John Joseph Edward Cassidy (March 5, 1927 – December 12, 1976) was an American actor, singer and theatre director. He received multiple Tony Award nominations and won a Tony Award 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 and Shaun Cassidy.
Early life Cassidy was born in New York City, the son of Charlotte (née Koehler) and William Cassidy. He was the youngest of five children. His father, an engineer at the Long Island Rail Road, was of Irish descent and his mother was of German ancestry.
Career Cassidy achieved success as a musical performer on Broadway. 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 the 1967-68 CBS Television Network series He & She and The Andersonville Trial.
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, McCloud, and Barnaby Jones for an episode titled "Murder in the Doll's House" (1973). Cassidy also appeared three times as a murderer on Columbo in the episodes "Murder By the Book" (1971, directed by the not-yet-famous Steven Spielberg, with teleplay by a young Steven Bochco), "Publish or Perish" (1974), and "Now You See Him..." (1976).
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.
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. Cassidy had played a similar buffoonish character in the 1967–1968 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 as Ted's highly competitive and equally egotistical brother Hal.
Personal life Marriages and children
Cassidy was married twice. His first marriage in 1948 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.
Cassidy had 12 grandchildren: Katie Cassidy and Beau by his first son David; Caitlin, Jake, Juliet, Caleb, Roan, Lila, and Mairin Cassidy by son Shaun; Cole and Jack by son Patrick; and, Meghan Mae by son Ryan. His grandson, Jack Cassidy, was a contestant on the singing competition television show The Voice in 2017.
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 fully naked, watering his front lawn in the middle of the afternoon. 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". In December 1974, Cassidy was hospitalized in a psychiatric facility for 48 hours.Cassidy 1994 pp. 204-205 At that time, Jones found out that he had been previously diagnosed with bipolar disorder.Jones 1990 p. 52
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 their father's death. In her 2013 memoir, Shirley Jones wrote that Cassidy had many same-sex affairs, including one with Cole Porter.
Death On December 11, 1976, Cassidy invited his ex-wife, Shirley Jones, to his home, an apartment in West Hollywood, California, for drinks, but she declined.
Early the next morning, 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. At 6:15 a.m., the blaze was discovered by Deputy Sheriff John DiMatteo, who evacuated the building, and entered Cassidy's apartment. A charred body was found near the front door of the apartment among the ashes, and was identified as Cassidy's by dental records and a signet ring that he wore, bearing the Cassidy family crest.Jones 2013 p.229 His remains were cremated and scattered in the Pacific Ocean.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1961 Look in Any Window Gareth Lowell 1962 The Chapman Report Ted Dyson 1970 The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County Roger Hand 1971 Bunny O'Hare Lieutenant Greeley 1975 The Eiger Sanction Miles Mellough 1976 W. C. Fields and Me John Barrymore 1977 The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover Damon Runyon Posthumous release
Television Year Title Role Notes 1957 The United States Steel Hour Performer Season 4 Episode 13: "Shadow of Evil" 1957 Lux Video Theatre Dr. Frederick Steele Season 7 Episode 21: "Dark Victory" 1957 Lux Video Theatre Denis Season 7 Episode 49: "Last Act" 1958 Richard Diamond, Private Detective Danny Fortune Season 2 Episode 17: "The Percentage Takers" 1958 Gunsmoke Marcus France Season 3 Episode 39: "The Gentleman" 1960 The Chevy Mystery Show David Townsend Season 1 Episode 14: "Femme Fatale" 1961 Hawaiian Eye Maurice Clifford Season 3 Episode 14: "Concert in Hawaii" 1961 Maverick Roger Cushman Season 5 Episode 2: "The Art Lovers" 1961 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Mark Lansing Season 6 Episode 29: "The Pearl Necklace" 1961 General Electric Theater Alan Richards Season 9 Episode 28: "Sis Bowls 'Em Over" 1961 Lock-Up Vincent Gibson Season 2 Episode 28: "Two Wrongs" 1961 Wagon Train Dan Palmer Season 4 Episode 24: "The Nancy Palmer Story" 1962 Surfside 6 Val Morton Season 2 Episode 21: "Who is Sylvia?" 1962 The Everglades Ron Fairburn Season 1 Episode 18: "Black Honeymoon" 1962 FBI Code 98 Walter Macklin Television Movie 1962 77 Sunset Strip Dick Arnador Season 4 Episode 20: "The Bridal Trail Caper" 1961 Bronco Edward Miller Season 4 Episode 5: "The Harrigan" 1962 Bronco Marshal Bill Hickok Season 4 Episode 13: "One Evening in Abilene" 1962 The Dick Powell Show Roth Season 2 Episode 13: "The Big Day" 1962 Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol Bob Cratchit (voice) Television Movie 1962 Hennesey Chaplain Season 3 Episode 32: "I Thee Wed" 1963 The Wide Country Jerry Manning Season 1 Episode 21: "The Judas Ghost" 1964 Mr. Broadway Allan Season 1 Episode 6: "The He-She Chemistry" 1964 Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo voice Television Movie 1965 The Lucy Show Professor Zoorkin Season 4 Episode 10: "Lucy and the Undercover Agent" 1965 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Arthur Mannix Season 3 Episode 21: "The Photographer and the Undertaker" 1967 Coronet Blue Spangler Season 1 Episode 7: "A Charade for Murder" 1967 The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. Rock Mussin Season 1 Episode 21: "The Carpathian Caper Affair" 1967 I Spy Nick Fleming Season 2 Episode 19: "The Trouble with Temple" 1967–1968 He & She Oscar North 26 episodes 1968 Mouse on the Mayflower John Alden, voice Rankin-Bass animated holiday TV special 1968 Get Smart Mr. Bob Season 4 Episode 8: "The Return of the Ancient Mariner" 1968 Bewitched Rance Butler Season 5 Episode 2: "Samantha Goes South for a Spell" 1969 That Girl Marty Haines Season 4 Episode 12: "She Never Had the Vegas Notion" 1969 That Girl Marty Haines Season 4 Episode 13: "She Never Had the Vegas Notion Part Two" 1970 Bewitched George Dinsdale Season 6 Episode 26: "A Chance on Love" 1970 The Governor & J.J. Mark Ellison Season 2 Episode 9: "The Making of the Governor" 1970 Matt Lincoln Doug Conway Season 1 Episode 3: "Nina" 1970 George M! Jeremiah "Jerry" Cohan Television Movie 1970 The Andersonville Trial Otis Baker PBS film version of 1959 Broadway play by Saul Levitt 1970 Love, American Style Chuck Fuller Season 1 Episode 20 (segment: "Love and the Many Married Couple") 1971 Love, American Style Fred Season 2 Episode 18 (segment: "Love and the Big Game") 1971 Sarge John Michael O'Flaherty Season 1 Episode 6: "The Eleven O'Clock War" 1971 Bonanza Kevin O'Casey Season 13 Episode 6: "Cassie" 1971 The Mary Tyler Moore Show Hal Baxter Season 2 Episode 6: "Cover Boy" 1971 Alias Smith and Jones Harry Wagener Season 2 Episode 2: "How to Rob a Bank in One Hard Lesson" 1971 Columbo Ken Franklin Season 1 Episode 1: "Murder by the Book" 1971 The Powder Room Performer Television Movie 1971 Night Gallery Marius Davis Season 1 Episode 6 (segment: "The Last Laurel") 1971 The Mod Squad Perry Lerriko Season 3 Episode 15: "Kicks Incorporated" 1972 Love, American Style Frank Season 4 Episode 1 (segment: "Love and the Know-It-All") 1972 Mission: Impossible Orin Kerr Season 6 Episode 21: "Casino" 1972 Your Money or Your Wife Josh Darwin Television Movie 1972 Banyon Grey Gloves Season 1 Episode 7: "Dead End" 1973 Orson Welles Great Mysteries Pennington Season 1 Episode 14: "For Sale - Silence" 1973 Barnaby Jones Craig Woodridge Season 1 Episode 7: "Murder in the Doll's House" 1973 A Time for Love Tom Pierson Television Movie 1974 Fools, Females and Fun Danny Holliday Television Movie 1974 The Phantom of Hollywood Otto Vonner / Karl Vonner Television Movie 1974 Great Performances Paul Sears Season 2 Episode 2: "June Moon" 1974 Columbo Riley Greenleaf Season 3 Episode 5: "Publish or Perish" 1974 Cannon General James O'Hara Season 3 Episode 16: "Photo Finish" 1975 Hawaii Five-O Orrin Morwood Season 8 Episode 10: "How to Steal a Submarine" 1975 Matt Helm Buckman Season 1 Episode 5: "Murder on Ice" 1975 Knuckle Patrick Delafield Television Movie 1975 Death Among Friends Chico Donovan Television Movie 1976 Columbo The Great Santini Season 5 Episode 5: "Now You See Him..." 1977 McCloud Lord Charles Bridges Season 7 Episode 5: "London Bridges" (Posthumous release) 1977 Benny and Barney: Las Vegas Undercover Jules Rosen Television Movie (Posthumous release) 1977 The Feather and Father Gang Bishop Season 1 Episode 13: "The Judas Bug" (Posthumous release)
Stage Source: Playbill Vault
Broadway