David Cassidy
Born the son of actor Jack Cassidy and actress Evelyn Ward, in New
York on 12 April 1950, David Cassidy started to make his mark as a
teen hero in the clean-cut family television show The Partridge
Family - having moved to Hollywood when his parents
divorced.
By the mid 70s he was a bona fide idol to millions of
teenyboppers - a mega-star of the order only approached by The
Osmonds and The Bay City Rollers.
In 1972 and 1973 he enjoyed singles success with How Can I Be
Sure?, Daydreamer, Could It Be Forever?, Rock
Me Baby, If I Didn't Care, Darlin' and I
Write The Songs.
During this time, David toured extensively in America and Europe
and appeared on the cover of every teen magazine in the western
world. Meanwhile, hysterical girls sobbed and screamed whenever he
appeared
On his 1974 tour of Britain, in a concert at White City Stadium
in London on 26 May, the crowd of teenyboppers ran out of control
resulting in over 1,000 needing medical attention and six girls
being taken to hospital. One 14-year old girl died four days later
from injuries sustained in the crush.
David was not emotionally equipped to deal with the event or the
stresses of his awesome popularity, and turned his back on his
career while he was at the top. In 1977 his young fans received
their final blow when he married actress Kay Lenz and retired from
show business to live in Hawaii.
Kay - who appeared in the mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man
- later revealed that David was plagued by insomnia and haunted by
the tensions of his former stardom. He - for his part -
admitted that being a teen idol had been a living hell; "I had
become a freak attraction to the kids. My world was a hideous
fantasy".
"The people who manipulated me, the agents and the record
companies, made me into a monster that teenyboppers could go crazy
and scream over. I hated to get up each day because I despised
myself!".
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