David Cassidy on the Web
Ex-bad boy Danny Bonaduce now content
Friday, April 08, 2011
By Barbara Ormsby
Times Correspondent
Delaware Daily Times
www.delcotimes.com
ATLANTIC CITY - Danny Bonaduce is no longer that wild child of the past few decades. He is now a self-proclaimed curmudgeon.
"I went from Hollywood brat to curmudgeon, and I've enjoyed them both," Bonaduce explained. "I live in a row house in Philly, and I'd like to yell at the kids to get off my lawn."
Bonaduce and his television brother, David Cassidy, will appear in the Superstar Theater of Resorts Casino Hotel for one show only, April 9 at 8 p.m.
The Broomall-born Bonaduce, 50, became famous as the red-haired, wisecracking "Danny" on "The Partridge Family" television sitcom in the early 1970s, starring Shirley Jones, who was Cassidy's stepmother in real life. The plot of the show centered around a singing pop band headed by Jones. Bonaduce was the fictional pop group's bass guitar player.
"I'll open for David, doing stand-up comedy, and I might join him on stage to do one number, a bass guitar, and I actually learned one song in case I want to play. I think people might want to see us do a song," Bonaduce said.
"But no singing," he added emphatically. "Can you imagine anyone wanting to hear me sing?"
Bonaduce has been hosting morning drive on 94WYSP radio in Philadelphia since 2008. A lot has happened to him since his days as a co-star on the popular television show from 1970-1974 to where he is today. According to information on Biography.com, he fought his demons, from drugs to alcohol, to arrests for assault, and a period of homelessness. He has two failed marriages and has had difficulty hanging on to jobs. For a while, he made a name in the Philadelphia area as a wrestler and a celebrity boxer.
But now that he's reached middle-age, things have changed for the entertainer.
"Being 50 kind of suits me," he admitted. "It's one thing to be the life of the party when people want you to be the life of the party. But because people want you to be doesn't mean you have to when you reach a certain age."
Bonaduce lived in Delaware County until he was 4 years old, when the family moved to California, where his father, Joseph Bonaduce, was a television producer. But he remembers spending summer vacations in Haverford, where his grandfather, Jack Steck, lived. Steck worked for then-Philadelphia television station WFIL and is credited with helping to launch the national career of Dick Clark.
Danny Bonaduce is the father of two children Isabella, 16, and Dante, 10, who live with their mother but who visit him often. He has been married to his third wife, Amy Railsback, since 2010. She is also his manager.
"I'm the most content I've ever been," Bonaduce said. "My job is about 1,000 feet from my house, a four-story house in Old City, and I'm happily married."
The radio personality said he hopes to be at WYSP for the next 10 years and likes writing and producing TV shows
Bonaduce said he hears from Jones once in a while, but sees Cassidy most often. He said he is a news junkie, watching CNN and Headline News "religiously."
"I get up at 3 a.m. (for work) and go to bed at night after the 11 o'clock news. I work around the clock sometimes," he said.
So does his new-found contentment mean that we won't see Bonaduce in a boxing ring again?
"I would not consider myself a boxer, more like a thug in boxing gloves," he laughed. "I was just a brawler. But I gave that up because it doesn't seem like something a 50-year-old man should do.
"I'm not going to grow old gracefully. I'm just going to grow old," he added.
IF YOU GO: David Cassidy and Danny Bonaduce will be at Resorts Casino Hotel's Superstar Theater Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $35 and $45 and are available at the Resorts Box Office or by calling 1-800-745-3000.
