The Partridge Family perfectly encapsulated the distinct blend of charm, simplicity, and enduring talent that the early 1970s offered. Susan Dey’s approachable charm won over fans worldwide, while David Cassidy’s amazing voice and unmistakable charisma made him a household name.
The show’s pleasant vibe, strong acting, and incisive writing made it a revered part of television history. Even ardent fans, however, might have overlooked certain intriguing elements that were in plain view. Let’s reminisce about the mysteries and surprises that add even more significance to The Partridge Family!
In the humorous sitcom The Partridge Family, Shirley, a widow, and her five kids created a pop band and travelled the nation in their recognisable, vibrant bus. It became a 70s cultural phenomenon, full of memorable melodies and poignant scenes.
After all, the Partridge family wasn’t so made up.
Did you know that a real pop band served as the inspiration for The Partridge Family? Yes, The Cowsills, a popular family band in the late 1960s, served as the model for the show. It was originally intended for the real Cowsills children to play the lead roles in the series, but let’s just say that they weren’t very good actors. They were also a bit too old for the roles. Consequently, the producers abandoned the concept and came up with their own made-up musical family.
Fun fact: Shirley Jones was originally the sole cast member scheduled to sing. However, the producers recognised they had a future superstar when they heard David Cassidy’s demo recordings and offered him the mic.
The Partridge Family wasn’t just a TV fictional band, either; their music was so popular that they were nominated for a Grammy in 1970 for Best New Artist. Just picture a fake band competing against actual musicians! (Even if the Carpenters prevailed, what a tale.)
The reason David Cassidy was unable to face the public
For many of the cast members, particularly David Cassidy, the fame that accompanied The Partridge Family was a double-edged sword. The portrayal of Keith Partridge made him a pop success of the 1970s and catapulted him to teen idol status, but it also came with pressures that would eventually wear him down.
Cassidy transformed from the endearing TV son to a celebrity whose every action was closely watched; the widespread panic surrounding him was nicknamed “Cassidymania.”
After the first three months, I never left the house. It was too absurd. Celebrities no longer have it that way. The sophistication of audiences has increased. people’re more accessible and human now since people can see celebs repeatedly on video,” Cassidy stated in 2017.
David Cassidy’s audition that turned him into a teenage idol
Were you aware that David Cassidy nearly missed his opportunity to sing on The Partridge Family?
Although the network was aware that he could sing, they were more interested in acting than in that. It took several auditions for Cassidy to get the position, even though she previously had dramatic roles on shows like Bonanza and Ironside.
In order to demonstrate his ability to bring the Partridges’ music to life, he tried out once more after the pilot was sold, this time for record producer Wes Farrell. Fortunately, he got it exactly right, and the rest is history.
“It was something else entirely when I began singing on the show,” Cassidy said.
Danny Bonaduce’s covert tool
Did you know that The Partridge Family’s witty middle child, Danny Bonaduce, had a hidden talent—and a little bit of a streak towards mischief? Despite his dyslexia, which occasionally caused him to suffer during script readings, Danny possessed an eidetic memory, which allowed him to memorise not only his lines but also those of everyone else.
However, he didn’t always get along with his co-stars because of this amazing talent. Regardless of whether they wanted assistance or not, Danny was always the first to step in and remind someone who had forgotten their queue. It’s important to understand your role and everyone else’s!
Autographs on elephants and flesh
The tornado of celebrity that came with being a member of The Partridge Family did not spare Danny Bonaduce. He became a teenage idol overnight, and it’s reasonable to assume that he had a good number of fans.
In 1992, Betty, his mother, told People magazine, “We had 21-year-old girls hanging around our house all night.” “The witch who refused to let them in was me.”
At the time, though, Danny didn’t appear to mind. Outside his home in the suburbs of Los Angeles, he could see admirers waiting for him with great anticipation.
Danny told The Age, “They would open their shirts and have notes written on their bodies – ‘DANNY, WE LOVE YOU.’ I signed a lot of flesh.”
Danny, then 14 years old, had a $350,000 fortune in the bank by the time the show concluded in 1974. Fame and hanging together with other young celebrities, including a 16-year-old Michael Jackson, dominated life.
“I grew up with mayors and on jet planes.” I rode an elephant, but I didn’t play baseball. I took the Concorde instead of playing football. I really got lucky,” Danny said.
The nightmarish contract for David Cassidy
Behind the scenes, David Cassidy had to face a harsh reality as a young star. David was not receiving much of the money that his image was bringing in for studios like Columbia Pictures.
Even though admirers were paying to join his fan club, he had little control over how his name and picture were utilised, and his contract did not offer royalties. They were only able to make a change once his management discovered that he had signed the contract at the age of 19, not the legal age of 21. They were able to renegotiate his conditions using this legal loophole, offering him a weekly pay commensurate with his notoriety and a share of the earnings. He was barely making $600 a week prior to it.
Being exploited at a young age was a drawback of being a teenage idol; it wasn’t all fame and wealth.
The protector who assisted Susan Sey
As Laurie Partridge on The Partridge Family, Susan Dey shot to fame on television at the age of barely 18. She portrayed the intelligent and kind older sibling from 1970 to 1974, but her life off-screen was equally as exciting as her on-screen existence.
Did you know that the producers didn’t initially want Susan to play Laurie? In fact, Olivia Newton-John was a candidate for the position. A few years later, in a cruel turn of events, the producers originally wanted Susan for Sandy when Grease was casting. However, Olivia eventually got the part, as we all know. The universe is adept at delivering unexpected surprises.
A 1972 article claimed that everything was determined by sheer luck. Paul Witt, the producer of Screen Gems, went to New York to look for new faces because he couldn’t find the perfect Laurie in Hollywood. Despite her lack of dramatic training, he was immediately convinced that Susan, a slim, elegant junior in high school with big eyes and an indisputable appeal, was the right person for the role. Her warmth, humour, and effortless presence more than made up for her lack of musical ability. Susan felt ready for the spotlight after a few high school productions.
Susan got the part, despite her humble assurance that “thousands can do the part.” She had to live with a guardian while the early episodes were being filmed because she wasn’t yet eighteen. Following a number of interviews, Laurie’s stand-in, 23-year-old Jane Joyce, a college graduate, was selected. In addition to helping Susan with her on-screen responsibilities, she also helped Susan with her assignments by mail and ensured that she continued her education.
Susan Dey’s unspoken health struggle
Despite being the relatable and grounded adolescent idol, Susan Dey’s time on The Partridge Family wasn’t all glamour and flash. Even though she starred in tampon advertisements targeted at her fan base, there were difficulties in her backstage life.
Susan’s battle with an eating disorder during her time on the show exposed the negative aspects of becoming famous so quickly.
However, Susan was also very critical of her own performance on the show. In the first season, she described herself as “awful,” never feeling like she was doing herself justice or being able to completely unwind.
The problem was that I was unable to let go. “The screen showed all of that stiffness,” Susan told The Star Press.
Crush to cold distance
Susan Dey initially developed close relationships with a few of her co-stars. She even lived with her co-star Danny Bonaduce for a spell. Throughout the whole course of The Partridge Family, Susan was known to have a major crush on David Cassidy. But it appears that Dey wasn’t keen to continue with the show that made her famous when it finished.
Susan moved on to additional TV appearances after the show ended in 1974, including a significant role in L.A. 1986 law.
The actress who played Shirley Partridge on the show, Shirley Jones, writes in her memoir, “By then, she and David had grown apart, and nowadays they were completely out of touch, which hurt David tremendously.”
“I was also offended that, of all the cast members, Susan was the only one who consistently declined to participate in any Partridge Family reunions on television.”
Susan Dey talked candidly about her early years on The Partridge Family in a 1972 newspaper article, which may hold the key to the solution.
The politics and dishonesty that go into creating a program caught me off guard. Additionally, I’ve found it difficult to say no and put my foot down.
Shirley Jones couldn’t stand her co-stars.
Success was nothing new to Shirley Jones, who had a nice demeanour and was a versatile performer. Her career included television, movies, and Broadway. In 1960, she won an Academy Award for her performance in Elmer Gantry. But The Partridge Family cemented her reputation as a legendary TV mother and a cherished personality among viewers worldwide.
Jones revealed some frank details about her tenure on the show in her memoirs. With the exception of Dick Clark and Ray Bolger, she disclosed that she got along with the most of her co-stars.
Shirley recounted with fondness how the entire cast predicted that Farrah Fawcett, who guest-starred on the program, would eventually become a major celebrity. She also appreciated working with fresh talent like Jodie Foster, despite some setbacks along the road.
The picture of Farrah Fawcett
Nothing short of legendary was Farrah Fawcett’s brief appearance in Season One, Episode Two of The Partridge Family! She effortlessly raised the bar for beauty; all you have to do is glance at the photo of her with Danny and wonder what he’s thinking.
Every time this picture appears on social media, the comments section is always the same: everyone is in awe of Farrah’s beauty. She unfortunately left us far too soon.
Did you know, by the way, that Farrah wasn’t the first future Charlie’s Angel to appear on Patridge as a guest? Cheryl Ladd and Jaclyn Smith both appeared on the show, albeit in different episodes. What a terrific roster they had before they were all Charlie’s Angels!
A family member who has vanished
Although The Partridge Family appeared to be a flawless, expertly produced program, there were undoubtedly some amusing bloopers. In fact, one of the better ones occurs in the pilot episode—a little scene that many viewers may have missed.
The children are supposed to sing in front of an audience at the end of the pilot, but they are all motionless as the curtain rises.
In an attempt to help them unwind, their mother Shirley (played by Shirley Jones) asks them to consider the times when they are simply playing in the garage at home. However, rather than adding, “Do you recall the day the six of us practiced in the garage? “Imagine you’re in the back of our garage, all five of us, just having fun,” Shirley says by mistake. Whoops! It appears that she overlooked one relative.
Skunk wire
Here’s another amusing fact from Season 1, Episode 8’s Skunk. A skunk enters the bus covertly and sprays the family during their lunch.
Writer Bernard Slade’s childhood experiences, in which he had a family of skunks living beneath his house, served as the inspiration for the episode. The exciting part, which most people probably missed, is that you can actually see the skunk being “coached” onto the bus with a wire as the family is leaving the picnic and making their way back to it!
Since no one seemed to be interested in teaching a skunk (or perhaps there weren’t any professional skunks in Hollywood), the production team chose to essentially drag the skunk onto the bus by attaching a wire to its neck. Well, that’s not exactly the most humanitarian way.
Making errors public
Instead of being filmed in a real house, the interior of the Partridge residence was filmed on a set. However, a wall is visible a few feet beyond the open front door in episodes where we are able to see it. The worst part is that there isn’t a wall there while we are inside the house! TV is magical, isn’t it?
Another thing that will make you laugh is that their electric guitars and vocals are played without any monitors, speakers, or amplifiers in practically every episode. Without the equipment, how is the band expected to rock? I suppose it’s simply another miracle in the Partridge family.
David Cassidy made a single untruth.
Sadly, David Cassidy died on November 21, 2017.
Before passing away from liver failure, the former adolescent star had been dealing with a number of health problems. The final years of his life were marred by his drinking problem, just like those of many other former adolescent celebrities.
David revealed his issue to the world in 2008 and declared his intention to get help. Although it was all a deception, he was able to persuade his friends and family that he had given up drinking.
In February 2017, David sang songs he had been singing for almost 50 years, but he couldn’t remember the lyrics at his most recent live performance. Additionally, the performer reportedly fell off the stage while intoxicated.
David then declared that he was retiring from all further performing after receiving a dementia diagnosis. In actuality, though, his drinking was the reason for his deteriorating health.
David was heard making a startling admission in the documentary David Cassidy: The Last Session. The legendary ’70s heartthrob had a taped phone call with an A&E producer just two months before he passed away. He was admitted to the hospital once more, but this time he made the decision to confess to lying about his drinking.
Cassidy told A&E producer Saralena Weinfield, “I have a liver disease.”
“At this point in my life, I show no symptoms of dementia. All of it was alcohol poisoning. My life has undergone significant shift. I was unconscious and on the verge of death over the first few days. My memory has returned throughout the past week or two,” David remarked.
David Cassidy’s parting remarks
At the age of 67, David passed away on November 21, 2017, due to liver failure.
Katie, Davids’s daughter, posted her father’s final remarks on the deathbed on Twitter:
“So much wasted time,” was my father’s final statement. She added, “This will serve as a daily reminder to me to express my gratitude to the people I care about so that I never waste another minute. Thank you.”
Shirley Jones, David’s stepmother, who loved working with him on Partridge Family, was among the millions who lamented his departure.
“I genuinely believe that our closeness and real-life relationship aided us in the show,” Jones told the Hollywood Reporter.
Tell your friends and family about this page if The Partridge Family reminded you of any special moments!
Together, let’s preserve the enchantment of this legendary program. Please share your favourite memories with us in the Facebook comments section.