David Bruce Cassidy

 David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 – November 21, 2017)

He was known for his role as Keith Partridge, the son of Shirley Partridge (played by his stepmother Shirley Jones), in the 1970s musical-sitcom The Partridge Family, which led to his becoming one of popular culture's teen idols and pop singers of the 1970s. David Cassidy was born into the entertainment industry that made him a star. His father was famed actor and singer Jack Cassidy, and his mother was actress Evelyn Ward. After his parents split in 1956, the elder Cassidy married actress and singer Shirley Jones the same year. Cassidy moved in with his father, Jones and his three half-brothers after getting his high school diploma in 1968. His father helped him launch his career as an actor and musician. His early work included appearances on "Ironside," "Marcus Welby, M.D.," "Adam-12" and "Bonanza." In 1970, Cassidy began playing the role of Keith Partridge on the musical sitcom "The Partridge Family." His stepmother, Jones, portrayed his mother, a widow with five children. The popular ABC series ran for four years and also had a successful run in syndication. The show also spurred several pop hits. The single "I Think I Love You," featuring Cassidy on lead vocals, hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts in 1970 and sold more than 5 million copies. The songs "Doesn't Somebody Want To Be Wanted" and "I'll Meet You Halfway" also cracked the top 10 the next year. The group was nominated for a best new artist Grammy. Cassidy later launched a solo career, recording a dozen studio albums and six compilation albums. He continued to work in television after "The Partridge Family" ended, performing in theater productions and briefly landing his own show, "David Cassidy - Man Undercover," which lasted a season. Cassidy fared better in Las Vegas. He starred as the leading man of MGM Grand's "EFX" in 1996 and developed a show titled "At the Copa," which he co-starred in with Sheena Easton in 2000. Cassidy released his autobiography, "Could It Be Forever? My Story," in 2007, writing about the pitfalls of fame and his failed first two marriages. He had a daughter, Katie Cassidy, in 1986, from a relationship with Sherry Williams Benedon, and a son, Beau, with third wife Sue Shifrin, in 1991. On February 20, 2017, Cassidy announced that he was living with non-Alzheimer's dementia, the condition that his mother suffered from at the end of her life. On November 18, 2017, it was announced that Cassidy had been hospitalized suffering from liver and kidney failure, and was critically ill in a medically induced coma. He was out of the coma two days later, but remained in critical but stable condition, with doctors hoping to keep him stable until a liver became available for transplant. Cassidy died on November 21, 2017 at age 67.