How ‘Land of the Lost’ Star Wesley Eure Almost Replaced David Cassidy On ‘The Partridge Family’ (Exclusive)
When David Cassidy wanted out of The Partridge Family, Land of the Lost legend Wesley Eure was hired to replace him. But then, as he tells ReMIND in an exclusive interview, everything went south.
The Partridge Family originally aired on ABC from 1970 to 1974, and pop-singing sensation David Cassidy, who died tragically of organ failure in 2017, was its main attraction.
David became a superstar by way of his playing Keith Partridge, lead singer of the TV songbird brood, headed by the Oscar-winning Shirley Jones as Shirley Partridge. Off-screen, Jones was married to Jack Cassidy, David’s father and fellow actor, which made David her stepson in real life.
While the show’s fourth season was in production, David sought to exit the series, and the network panicked. A call went out to the industry for a Cassidy replacement, and up-and-comers like burgeoning rock star Rick Springfield were in the running.
It was Land of the Lost legend Wesley Eure, however, who won the race. Eure starred on the acclaimed sci-fi Saturday morning live-action series with Kathy Coleman, Spencer Mulligan, Phillip Paley, and Walter Edmiston.
Replacing Cassidy on Partridge would be quite a different and historic experience than playing prehistoric on Lost. And Eure would have been only too happy to be part of both worlds.
Courtesy of The Classic TV Preservation Society
“My manager set up the audition, and I knew that ABC was looking to replace David,” Eure told ReMIND. “From what I understood, he was going to leave the show, and the network was not happy about it at all. The ratings were still very high, and they didn’t want the show to die.”
“So, they decided to create a next-door neighbor to the Partridge Family,” Eure says, a single dad character who could sing. “And that was the part I was going to audition for.”
As part of the process, ABC required Eure to perform a song — a process that ended up involving fellow teen sensation Bobby Sherman.
Former Here Come The Brides star Sherman had later starred in a brief Partridge Family spin-off, titled Getting Together, and was also a friend of Eure’s. So he helped Eure get squared away for the singing part of the audition.
Don Ornitz/TV Guide/Courtesy Everett Collection
Eure journeyed to Sherman’s home in Encino and decided to record the theme from Land of the Lost for his audition. “Going to Bobby’s house to record was a thrill. I had gone to his house before to record.”
After that, Eure made his way to ABC, “to lip-sync the song on film … and I got the job,” he says. “That’s what they told me.”
But then things changed. “From my understanding,” Eure says, “David heard he was being replaced, and decided not to leave the series after all.”
“We all knew each other,” Eure recalls of the teen idols of the day, which included Leif Garrett and Shaun Cassidy, David’s younger brother. Both of whom, Eure adds, “came over my house to swim one afternoon.” “It was a small community back then,” he continues. “We went to the same parties. It was much more relaxed and friendly.”
As to Cassidy, the era’s ultimate teen idol, Eure says, “David was an amazing performer. He was terrific, and a really great guy.”
Although Land of the Lost aired on NBC, and The Partridge Family screened on ABC, Eure doesn’t recall any objection from the original Peacock Network to his being on what used to also be known as the Alphabet Network. “They were okay with me doing The Partridge Family,” Eure says of NBC, most likely because Lost was a Saturday morning series, and ABC’s Partridge was a prime-time show.
Either way, “It was all a very heady experience,” Eure says of his potential part of the Partridge universe.
Courtesy of Wesley Eure
Although Rick Springfield’s name had been tossed around as a possible David Cassidy/Keith Partridge replacement, Eure “didn’t know anybody else that was up for the role.”
“I didn’t meet the cast,” he adds. “My only encounter was with ABC, going into a studio lip-syncing my song, then filming it. And then getting the word that I had the part.”
“That was all done through managers and agents,” he clarifies. “I was pretty arm’s distance from the process.”
“But boy, was I excited upon learning I had the part,” Eure concludes with a sense of poignant whimsy, “…and boy was I disappointed when that didn’t happen.”
Herbie J Pilato is an award-winning writer, actor, producer and songwriter. For more information, visit his site here.
Remind
1972
January 2022
1972 was a year packed with everything from “American Pie” to Ziggy Stardust What’s not to love?
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