Entertainment

David Cassidy’s Dementia And Alcoholism Remarkably Similar To His Father, Jack Cassidy

Published on: November 25, 2017 at 2:35 PM
By Amy Feinstein

In the passing of David Cassidy, fans had learned a lot about the Cassidy family and the dementia diagnosis which David Cassidy knew was always looming. While David Cassidy died of liver failure, his dementia had already started affecting his daily life enough that he had gone public to explain his sometimes erratic behavior. But even though David Cassidy’s death at 67 was tragic, his father, Jack Cassidy’s death at 49 was even more so, as he was also battling mental health problems and alcoholism when he died.

David Cassidy claims he always knew he was at risk for dementia because both of his parents, Jack Cassidy and Evelyn Ward, showed symptoms before their deaths. The hereditary aspect of the disease has reportedly always been a concern to David Cassidy, especially in that he has two children, Beau and Katie Cassidy .

David Cassidy had expressed a great deal of regret that he did not have a closer relationship with his daughter, Katie Cassidy, as she was raised by her mother and step-father. Approximately nine years ago, David and Katie Cassidy had a falling out and had not spoken for years until he fell ill. When dementia set in, so did David Cassidy’s regrets.

“I wasn’t her father. I was her biological father but I didn’t raise her. She has a completely different life.”

David Cassidy’s mother, Evelyn Ward , died at the age of 89 of Alzheimer’s related illness, and David Cassidy became a spokesman for the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America and spoke about his mother’s illness from a personal perspective says Mercury News .

“I wanted to use my notoriety to put myself in a position to help others,” he said in an interview with AgingCare.com . “I wanted to educate and tell my story.”

Before his death, David Cassidy’s father Jack Cassidy also exhibited odd behavior including forgetfulness, bipolar disorder, and alcoholism. Jack Cassidy fell asleep while smoking a cigarette in 1976 and died in the fire at the age of 49 in his penthouse in Los Angeles. While David Cassidy’s mother lived until old age, it was after the death of his step-father that he got a call telling him that his mother had been found on the street wearing her nightgown. David said he knew she had gotten forgetful, but he had no idea. He said it was painful watching her decline.

“Mom was a wonderful signer, actress, and dancer. So full of life. To watch someone who raised you who was so vibrant is the most painful thing I ever experienced.”

After Jack Cassidy and Evelyn Ward divorced, Cassidy married Shirley Jones who coincidentally played David Cassidy’s mother on The Partridge Family . Together, Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy had three sons, Shaun, Patrick, and Ryan Cassidy. Though his sons were all familiar with Jack Cassidy’s mental health struggles and alcoholism, they also appreciated him as an actor and singer. To his many fans, Jack Cassidy was larger than life, according to the New York Post .

Patrick Cassidy, who will be playing his father’s role on stage in She Loves Me , says that his father’s behavior was often erratic.

“My dad was born in Queens but affected this mid-Atlantic accent. The old neighborhood accent only came out when he got mad at us.”

Weeks before the fire that took the life of Jack Cassidy, he spoke about not looking forward to his 50th birthday. Patrick Cassidy explained that his father could mold his personality to a situation, and it depended on who he was talking to at the time.

“My father could turn his personality on and off like a light switch.”

Both Jack Cassidy and David Cassidy had struggled with a drinking problem for years, and in combination with mental health problems, a diagnosis was made difficult. David Cassidy eventually went public with his dementia to explain to fans why he was no longer performing and also why some of his behavior seemed odd.

[Featured Image by Jack Dempsey/AP Images]

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