Jack Cassidy

John Joseph Edward Cassidy, known as "Jack", (March 5, 1927 – December 12, 1976) was an American actor and singer known for his work in the theatre, television and films. He received multiple Tony Award nominations and a win as well as a Grammy Award for his work on the Broadway production of the musical She Loves Me. He also received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations. He was the father of teen idols David Cassidy and Shaun Cassidy.

Jack Cassidy
Cassidy, c.1967
Born
John Joseph Edward Cassidy

(1927-03-05)March 5, 1927
DiedDecember 12, 1976(1976-12-12) (aged 49)
Cause of deathHouse fire[1]
OccupationActor, singer
Years active1943–1976
Spouse(s)
Children4; including David, Shaun, Patrick Cassidy
RelativesKatie Cassidy
AwardsTony Award, Grammy Award (1964, She Loves Me)

Early life

He was born in Richmond Hill, Queens, New York, the son of Charlotte (née Koehler) and William Cassidy. His father, an engineer at the Long Island Rail Road, was of Irish descent and his mother was of German ancestry.[2]

Career

Cassidy achieved success as a musical performer on Broadway.[3] He appeared in Alive and Kicking, Wish You Were Here, Shangri-La, Maggie Flynn, Fade Out – Fade In, It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman, and She Loves Me, for which he won a Tony Award. He also received Emmy Award nominations for his television performances in He & She and The Andersonville Trial.[4]

On television, he became a frequent guest star, appearing in such programs as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Gunsmoke, Bewitched, Get Smart, That Girl, Hawaii Five-O, Cannon, Match Game and McCloud and three times as a murderer on Columbo, in the episodes "Murder By the Book" (directed by not yet famous Steven Spielberg, with teleplay by a young Steven Bochco), "Publish or Perish" (1974) and "Now You See Him..." (1976). Jack Cassidy also appeared on Barnaby Jones; episode titled "Murder in the Doll's House (03/25/1973).[4]

He co-starred with Ronnie Schell in a television revival of Hellzapoppin'. Cassidy also co-starred as an informer in the movie The Eiger Sanction with Clint Eastwood and provided the voice of Bob Cratchit for the pioneering animated television special Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol.[4]

His frequent professional persona was an urbane, witty, confident egotist with a dramatic flair, much in the manner of Broadway actor Frank Fay. Cassidy perfected this character to the extent that he was cast as John Barrymore in the feature film W.C. Fields and Me.

The role of the vain, shallow, buffoon-like newsman Ted Baxter on TV's The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977) was reportedly written with Cassidy in mind.[5] Cassidy had played a similar buffoonish character in the 19671968 sitcom He & She, but he turned down the role, feeling that it was not right for him; the part went to Ted Knight. Cassidy later appeared as a guest star in a 1971 episode[6] as Ted's highly competitive and equally egotistical brother Hal.[4]

Personal life

Marriages and children

A programme featuring Cassidy and Jones at the White House in 1957

Cassidy was married twice. His first marriage in 1946 was to actress Evelyn Ward. Together they had a son, David, who later became a teen idol. They divorced in 1956 and in the same year Cassidy married singer and actress Shirley Jones. Cassidy and Jones had three sons, Shaun, Patrick, and Ryan. Cassidy's eldest son David later starred with Jones in the musical sitcom The Partridge Family. Son Shaun also became a teen idol in the late 1970s, starring in The Hardy Boys series, and producing four top-40 records. Jones and Cassidy divorced in 1975.[7]

Mental health

In his 1994 autobiography, C'Mon, Get Happy, Cassidy's eldest son David wrote that he became increasingly concerned about his father in the last years of his life. The elder Cassidy, who suffered from bipolar disorder and alcoholism, was displaying increasingly erratic behavior. In 1974, his neighbors were shocked to see him watering his front lawn naked in the middle of the afternoon.[8] Cassidy's second wife, Shirley Jones, described a similar incident when she found him sitting naked in a corner of their house, reading a book. Jones said to him that they had to get ready to do a show, and he calmly looked up and said, "I know now that I'm Christ".[9] In December 1974, Cassidy was hospitalized in a psychiatric facility for 48 hours.[10] At that time, Jones found out that he had been previously diagnosed with bipolar disorder.[11]

Sexuality

David Cassidy said his father was bisexual, citing personal accounts and reports, both anecdotal and published, of his father's same-sex affairs, something neither he nor his siblings knew until after the father's death.[12] In her 2013 memoir, Shirley Jones wrote that Cassidy had many same-sex affairs, including one with Cole Porter.[13]

Death

By 1976, Cassidy was living alone in a penthouse apartment in West Hollywood.

According to ex-wife Shirley Jones, Cassidy asked her over for drinks on December 11, 1976, but she declined. He then invited actress and singer Donna Theodore out for a date, who also declined. According to Theodore in a 1999 interview, which was featured in the Mysteries and Scandals episode on Cassidy, she began noticing strange mood swings in Cassidy, notably one incident in which he maniacally ran around the nightclub they were visiting. Feeling uncomfortable, she ended the date and asked him to take her back home, which he did. After eating dinner alone at a restaurant, Cassidy returned to his apartment alone and drunk, having consumed alcohol at various bars across West Hollywood earlier that evening. He had reportedly been seen drinking at one point with actress Nanette Fabray.

In the early morning hours of December 12, 1976, Cassidy lit a cigarette and fell asleep on his Naugahyde couch.[14] Asleep, he dropped the cigarette, igniting the couch. The flames spread throughout the apartment and building.[7] At 6:15 a.m., the blaze was discovered by Deputy Sheriff John DiMatteo, who evacuated the building, and entered Cassidy's apartment. A smoking, charred corpse was found in the doorway of the apartment. As Cassidy's car was missing,[2] his family hoped that he had traveled to Palm Springs, as he had intended to do the following day. But the corpse was soon identified[15] by his dental records and signet ring that he wore, bearing the Cassidy family crest.[2][16] His car had been borrowed by a friend, who returned it afterwards. Cassidy's remains were further cremated and scattered into the Pacific Ocean.[17]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1961Look in Any WindowGareth Lowell
1962The Chapman ReportTed Dyson
1970The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico CountyRoger Hand
1971Bunny O'HareLieutenant Greeley
1975The Eiger SanctionMiles Mellough
1976W.C. Fields and MeJohn Barrymore
1977The Private Files of J. Edgar HooverDamon Runyon

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1957The United States Steel HourPerformerEpisode: Shadow of Evil
1957Lux Video TheatreDenis/Dr. Steele2 episodes
1958Richard Diamond, Private DetectiveDanny FortuneEpisode: The Percentage Takers
1958GunsmokeMarcus FranceEpisode: The Gentleman
1960The Chevy Mystery ShowDavid TownsendEpisode: Femme Fatale
1961Hawaiian EyeMaurice CliffordEpisode: Concert in Hawaii
1961MaverickRoger CushmanEpisode: The Art Lovers
1961Alfred Hitchcock Presents' Mark LansingEpisode: The Pearl Necklace
1961General Electric TheaterAlan RichardsEpisode: Sis Bowls 'Em Over
1961Lock-UpVincent GibsonEpisode: Two Wrongs
1961Wagon TrainDan PalmerEpisode: The Nancy Palmer Story
1962Surfside 6Val MortonEpisode: Who is Sylvia?
1962EvergladesRon FairburnEpisode: Black Honeymoon
1962FBI Code 98Walter MacklinEpisode: Television Movie
196277 Sunset StripDick ArnadorEpisode: The Bridal Trail Caper
1961–62BroncoEdward Miller2 episodes
1962The Dick Powell ShowRothEpisode: The Big Day
1962Mister Magoo's Christmas CarolBob Cratchit (voice)Television Movie
1962HenneseyChaplainEpisode: I Thee Wed
1963The Wide CountryJerry ManningEpisode: The Judas Ghost
1964Mr. BroadwayAllanEpisode: The He-She Chemistry
1964Famous Adventures of Mr. MagoovoiceTelevision Movie
1965The Lucy ShowProf. ZoorkinEpisode: Lucy and the Undercover Agent
1965The Alfred Hitchcock HourArthur MannixEpisode: The Photographer and the Undertaker
1967–68He & SheOscar North26 episodes
1967Coronet BlueSpanglerEpisode: A Charade for Murder
1967The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.Rock MussinEpisode: The Carpathian Caper Affair
1967I SpyNick FlemingEpisode: The Trouble with Temple
1968Get SmartMr. BobEpisode: The Return of the Ancient Mariner
1968–70BewitchedVarious Roles2 episodes
1969That GirlMarty Hines2 episodes
1970The Governor & J.J.Mark EllisonEpisode: The Making of the Governor
1970Matt LincolnDoug ConwayEpisode: Nina
1970George M!Jeremiah "Jerry" CohanTelevision Movie
1970The Andersonville TrialOtis BakerTelevision Movie
1970–72Love, American StylePerformer3 episodes
1971SargeJohn Michael O'FlahertyEpisode: The Eleven O'Clock War
1971BonanzaKevin O'CaseyEpisode: Cassie
1971The Mary Tyler Moore ShowHal BaxterEpisode: Cover Boy
1971Alias Smith and JonesHarry WagenerEpisode: How to Rob a Bank in One Hard Lesson
1971ColumboKen FranklinEpisode: Murder by the Book
1971The Powder RoomPerformerTelevision Movie
1971Night GalleryMarius DavisSegment: The Last Laurel
1971The Mod SquadPerry LerrikoEpisode: Kicks Incorporated
1972Mission: ImpossibleOrin KerrEpisode: Casino
1972Your Money or Your WifeJosh DarwinTelevision Movie
1972BanyonGrey GlovesEpisode: Dead End
1973Orson Welles Great MysteriesPenningtonEpisode: For Sale - Silence
1973Barnaby JonesCraig WoodridgeEpisode: Murder in the Doll's House
1973A Time for LoveTom PiersonTelevision Movie
1974Fools, Female and FunDanny HollidayTelevision Movie
1974The Phantom of HollywoodOtto Vonner/Karl VonnerTelevision Movie
1974Great PerformancesPaul SearsEpisode: June Moon
1974ColumboRiley GreenleafEpisode: Publish or Perish
1974CannonGeneral James O'HaraEpisode: Photo Finish
1975Hawaii Five-OOrrin MorwoodEpisode: How to Steal a Submarine
1975Matt HelmBuckmanEpisode: Murder on Ice
1975KnucklePatrick DelafieldTelevision Movie
1975Death Among FriendsChico DonovanTelevision Movie
1976ColumboThe Great SantiniEpisode: Now You See Him...
1977McCloudLord Charles BridgesEpisode: London Bridges
1977Benny and Barney: Las Vegas UndercoverJules RosenTelevision Movie
1977The Feather and Father GangBishopEpisode: The Judas Bug

Stage

Source: Playbill Vault [3]

Broadway

YearTitleRoleVenue
1943Something for the BoyschorusAlvin Theatre
1944Sadie Thompsonchorus
1946Around the WorldchorusAdelphi Theatre
1947Music in My Heartchorus
1948Small WonderensembleCoronet Theatre
1948Inside U.S.A.chorusMajestic Theatre
1950Alive and KickingensembleWinter Garden Theatre
1952South PacificRichard WestMajestic Theatre
1952Wish You Were HereChick MillerImperial Theatre
1954SandhogJohnny O'SullivanPhoenix Theatre
1956Shangri-LaCharles MallinsonWinter Garden Theatre
1957The Beggar's OperaMacHeathNew York City Center
1963She Loves MeSteven KodalyEugene O'Neill Theatre
1964Fade Out – Fade InByron ProngMark Hellinger Theatre
1966It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's SupermanMax MenckenAlvin Theatre
1968Maggie FlynnPhineas FlynnANTA Theatre
1969The Mundy SchemeMick MoloneyRoyale Theatre
1973Sondheim: A Musical TributePerformerConcert, Shubert Theater
1975Murder Among FriendsPalmer ForresterBiltmore Theatre

Elsewhere

YearTitleRoleVenue
1956Oklahoma!CurlyEuropean tour
1958Wonderful TownRobert BakerBrussels World's Fair, Belgium
London, United Kingdom
1959Wish You Were HereChick MillerDallas, Texas
1959Epitaph for George DillonGeorge DillonLos Angeles, California
1962GypsyHerbieDallas, Texas
1965Mary, MaryDirk WinstenNational tour
1965CamelotLancelotNational tour
1967Wait Until DarkRoatNational tour
1972The Marriage BandPerformerLas Vegas, Nevada; National tour

Awards and Nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
1964Grammy AwardsBest Musical Theater AlbumShe Loves MeWon[18]
1964Tony AwardsBest Featured Actor in a MusicalWon[19]
1965Fade Out - Fade InNominated
1966Best Actor in MusicalIt's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's SupermanNominated
1969Maggie FlynnNominated
1968Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Supporting Actor in a ComedyHe & SheNominated[18]
1971Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited SeriesThe Andersonville TrialNominated

Cassidy was approved for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005, and fundraising efforts are currently underway to fund the dedication ceremony. As of July 2018, he is not listed in their on-line database.

Discography

Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy albums

Guest appearances

References

  1. "Jack Cassidy, Actor, Dies at 49 In Fire at Los Angeles Apartment". The New York Times. December 13, 1976. Retrieved May 31, 2009.
  2. "Actor Jack Cassidy Dies In Blaze". Beaver County Times. December 13, 1976. pp. B-16.
  3. "Jack Cassidy Broadway Credits". Playbill. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  4. "Jack Cassidy". TVGuide.com. TV Guide. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  5. Cassidy, David; Deffaa, Chip (1994). C'mon, Get Happy ... Fear and Loathing on the Partridge Family Bus. New York: Warner Books. p. 50. ISBN 0-446-39531-5.
  6. "Cover Boy".
  7. Donnelley, Paul (2003). Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries. Music Sales Group. p. 144. ISBN 0-711-99512-5.
  8. Cassidy, David; Deffaa, Chip (1994). C'Mon, Get Happy... Warner Books. p. 214. ISBN 0-446-39531-5.
  9. Jones, Shirley; Ingels, Marty; Herskowitz, Mickey (1990). Shirley & Marty: An Unlikely Love Story. New York: William Morrow & Company. p. 49. ISBN 0-688-08457-5.
  10. Cassidy 1994 pp. 204-205
  11. Jones 1990 p. 52
  12. McGlone, Jackie (March 24, 2007). "Still a daydreamer". The Scotsman. Retrieved July 6, 2008.
  13. Jones, Shirley (2013). Shirley Jones: A Memoir. New York: Gallery Books. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-4767-2595-6.
  14. Jones, Shirley (2013). Shirley Jones: A Memoir. Simon and Schuster. pp. 229–230. ISBN 978-1-476-72595-6.
  15. Karanikas Harvey, Diana; Harvey, Jackson (1996). Dead Before Their Time. MetroBooks. p. 104. ISBN 1-567-99284-6.
  16. Jones 2013 p.229
  17. Petrucelli, Alan W. (2009). Morbid Curiosity: The Disturbing Demises of the Famous and Infamous. Perigee Trade. pp. 38–39. ISBN 978-0-399-53527-7.
  18. "Jack Cassidy - Awards". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  19. "Jack Cassidy Vault". Playbill.com. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  20. Clarke, David (May 12, 2014). "BWW CD Reviews: Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy's MARRIAGE TYPE LOVE is Sweet Nostalgia". BroadwayWorld.com.
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