In 1983, Shaun Cassidy could be seen on stage in the 2-character play, 'Mass Appeal'. Shaun played the seminarian Mark Dolson and Milo O'Shea played Father Tim Farley. "You never stop having to prove yourself in this business," he told the press in 1979. "My mom told me that. You never stop pushing . . . When I first started singing, I was compared with David. Luckily, that stopped. Until I was able to prove myself on my own merits I was always identified as someone's son or brother."
It was sometime in May 1972 Shaun reportedly took Shirley Jones aside and told her, "I’ve got some bad news for you, mom." Shirley recounted, "You can imagine how I felt with what you hear about teenagers these days (back in 1972). But I brought him here into the study, shooed the other kids (Patrick and Ryan Cassidy) out and closed the doors. I waited for the worst. Shaun stammered around awhile, then blurted it out: 'I want to go into show business!'"
"My parents were in show business, and they worked very hard to make sure that I didn’t grow up a spoiled brat," Shaun explained. "That can happen to a kid when he grows up in this business. I could have turned out a monster." Shirley maintained, "I believe in discipline. But I'm tolerant and lenient about some things. I believe kids should be allowed to try new things and be on their own. But if it's something that's going to affect the family or somebody else, I'm very strong about self-discipline and a sense of responsibility and values."
David Cassidy believed 'The Partridge Family' (1970-74) "has afforded me the opportunity to do the work I'm doing today (in 1994). People still know me from that. I think it's a great compliment they still care. There aren't that many roles you're right for physically and that you get cast in. There are way too many actors and not nearly as many good parts."
Shirley remarked, "I guess I'm stuck with the wholesome image, even though I won my Academy Award for playing a prostitute in 'Elmer Gantry' (1960). But as far as the public is concerned, they still think of me as Laurie ('Oklahoma!' 1955) and Julie ('Carousel' 1956) and Mrs. Partridge (1970). In a way it's good, because it's given my career a longevity that it might not have had. Don't forget, I started as a singer. I don't resent that image." On reflection, "Who can say who is the real Shirley Jones? I’m not sure I know who she is. But I do think of myself as wholesome, maybe not as wholesome as the public sees me, because that would be a little one-dimensional."
Shaun had said, "It's easy to make the same record today (back in 1979) as I did 2 years ago (say 1977), but if I did, I would not go anywhere. My audience would outgrow me. Henceforth, I take the initiative and apply the experience and knowledge I have gained to my music. That way I can grow with the audience I have and open myself to other audiences."
Of fame, Shirley recalled, "I went to Sun Valley to ski and it was like being the Pied Piper with long lines of children following me wherever I went. I can't take my sons to Disneyland without a complete disguise. That never happened to me before ('The Partridge Family')." In 1979, Shirley reportedly changed her unlisted phone number 6 times "because the kids seem to think that my stepson, David Cassidy, and my son, Shaun Cassidy, live with me! Somehow the kids get my unlisted numbers, and they keep calling asking for David or Shaun." Shirley asked Norton Mockridge of 'United Features', "Please do me a favor and tell the kids that David and Shaun have their own homes . . . and do not live in my house!"
In 1978, Shaun bought a $500,000 home in the Hollywood Hills. He told 'Pop Scene Service', "My fans haven't been bothering me much since I moved up here. I've been getting a lot of Fleetwood Mac groupies, though. They're very surprised to find me living here." Shaun also told Dennis Hunt of 'The Los Angeles Times', "Fleetwood Mac was renting this house before I got it. I've only been here a few weeks but I’ve been getting Fleetwood Mac groupies coming here and looking for them." He added, "My brother David used to live not very far from my new house when he was starring in 'The Partridge Family', and he couldn’t even go to the grocery store without being mobbed by fans. I don't have quite that much trouble here. I enjoy meeting fans, but I wish the wilder ones (*) wouldn't keep making it so hard to get around."
(*) At the time, Shaun reasoned, "There's no way of explaining why kids get crushes on particular people. I used to have idols myself. There was a time when I thought The Beatles were the gods of the world. (John) Lennon once said that they were bigger than Jesus – well, I think he was right. And, I must confess, I feel in love with Katharine Ross when I saw her in 'The Graduate'. I think crushes are very natural. And the proof that it's natural lies in the fact that it has happened so many times before."
Of the house off Mullolland Drive, Shaun made known, "I don't have any guards around this place. It's too intimidating. It’s uncomfortable and it makes my friends uncomfortable. When I do go out it's usually to small places. I don't have as many problems with the public in small places. It's a hassle because some people get kind of irrational." Shirley observed, "Being a teenage idol was very different from anything Jack (Cassidy) or I had gone through."
Of Jack Cassidy, Shaun described, "He was a very dominating personality. He was the kind of person, when he left a room you knew he had been there. I can see things in myself that are like him. Negative and positive things. It amazes me. He would react one way one day and the next day he'd react completely different. Easygoing is not a word we used with him . . . My father always wanted to be an actor." In 1968, Jack guest starred on 'Bewitched' in the episode called 'Samantha Goes South For A Spell'. Set in New Orleans 100 years earlier, Jack played Rance Butler, Clarke Gordon played Malcolm, Barbara Morrison played Brunhilde and Isabell Sanford played Aunt Jenny.
When he was on 'The Hardy Boys', Shaun stressed, "When I sing on the show, I'm Joe Hardy singing on the show. I'm never Shaun Cassidy singing on the show. I really try to keep the 2 careers separate. What I do in concert is totally different than what I do as Joe Hardy."
It was sometime in May 1972 Shaun reportedly took Shirley Jones aside and told her, "I’ve got some bad news for you, mom." Shirley recounted, "You can imagine how I felt with what you hear about teenagers these days (back in 1972). But I brought him here into the study, shooed the other kids (Patrick and Ryan Cassidy) out and closed the doors. I waited for the worst. Shaun stammered around awhile, then blurted it out: 'I want to go into show business!'"
"My parents were in show business, and they worked very hard to make sure that I didn’t grow up a spoiled brat," Shaun explained. "That can happen to a kid when he grows up in this business. I could have turned out a monster." Shirley maintained, "I believe in discipline. But I'm tolerant and lenient about some things. I believe kids should be allowed to try new things and be on their own. But if it's something that's going to affect the family or somebody else, I'm very strong about self-discipline and a sense of responsibility and values."
David Cassidy believed 'The Partridge Family' (1970-74) "has afforded me the opportunity to do the work I'm doing today (in 1994). People still know me from that. I think it's a great compliment they still care. There aren't that many roles you're right for physically and that you get cast in. There are way too many actors and not nearly as many good parts."
Shirley remarked, "I guess I'm stuck with the wholesome image, even though I won my Academy Award for playing a prostitute in 'Elmer Gantry' (1960). But as far as the public is concerned, they still think of me as Laurie ('Oklahoma!' 1955) and Julie ('Carousel' 1956) and Mrs. Partridge (1970). In a way it's good, because it's given my career a longevity that it might not have had. Don't forget, I started as a singer. I don't resent that image." On reflection, "Who can say who is the real Shirley Jones? I’m not sure I know who she is. But I do think of myself as wholesome, maybe not as wholesome as the public sees me, because that would be a little one-dimensional."
Shaun had said, "It's easy to make the same record today (back in 1979) as I did 2 years ago (say 1977), but if I did, I would not go anywhere. My audience would outgrow me. Henceforth, I take the initiative and apply the experience and knowledge I have gained to my music. That way I can grow with the audience I have and open myself to other audiences."
Of fame, Shirley recalled, "I went to Sun Valley to ski and it was like being the Pied Piper with long lines of children following me wherever I went. I can't take my sons to Disneyland without a complete disguise. That never happened to me before ('The Partridge Family')." In 1979, Shirley reportedly changed her unlisted phone number 6 times "because the kids seem to think that my stepson, David Cassidy, and my son, Shaun Cassidy, live with me! Somehow the kids get my unlisted numbers, and they keep calling asking for David or Shaun." Shirley asked Norton Mockridge of 'United Features', "Please do me a favor and tell the kids that David and Shaun have their own homes . . . and do not live in my house!"
In 1978, Shaun bought a $500,000 home in the Hollywood Hills. He told 'Pop Scene Service', "My fans haven't been bothering me much since I moved up here. I've been getting a lot of Fleetwood Mac groupies, though. They're very surprised to find me living here." Shaun also told Dennis Hunt of 'The Los Angeles Times', "Fleetwood Mac was renting this house before I got it. I've only been here a few weeks but I’ve been getting Fleetwood Mac groupies coming here and looking for them." He added, "My brother David used to live not very far from my new house when he was starring in 'The Partridge Family', and he couldn’t even go to the grocery store without being mobbed by fans. I don't have quite that much trouble here. I enjoy meeting fans, but I wish the wilder ones (*) wouldn't keep making it so hard to get around."
(*) At the time, Shaun reasoned, "There's no way of explaining why kids get crushes on particular people. I used to have idols myself. There was a time when I thought The Beatles were the gods of the world. (John) Lennon once said that they were bigger than Jesus – well, I think he was right. And, I must confess, I feel in love with Katharine Ross when I saw her in 'The Graduate'. I think crushes are very natural. And the proof that it's natural lies in the fact that it has happened so many times before."
Of the house off Mullolland Drive, Shaun made known, "I don't have any guards around this place. It's too intimidating. It’s uncomfortable and it makes my friends uncomfortable. When I do go out it's usually to small places. I don't have as many problems with the public in small places. It's a hassle because some people get kind of irrational." Shirley observed, "Being a teenage idol was very different from anything Jack (Cassidy) or I had gone through."
Of Jack Cassidy, Shaun described, "He was a very dominating personality. He was the kind of person, when he left a room you knew he had been there. I can see things in myself that are like him. Negative and positive things. It amazes me. He would react one way one day and the next day he'd react completely different. Easygoing is not a word we used with him . . . My father always wanted to be an actor." In 1968, Jack guest starred on 'Bewitched' in the episode called 'Samantha Goes South For A Spell'. Set in New Orleans 100 years earlier, Jack played Rance Butler, Clarke Gordon played Malcolm, Barbara Morrison played Brunhilde and Isabell Sanford played Aunt Jenny.
When he was on 'The Hardy Boys', Shaun stressed, "When I sing on the show, I'm Joe Hardy singing on the show. I'm never Shaun Cassidy singing on the show. I really try to keep the 2 careers separate. What I do in concert is totally different than what I do as Joe Hardy."
