Remembering David Cassidy’s Dad, Jack Cassidy
With his debonair charm and striking good looks, Jack Cassidy became one of the most unforgettable faces on television and beyond during the 1960s and ’70s. Whether playing a smooth-talking villain on Columbo or dazzling Broadway audiences with his musical talents, Cassidy truly defined the decade. Behind the scenes, he was also a Tony-winning stage actor, a father to famous sons and a performer who had immense talent.
On March 5, 1927, John Joseph Edward Cassidy was born in the Richmond Hill neighborhood in Queens, New York. His father, William Cassidy, was an engineer for the Long Island Rail Road and of Irish descent, while his mother Charlotte Koehler was of German ancestry. Cassidy was the youngest of five children and by age fifteen, he had left school to pursue his dream of performing.
Everett Collection
His Broadway career began in the chorus of Something for the Boys in 1943. From there, he worked steadily and found his first lead role in Wish You Were Here in 1952. Over the next two decades, he appeared in beloved musicals including Alive and Kicking, Shangri-La, Fade Out – Fade In, It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane…It’s Superman, Maggie Flynn and, most memorably, She Loves Me. In 1964, he won the Tony Award for Best Supporting or Featured Actor in a Musical for She Loves Me.
Mario Casilli/TV Guide/Everett Collection
Cassidy also brought his polished stage persona to television and film. He earned Primetime Emmy nominations for his supporting role as Oscar North in the sitcom He & She and for his single-performance role in The Andersonville Trial. He became known as an often sinister guest star appearing on series such as Gunsmoke, Get Smart, Bewitched, That Girl, Bonanza, McCloud and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Interestingly enough, he appeared as Hal Baxter, Ted Baxter’s competitive brother, in a guest spot on The Mary Tyler Moore Show after having declined the role of Ted Baxter himself.
Don Ornitz/Everett Collection
Most iconic are his three appearances on Columbo playing charismatic murderers: Ken Franklin in “Murder by the Book,” Riley Greenleaf in “Publish or Perish” and Karl Vonner in “Now You See Him…”
He voiced Bob Cratchit in Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol, played Lieutenant Greeley in Bunny O’Hare, costarred with Clint Eastwood as Miles Mellough in The Eiger Sanction and portrayed John Barrymore in W.C. Fields and Me.
Cassidy’s personal life was interwoven with showbiz. From 1948 to 1956, he was married to actress Evelyn Ward. Their son, David Cassidy, became a pop culture icon with The Partridge Family. In 1956, Jack married actress and singer Shirley Jones, who would later become David’s on-screen mom. They had three sons: Shaun, Patrick and Ryan, all of whom pursued careers in entertainment. Cassidy and Jones divorced in 1974.
Everett Coolection
Just two years later, on December 12, 1976, Cassidy died in a tragic fire at his West Hollywood apartment. He returned home early after a night out, lit a cigarette and fell asleep on a couch. The cigarette ignited the couch upholstery and the fire consumed his apartment. He was 49 years old. Investigators ruled the blaze accidental, and his remains were cremated and scattered in the Pacific Ocean.
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