Cassidy Was Married Three Times & Some Of His Family Relationships Have Been Conflictual At Times
Sue Shifrin in 1971.
Sue Shifrin was Cassidys third wife . Cassidy was previously married to Kay Lenz from 1977-1983 and Meryl Tanz from 1984-1986. Katie Cassidys mother is Sherry Williams Benedon. Shifrin, who is in her 60s, has worked as an executive national vice president and independent consultant for Arbonne, and sells their health and wellness products. She wrote on her profile that she hopes to eliminate animal testing for human products.
ContactMusic reports that, in 2004, there were tensions in the family that boiled over in court. According to the legal petition filed by her mother, Sherry Benedon, Katie allegedly claims that Cassidy shut her out of his life, and the star, who made millions over the years, has neglected his financial obligations to his daughter, the site reported. Court documents obtained by Celebrity Justice detailed the alleged acrimony.
There was some contact between father and daughter, though. According to UK Daily Mail, Katie was raised by her mother Sherry Williams who was not one of Davids three wives and her husband Richard Benedon. Katie previously revealed to the Daily Mail that her father once told her that if she wanted to be an actress, she must do it on her own. The British news site quoted Katie Cassidy as saying, We didnt really talk about the business, but he did say, Dont take a job for the money. Of course, I did in the beginning because I needed to survive!
You can read more about Sue Shifrin Here:
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The I Think I Love You Singer Passed Away In 2017 At Age 67
Fox News Flash top entertainment and celebrity headlines are here. Check out what clicked this week in entertainment.
David Cassidys half-brother, Shaun Cassidy, is reflecting on his relationship with the late Partridge Family star.
The former teen idol passed away in 2017 at age 67 from organ failure after battling alcoholism for several years. He was the only son of Broadway actor Jack Cassidy and actress Evelyn Ward. The patriarch remarried to actress Shirley Jones and they shared three sons: Shaun, Patrick and Ryan.
Cassidys younger sibling admitted it was terribly hard watching the I Think I Love You singer struggle with alcoholism.
Ive seen it in every family, the 63-year-old told Page Six in a recent interview.
Shaun Cassidy, left, and David Cassidy during happier times.
He had a very different experience with our father than I did, the performer-turned-writer noted. He had a different mother he had a different experience career-wise. I loved and adored him and he was as funny a guy as youll ever meet. We did a Broadway show called Blood Brothers together for a year and it was great working with him and very cathartic because we both felt connected to our dad.
The father of eight told the outlet that his family helped him avoid the pitfalls of fame at a young age.
David Cassidy was a 70s teen idol.
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