David Cassidy in the News
THE REAL REAL ME -David Cassidy: I wanted my dad to be proud of me but the more successful I was the more he resented it; David Cassidy reveals all to Nina Myskow.
November 16, 2001
By Nina Myskow
The Mirror (UK)
DAVID Cassidy was the defining pop superstar of the 1970s. Initially the cute star of The Partridge Family - a TV show about a singing family - he was the first teen idol. He caused hysteria wherever he appeared, his poster adorned the bedroom wall of every teenager. And he sold 25 million records.
He has starred in the West End and on Broadway and, latterly, in Las Vegas. His new album, Then And Now, is released on Universal. His first live British dates in 16 years culminate at London's Hammersmith Apollo tonight and tomorrow.
David lives with his wife, Sue, and their son, Beau, who is 10, in Las Vegas. We met at the Malmaison Hotel in Glasgow. He still has that same boyish twinkle, especially when he smiles. Surprisingly open, he has grown into a much nicer man than you'd imagine.
I WOULD hate to be fat. No, I couldn't do it, I couldn't handle it. I'm very conscious of how I look and I'll tell you why.
I get compared to the way I used to look. All the time. Constantly. And no one at 51 can look the way they did when they were 21. People do it because the image was so strong, and the fame so big, and so everywhere. Television, magazines, posters. I was marketed.
It's impossible to live up to that and it makes me more insecure about it. But the truth of the matter is that I'm not neurotic about it at all. I'm just really conscious of it. And vain enough so that I care that I don't look like crap.
If I were to stop burning off the energy like I do when I'm working, I could gain weight. It happened once in the late-1970s. I was fat. Well, I don't think many people would say I was fat, but fat for me. Out of shape fat. I probably gained 15lbs.
But that's the only time. I weigh 138lbs now. I'm 5ft 8ins . It has been very easy for me to maintain it in the past decade or so because I have not stopped working. Six nights a week, eight to 10 shows a night. And then on tour like I am now. I lose a pound or two every night.
I was very, very thin when I was young, because I was on a non-fat diet. My body just couldn't take it. And my diet has been pretty much the same since I had my gall bladder out when I was 21. I had gallstones, my liver and pancreas were infected and I was going to die. Oh yeah. I have a big scar right here.
It's genetic, both my grandparents on both sides, bad stomach problems. And I still suffer from that. I have to eat very carefully, because I can't take spicy food. Pepper, chilli? No-oh! Hospital, right away. Mexican food? Can't eat it. And love it. And I'm allergic to garlic.
So I have to be really disciplined, otherwise I suffer badly. We're talking about severe pain. I react within half an hour. I haven't eaten red meat since then, just chicken and fish. I'm not finicky, because I love to eat. I love pizza and pasta and all that stuff. I just know what I can and can't do.
But I feel great. And I'm fit. I was always a good athlete when I was a kid. I couldn't compete in some sports because of my size but I was very quick. Like my son, Beau. But at 10, he's much taller than I was at his age. He'll probably end up being six foot.
I always wanted to be taller. of course! But I found strength in it, it made me tougher. Being slightly smaller gives you a sense of "I can do more." My will has always been very strong. And when my life was not good, 20 years ago, I decided to do something about it.
I'd done Joseph on Broadway but I was back in LA and wasn't fit at all. So I began running. I ran five miles a day, six days a week. The endorphins become like a drug, I needed to do it. I couldn't start my day unless I ran.
After many years I started to get pain in my knees but wouldn't stop. Until I had to. I can't run at all now. Maybe six minutes, then I can't even walk. I'll go down to the beach and jog for five minutes and, as soon as I start to feel pain, I'll stop. But I'm still very fit, very "high energy". See me in the show!
I always knew I was going to act. Both my parents were actors and I saw my father, Jack, on stage when I was three and that was it. He divorced my mother six months later - he left us in New York and moved to California.
I moved there when I was 11 to be closer to him. He'd married Shirley Jones, who later played my mother in The Partridge Family on TV, and I spent my teenage years in LA. So exciting. But happy? When my father left, my world shattered.
I blamed myself, like children do. I always have been an innately happy person and my son has that, too. He wakes up and sings and smiles. I was like that. But I had a lot of painful experiences, there was real damage. Beau is like me without the scarring.
My father was a brilliant man, close to genius. He could paint, sculpt, draw; he could act, he could dance, he could sing. But he was incapable of being a father. I realise that now, after many years of analysis. He was a manic depressive, an alcoholic. Domineering, overbearing, very controlling. And so narcissistic that it was impossible to get beyond that.
He eventually went through a nervous breakdown where they actually had to take him, men in white coats, in a straitjacket. It was the last straw between him and Shirley. He was standing out on the front lawn in Beverly Hills, stark naked, hosing the lawn. I never hated him, I just couldn't cope with him. All I ever wanted was for him to put his arms around me and say, "I love you, I'm so proud of you." And he couldn't. The paradox is that the more successful I became, the more it pushed him away from me. Made him more jealous, more resentful.
Two weeks after graduating from high school, I was acting. When The Partridge Family was aired, my face was already on the cover of teen magazines. I was the lead singer and the first single, I Think I Love You, was the fastest-selling single of its time.
My life took a steep left-hand turn. There was the solo career, the hit singles, the tours. I had the largest fan club in history. And when I finally said to my father, "No, you can't tell me what to do, I'm not doing that", he couldn't accept it. He had no power over me. I was more successful, I was wealthier, I was far more famous than he was. I was 21 and had the world. And he went crazy, he couldn't handle it.
I loved him, I revered him, I wept over it. But I wouldn't allow him to dominate me. I didn't talk with him the last nine months of his life and I'll always regret that.
HE DIED in a fire, 25 years ago. But if I could have spoken with him, with the perspective I have now, it would have been easy for me to forgive him.
That's the one thing analysis does, it helps you to understand. In some ways, the love I got from my fans gave me a sense of acceptance. But it was an abnormal five years. An isolated world behind security guards. There were a lot of women, but the majority of my fans were too young. I was not interested in 16-year-old girls. In fact, my wife is a year older than me. We began secretly seeing each other after I played Wembley in 1973. A singer/songwriter, Sue was an American, living in London. We were friends for a couple of years. It was not exclusive and it was madness to get to me. Through alleys and change cars and all of that.
I'd call her and we'd have conversations like: "Don't marry this guy, this is stupid." She married him. She'd have said the same had she known that I was going to marry, too. Also a mistake. We were in our mid-30s when we got back together. Thirteen years on, she rang my lawyer. I was, like, "Wow!"
I called her and said: "Let's have dinner." She said: "OK, when?" I said: "Tonight." She said: "Great!" And that was it, we've been together 15 years.
Sue is very talented, very loving, the best person you'd ever want to meet. There's a saying, a good way of judging people at gut level: "Would you climb a mountain with them?" You'd climb a mountain with her.
The essence of a good marriage starts with a good friendship, so I'm very blessed. I have a great life. And a great career. Now is the best place I've ever been. As an entertainer - I'm a singer, an actor, a producer, a writer, a songwriter - I have a passion for my work. That's why I do it. Not for fame or money. Once you've had them, they're not important.
But it's fantastic that my album went top five. I find as I get older, I appreciate everything far more. How incredibly fortunate I am to have people care about me, after all these years. To have had an impact on their lives.
Having said that, it doesn't mean anything unless you have a sense of peace, happiness in your life. Relationships determine the quality of your life and, for me, Sue and Beau complete the equation. And being a good father. That's the thing I'm most proud of. I learned how from my own - because he was such a terrible one. When Beau says to me, "Will you come to my baseball game?" I go.
My father would say "Yes" and not show up. And that's worse. Then you feel lied to and let down. I make a point of it. I'm there for Beau... always there.
My cooking's so primitive
MY BIGGEST DOWNFALL
DARK chocolate. I hardly eat desserts or sweets but it tastes great. Sophisticated taste? All I know is that from the time I was a kid, it was the only thing I lo-o-o-ved! But I don't eat it, it's not good for me. I'll have a little bit, now and again, Nestle's Semi-Sweets. If it wasn't bad for me, I'd eat it all day. I would just eat nothing else.
MY FAVOURITE DRINK
I DRINK very little alcohol, it doesn't work for me. I'll drink a glass of wine, Merlot, some nights. And I will occasionally celebrate with a tequila. But just a shot. There was a time when I drank a lot, many years ago when I was very unhappy, but I went a year without having a sip - I did it for a bet. It doesn't mean much to me.
MY EXERCISE DISASTER
I USED to be obsessed with running, in any kind of weather. Touring here in 1985, I ran in snow, sleet and rain. I was getting pain in my knees, so I went to a Manchester City physio, who said: "You have almost no cartilage left. And in five years, you won't be able to run at all." He was right, unfortunately. Now I don't work out. I burn it all off working on stage.
MY CLOSET SECRETS
I HAVE no interest in clothes at all. I don't know about designer labels and don't give a s*** about it. I just throw stuff on, look at it and go, "That's fine." If you listed 100 things I hate to do, dentistry would be on the bottom, shopping right above it. I hate to shop. I haven't bought a shirt or a suit myself in five years. So Sue does it.
MY CULINARY SKILLS
I DON'T cook at all. Not me. If you ask me if I like to cook, I'd say, "Never, ever, ever!" Except barbecues. That's the only thing I love to do. Which we do half-a-dozen times a year at home in Las Vegas. And then it's always me. What is it about men and barbecues? Maybe it's a primeval thing. Like, "Sling the meat on the flame. Yeah!" Except with us it's not macho. It's just chicken or fish.
MY FAVOURITE SPORT
THOROUGHBRED flat racing is my passion. I raise horses, breed them, race them, I own them, I sell them, I buy them. I've been in the business for 25 years and I've been fairly successful, although I haven't raced many good horses on my own. I've bred and sold good horses. I probably own 25 at the moment. Even so, it's a toss-up. Racing or baseball? Baseball just has to be. Why? Because I share it with my son.
