You Are So Fair - Music

John Joseph Edward “Jack” Cassidy March 5 1927 – December 12 1976 Was An American Actor Of Stage Film And Screen. His Frequent Professional Persona Was That Of An Urbane Super-Confident Egotist With A Dramatic Flair Much In The Manner Of Broadway Actor Frank Fay. Cassidy Perfected This Character To Such An Extent That He Was Cast As The Legendary John Barrymore In The Feature Film W.C. Fields And Me. The Role Of The Vain Shallow Buffoon-Like Newsman Ted Baxter On TV's The Mary Tyler Moore Show 1970–1977 Was Written With Cassidy In Mind. However Cassidy Turned Down The Role Feeling That It Was Not Right For Him And The Part Went To Ted Knight. Cassidy Later Appeared As A Guest Star In A 1971 Episode As Ted's Highly Competitive And Equally Egocentric Brother Hal. Cassidy Was Born In Richmond Hill New York To William Cassidy Who Was Of Irish Descent And Charlotte Koehler Who Was Of German Descent. He Achieved His Greatest Success As A Musical Performer On Broadway Appearing In Alive And Kicking Wish You Were Here Shangri-La Maggie Flynn Fade Out - Fade In It's A Bird...It's A Plane...It's Superman And She Loves Me For Which He Won A Tony Award. He Also Received Emmy Award Nominations For His Television Performances In He & She And The Andersonville Trial. On Television He Became A Frequent Guest Star Appearing In Such Programs As Bewitched Get Smart That Girl Columbo Hawaii Five-O Match Game And McCloud. He Lent His Charming Wit To Game Shows And Co-Starred With Ronnie Schell In A TV Revival Of Hellzapoppin'. Cassidy Also Co-Starred In The Movie The Eiger Sanction With Clint Eastwood. Cassidy Was Married Twice. His First Wife Was Actress Evelyn Ward. Together They Had A Son David Cassidy. After Divorcing In 1956 Jack Married Actress Shirley Jones. David And Shirley Later Starred Together In The Sitcom The Partridge Family. Jack And Shirley Had Three Sons Shaun Patrick And Ryan And Divorced In 1974. In His 1994 Autobiography C'Mon Get Happy David Wrote That He Became Increasingly Concerned About His Father In The Last Years Of His Life. He Suffered From Alcoholism And Displayed Increasingly Erratic Behavior. In 1974 His Neighbors Were Shocked To See Him Watering His Front Lawn Naked In The Middle Of The Afternoon. Shirley Jones Described A Similar Incident When She Found Him Sitting Naked In A Corner Reading A Book. Jones Said To Cassidy That They Had To Get Ready To Do A Show And He Calmly Looked Up And Said "I Know Now That I'm Christ". In December 1974 He Was Hospitalized In A Psychiatric Facility For 48 Hours. At That Time Jones Found Out That He Had Been Previously Diagnosed With Bipolar Disorder. David Wrote About His Father's Bisexuality In His Autobiography A Fact He Discovered Only After His Father's Death. In 1976 Cassidy Was Living Alone In An Apartment In West Hollywood California. Some Time In The Early Morning Hours Of December 12 1976 He Lit A Cigarette And Fell Asleep Or Passed Out On A Couch Which Then Caught Fire And The Flames Spread Throughout The Apartment. His Body Was Found On The Floor As If He Had Been Trying To Crawl To The Sliding Glass Doors But Was Overcome By Smoke Inhalation. He Was Officially Identified By The Signet Ring He Wore Bearing The Cassidy Family Crest. He Had Had Six Of These Rings Made One Each For His Four Sons One For His Brother And One For Himself While Researching His Family History. 8 Coincidentally He Had Starred In A 1971 Episode Of The TV Series Night Gallery Called "The Last Laurel" In Which He Played A Character Who Accidentally Killed Himself While Sleeping. Notable Broadway Performances Around The World 1946 Music In My Heart 1947 Small Wonder 1948 Inside U.S.A. 1948 Alive And Kicking 1950 Wish You Were Here 1952 Sandhog 1954 Shangri-La 1956 Oklahoma! 1956 European Tour With Shirley Jones The Beggar's Opera 1957 With Shirley Jones Wish You Were Here Musical 1959 With Shirley Jones She Loves Me 1963 Winner - 1964 Tony Award For Best Performance By A Featured Actor In A Musical Fade Out - Fade In 1964 It's A Bird...It's A Plane...It's Superman 1966 Wait Until Dark 1967 With Shirley Jones Maggie Flynn 1968 Broadway With Shirley Jones The Mundy Scheme 1969 The Marriage Band 1972 With Shirley Jones Sondheim A Musical Tribute 1973 Murder Among Friends 1975 read less