David Cassidy
David Bruce Cassidy (born April 12, 1950 in New York - † November 21, 2017 in Fort Lauderdale , Florida ) was an American actor and singer . In the early 1970s, he became an international star through the television series The Partridge Family . Cassidy was more commercially successful than Elvis Presley , John Lennon or Elton John at the time .
Life
youth
David Cassidy was born in New York's Flower Fifth Hospital to actor Jack Cassidy and actress Evelyn Ward . He gained his first musical experience in the church choir in West Orange , New Jersey . In 1955, the parents separated and in 1960 Cassidy moved to Los Angeles with his mother . In 1968 he graduated from Rexford High School in Beverly Hills . He had his first role in 1969 in New York City in the Broadway musical The Fig Leaves Are Falling . This was followed by small roles in episodes of the television series The Survivors , Der Chef ("Ironside") , FBI ("The FBI") , Dr. med. Marcus Welby ("Marcus Welby, MD") and Bonanza .
idol
1970 hired the Hollywood -Filmproduktion Screen Gems Cassidy for the TV series The Partridge Family . There he played the role of Keith Partridge, the eldest son of a pop band consisting of a mother and five children who are touring America in a converted school bus. The songs in the series, two of which were featured per episode, were sold as singles and record albums. Within a few months, the television role Cassidy catapulted to the top of the US charts. With the television series being sold to Europe , Asia and Australia , Cassidy became an internationally recognized idol , mostly among teenagers .
Initially, it was planned that Cassidy, like all other actors, should not sing himself, but that the songs should be dubbed by professionals from the music industry. After film production discovered Cassidy's musical skills, he became the lead singer of the Partridge Family. For the first few seasons of the series, his voice was electronically processed to sound like that of a 16- or 17-year-old. The song I Think I Love You stayed at number one on the US charts for three weeks in 1970 and was the best-selling American record of 1971. Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted and I'll Meet You Halfway became top ten hits . I Woke Up in Love This Morning and It's One of Those Nights made it to the top 20.
Records with their own songs soon came onto the market. They also made their way into the charts. Cherish reached number nine in the US top ten. Cassidy sold over 25 million albums and went on extensive world tours. His concerts broke box office records at Melbourne's Cricket Grounds, London's White Stadium , Houston's Astrodome and New York's Madison Square Garden . He received around 30,000 letters per week. Its official fan club was the largest in the world and had more members than the clubs of Elvis Presley or the Beatles . Its income between 1970 and 1974 was about eight million US dollars , in today's value about 32 million dollars.
In Germany , Cassidy became the most sought-after teen idol immediately after the Partridge Family started in the ARD evening program in 1972. The song Rock Me Baby came in 1973 to number nine in the German charts, I Am a Clown to number twelve. In the 1973 Bravo annual charts , he finished first and third. In 1973, 1974 and 1975 he received the golden Bravo Otto as the most popular singer of the year, and in 1976 the silver Bravo Otto.
Cassidy caused a sensation when he posed almost naked on the cover of Rolling Stone in May 1972 and admitted to the magazine that he smoked hash and had sex with groupies . One of these groupies was the German actress Puppa Armbruster , who followed him to Los Angeles .
descent
After the ratings for the television series The Partridge Family dropped in 1973, production was discontinued in August 1974. Cassidy went on various tours until 1975 and produced records until 1976. In 1978 he tried to gain a foothold as an actor again. He was nominated for an Emmy for a role in the series Police Story . The US television station NBC signed him for the series David Cassidy: Man Under Cover . After the first season, it was also discontinued due to low ratings.
The public failure ushered in a period of depression and alcohol consumption. His fortune shrank to around $ 100,000 by failed property speculation by 1980. In the early 1980s he tried in vain to make a comeback on Broadway with the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat . In 1985 Cassidy released the album Romance with the single The Last Kiss , which was accompanied by George Michael in the choir. The song reached the top ten of the singles charts in Great Britain and Germany. But this success was short-lived. In 1986 all assets were used up.
comeback
In 1987, Cassidy took the title role in the musical Time in London's West End and gave up drinking. In 1993 he was able to establish himself with his half-brother Shaun Cassidy in the musical Blood Brothers on Broadway. After the Broadway season he toured the United States with Blood Brothers , playing the role in the English production in London for three months.
In November 1996, he took the lead role in the Las Vegas show EFX at the MGM Grand Hotel , and for two years brought the casino over 1,000 well-attended performances. He appeared with actress Susan Dey (his "sister" Laurie in the Partridge Family) at the MTV Video Music Awards . In 1999 he wrote and produced the successful retro show The Rat Pack Is Back! First at the Desert Inn , then at the Sahara Hotel & Casino ! . In 2000, the musical At the Copa , written by Cassidy and in which he also played the lead role of Johnny Flamingo, premiered at the Rio Hotel .
Cassidy's retro CD Then and Now peaked at number five on the UK album charts and gold status in October 2001. Since then he has toured the USA and Great Britain with his old songs . In 2002 he made a successful concert tour through Australia. In April 2005, he co- hosted the Paul Perry radio show every morning for a week on Chicago's oldies station WJMK-FM. In 2009 he played a leading role in the comedy series Ruby & the Rockits , which was produced and written by his brother Shaun Cassidy for the television network American Broadcasting Company .
End of career
After his fans noticed at a concert in February 2017 that he had multiple balance problems on stage and that some of his songs were missing lyrics, Cassidy went public with the admission of dementia. In an interview with People Magazine , he stated that his grandfather and mother had already suffered from dementia. He has therefore made the decision to end his career as a musician and instead concentrate on his health and well-being.
Private
Cassidy's first marriage to actress Kay Lenz was from 1977 to 1983 . His second marriage to Meryl Tanz, closed in 1984, was divorced the following year. In 1991 he married the composer Sue Shifrin-Cassidy (born April 17, 1949), in the same year their son Beau Devin (born February 8, 1991) was born. The couple separated in early 2014, the divorce followed in 2016. Daughter Katherine Evelyn Anita (born November 25, 1986), who also became an actress under the name Katie Cassidy, comes from an earlier relationship with the model Sherry Benedon .
Cassidy's personal passions were horse breeding and horse racing. He owned an estate near Saratoga Springs , New York , on which he raised English thoroughbreds .
Cassidy died of organ failure on November 21, 2017 .
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1972 | Cherish | - | - |
UK2 (44 weeks) UK |
US15th  (23 weeks)US |
|
| Rock me baby |
DE9 (40 weeks) DE |
- |
UK2 (20 weeks) UK |
US41 (17 weeks) US |
||
| 1973 | Dreams Are Nuthin 'More Than Wishes | - | - |
UK1 (13 weeks)UK |
- | |
| 1974 | Cassidy Live | - | - |
UK9 (7 weeks)UK |
- | |
| 1975 | The Higher They Climb - The Harder They Fall | - | - |
UK22 (5 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 1985 | Romance |
DE22 (12 weeks) DE |
- |
UK20th  (6 weeks)UK |
- | |
| 1990 | David Cassidy | - | - | - |
US136 (11 weeks) US |
|
| 2001 | Then and Now | - | - |
UK5 (18 weeks)UK |
US147 (1 week) US |
|
| 2003 | A touch of blue | - | - |
UK61 (2 weeks) UK |
- | |
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
More albums
- 1975: Forever
- 1976: Home Is Where the Heart Is
- 1992: "Didn't You Used to Be ..."
- 1998: Old Trick New Dog
- 2000: Daydreamer
- 2010: Live in Concert
- 2018: Songs My Father Taught Me
Compilations
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 2006 | Could It Be Forever - The Greatest Hits | - | - |
UK52 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
with The Partridge Family
|
More compilations
- 1972: Portrait of David Cassidy
- 1973: David Cassidy
- 1974: David Cassidy's Greatest Hits (UK: )
- 1986: His Greatest Hits - Live (2 LPs)
- 1996: When I'm a Rock 'n' Roll Star: The David Cassidy Collection
- 2000: The Definitive Collection (with The Partridge Family)
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | [↑]: treated together with the previous entry; [←]: placed in both charts |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
UK
|
US
|
||||
| 1971 | Cherish Cherish |
- | - |
UK2 (17 weeks) UK |
US9 (12 weeks)US |
Author: Terry Kirkman
Original: The Association , 1966 |
|
| 1972 | Could It Be Forever Cherish |
- | -[UK: ↑] |
US37 (9 weeks) US |
Authors: Danny Janssen, Wes Farrell
|
||
| How Can I Be Sure Rock Me Baby |
DE33 (1 week) DE |
- |
UK1 (11 weeks) UK |
US25 (9 weeks) US |
Authors: Eddie Brigati, Felix Cavaliere
Original: The Young Rascals , 1967 |
||
| Rock Me Baby Rock Me Baby |
DE9 (24 weeks) DE |
AT14 (4 weeks) AT |
UK11 (9 weeks) UK |
US38 (8 weeks) US |
Authors: Johnny Cymbal , Peggy Clinger
|
||
| 1973 | I am a clown cherish |
DE12 (13 weeks) DE |
AT7 (8 weeks) AT |
UK3 (12 weeks) UK |
- |
Author: Tony Romeo
|
|
| Some Kind of Summer Rock Me Baby |
- | -[UK: ↑] | - |
Author: Dave Ellingson
Original: Trini Lopez , 1971 |
|||
| Daydreamer Dreams Are Nuthin 'More Than Wishes |
DE27 (7 weeks) DE |
- |
UK1 (15 weeks) UK |
- |
Author: Terry Dempsey
|
||
| Puppy Song Dreams Are Nuthin 'More Than Wishes |
- | -[UK: ↑] | - | ||||
| Day Dream Dreams Are Nuthin 'More Than Wishes |
DE48 (1 week) DE |
- | - | - |
Author: John Sebastian
Original: Dora Hall, 1969 |
||
| 1974 | If I Didn't Care Then and Now |
DE43 (1 week) DE |
- |
UK9 (8 weeks) UK |
- |
Author: Jack Lawrence
Original: The Ink Spots , 1939 |
|
|
Please Please Me David Cassidy's Greatest Hits |
- | - |
UK16 (6 weeks) UK |
- | |||
| 1975 | I Write the Songs / Get It Up for Love The Higher They Climb - The Harder They Fall |
- | - |
UK11 (8 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| Darlin ' The Higher They Climb - The Harder They Fall |
DE38 (2 weeks) DE |
- |
UK16 (8 weeks) UK |
- | |||
| 1985 | The Last Kiss Romance |
DE10 (15 weeks) DE |
- |
UK6 (9 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| Romance (Let Your Heart Go) Romance |
DE41 (7 weeks) DE |
- |
UK54 (7 weeks) UK |
- |
Authors: Alan Tarney, David Cassidy
Guest singing: Barbara Trzetrzelewska |
||
| Someone Romance |
- | - |
UK86 (3 weeks) UK |
- |
Authors: Alan Tarney, Sally Boyden
|
||
| 1990 | Lyin 'to Myself David Cassidy |
- | - | - |
US27 (16 weeks) US |
Authors: David Cassidy, Sue Shifrin
|
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
More singles
- 1976: I am a clown
- 1976: Tomorrow
- 1976: Breakin 'Down Again
- 1976: January
- 1977: Saying Goodbye Ain't Easy (We'll Have to Go Away)
- 1985: Someone
- 1985: She Knows All About Boys
- 1988: How Can I Be Sure
- 1998: I Think I Love You
- 2008: I'll Meet You Halfway - The Remixes (Promo)
- 2012: Sex Like
Awards for music sales
Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.
| Country / Region |
silver |
gold |
 platinum
|
Sales | swell |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources) |
|||||
|
United States (RIAA)
|
- |
2 × gold2
|
- | 1,500,000 | US riaa.com |
|
United Kingdom (BPI)
|
2 × silver2
|
3 × gold3
|
- | 420,000 | bpi.co.uk |
| All in all |
2 × silver2
|
5 × gold5
|
- | ||
Filmography (selection)
TV Shows
|
Movies
|
literature
- Darling David . Daily Mirror Books, London 1972, ISBN 0-600-32887-2
- James A. Hudson: Meet David Cassidy .
- James Gregory: The David Cassidy Story . Manchester 1973.
Fonts
- David Cassidy, Chip Deffaa: C'mon, Get Happy: Fear and loathing on the Partridge Family Bus . Warner Books, New York 1994, ISBN 0-446-39531-5
- David Cassidy: David in Europe: Exclusive David's Own Story in David's Own Words . Daily Mirror Books, London 1973, ISBN 0-85939-014-4
swell
- ^ Paul Gambaccini , (et al.), The Guinness Book of Number One Hits , London, 1994, ISBN 0-85112-769-X .
- ↑ a b The Official David Cassidy Website: David Biography ( Memento of the original from April 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ David Cassidy, Chip Deffaa: C'mon, Get Happy: Fear and loathing on the Partridge Family Bus . Warner Books, New York 1994, p. 220.
- ↑ USD-CHF history | Dollar-CHF price history - boerse.de . In: boerse.de . ( boerse.de [accessed on July 16, 2018]).
- ^ Naked Lunchbox: The Business of David Cassidy . In: Rolling Stone , No. 108, May 11, 1972.
- ↑ Frances Schoenberger : Barefoot in Hollywood: My life among the stars . S. Fischer Verlag , 2017, ISBN 978-3-596-31610-6 , pp. 288 ( full text in Google Book Search).
- ↑ David Cassidy, Chip Deffaa: C'mon, Get Happy: Fear and loathing on the Partridge Family Bus . Warner Books, New York 1994, p. 172.
- ↑ David Cassidy, Chip Deffaa: C'mon, Get Happy: Fear and loathing on the Partridge Family Bus . Warner Books, New York 1994, p. 191.
- ↑ David Cassidy, Chip Deffaa: C'mon, Get Happy: Fear and loathing on the Partridge Family Bus . Warner Books, New York 1994, p. 220.
- ↑ David Cassidy, Chip Deffaa: C'mon, Get Happy: Fear and loathing on the Partridge Family Bus . Warner Books, New York 1994, p. 221.
- ↑ David Cassidy, Chip Deffaa: C'mon, Get Happy: Fear and loathing on the Partridge Family Bus . Warner Books, New York 1994, p. 225.
- ↑ David Cassidy Reveals He Is Battling Dementia in People Magazine online, February 20, 2017
- ↑ David Cassidy speaks about dementia in Spiegel online, February 21, 2017
- ↑ The deep fall of David Cassidy at welt.de
- ↑ n-tv.de: David Cassidy suffers organ failure
- ↑ a b c Chart sources: Singles Albums UK US1 US2
- ↑ a b Gold / Platinum databases: UK US
Web links
- Official website (English)
- David Cassidy in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- David Cassidy at Allmusic (English)
- David Cassidy at Discogs (English)
- David Cassidy on MusicBrainz (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cassidy, David |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cassidy, David Bruce (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American actor and singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 12, 1950 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 21, 2017 |
| Place of death | Fort Lauderdale |