‘Partridge Family’ Star David Cassidy Reveals He Has Dementia
David Cassidy, star of the hit 70s TV series “The Partridge Family,” revealed on Monday that he is battling dementia.
“I was in denial, but a part of me always knew this was coming,” Cassidy said in an interview with People Magazine, adding that his mother and grandfather had also suffered from the degenerative brain disease.
Cassidy, 66, also announced he was retiring from his post-“Partridge” career as a musician to concentrate on dealing with his health. Last weekend, Cassidy struggled to remember lyrics to songs he has been performing for decades and staggered off the stage during a concert in Agoura Hills, California.
In recent years, Cassidy has also made news for several personal struggles, including three DUIs from 2010-14, a divorce, and a 2015 bankruptcy.
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In the ’70s, Cassidy was a teen heartthrob thanks to his performance as Keith Partridge, the eldest of five siblings who join their mother, Shirley Partridge, in a career as a family singing group that toured the country in an old school bus. Soon after achieving stardom, Cassidy quickly fell to substance abuse and attempted to distance himself from the clean image “The Partridge Family” bestowed upon him by posing nude for the cover of Rolling Stone in 1972.
Cassidy told People that he is looking forward to making the best out of life despite his diagnosis: “I want to focus on what I am, who I am and how I’ve been without any distractions. I want to love. I want to enjoy life.”
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