The musical series, starring David Cassidy and Shirley Jones, ran for four seasons on ABC from 1970 to 1974

NEED TO KNOW

• The Partridge Family premiered on ABC in 1970
• Loosely based on the real-life 1960s singing family The Cowsills, the musical sitcom starred David Cassidy, Shirley Jones, Susan Dey and Danny Bonaduce
• Several of the late stars’ legacies have lived on since the show ended in 1974

Come on, get happy! It’s been 56 years since The Partridge Family hit the airwaves.

The beloved musical sitcom premiered on ABC on Sept. 25, 1970, and became not only a television staple but a cultural phenomenon.

Inspired by The Cowsills — a real-life family band from the 1960s — The Partridge Family followed a group of talented siblings who traveled in their psychedelic-colored bus to perform gigs across the country with their widowed mom, Shirley (Shirley Jones), and manager Reuben Kincaid (Dave Madden).

The series birthed chart-topping singles like “I Think I Love You” and turned its cast members, including David Cassidy, Susan Dey and Danny Bonaduce, into household names and teen idols.

After four seasons, the show ended on March 23, 1974. While some of its stars went on to pursue solo singing careers and continue acting, others chose to leave Hollywood behind.

Here’s where the cast of The Partridge Family is today.

01 of 07

David Cassidy as Keith Partridge

Thrust into the spotlight at an early age, David — who played Keith, the oldest son and lead singer, on the show — became an instant heartthrob and pop sensation. Following the success of the original songs featured on The Partridge Family, David began recording his own music and ultimately launched a solo career. He produced five albums while on the show.

After The Partridge Family, he starred as an undercover cop on NBC’s one-season drama David Cassidy: Man Undercover and on the 2009 ABC Family comedy Ruby & the Rockits alongside his brother Patrick Cassidy (the show was created by their brother Shaun Cassidy).

David had guest roles on shows such as The Love Boat, Fantasy Island and Malcolm in the Middle and made several cameos on series like Blossom and The Ben Stiller Show. He also appeared in the 1990 films Instant Karma and The Spirit of ‘76 and the 2005 direct-to-video movie Popstar.

In his later years, the New Jersey-raised actor-musician struggled in his personal life. In 2010, he was charged with a DUI and subsequently charged with the same offense in August 2013 and January 2014.

A month after his third arrest, his wife Sue Shifrin filed for divorce. In 2015, the actor filed for bankruptcy and was charged following a hit-and-run. The Emmy-nominated actor, who worked steadily on TV and had two children, also dealt with substance abuse issues, including a stint in rehab in 2014.

In February 2017, David told PEOPLE that he had dementia, though he later revealed that the diagnosis was a lie, admitting in an A&E documentary that he had liver disease.

“There is no sign of me having dementia at this stage of my life,” David, who had told his family and friends that he had stopped drinking, said. “It was complete alcohol poisoning.”

Months later, in November 2017, David was hospitalized in Florida for liver and kidney failure. He died at the age of 67.

He was first married to actress Kay Lenz from 1977 to 1983, then to horse breeder Meryl Tanz from 1984 to 1988 and Shifrin from 1991 to 2016. David had two children: He shared his son Beau with Shifrin and daughter Katie Cassidy, who is also an actress, with model Sherry Williams.

02 of 07

Shirley Jones as Shirley Partridge

Jones was the matriarch of The Partridge Family clan, taking on the role of widowed mother-of-five Shirley Renfrew Partridge.

Before starring on the hit series alongside her real-life stepson David, Jones, who had a musical background, garnered critical acclaim and an Oscar for her Best Supporting Actress performance in 1960’s Elmer Gantry.

Reflecting on her time on The Partridge Family, Jones was quick to issue a caveat about starring on a popular show.

“When my agents came to me and presented it to me, they said if you do a series and it becomes a hit show, you will be that character for the rest of your life, and your film career will go into the toilet, which is what happened,” she told the Los Angeles Times in May 2009. “But I have no regrets.”

As for whether or not she’s similar to her Partridge Family character, Jones told AP News in July 2013: “I am nowhere near as breezy and uncomplicated as Mrs. Partridge.”

The Pennsylvania native continued to act for decades. Her one-season NBC comedy-drama Shirley premiered in 1979, and she later guest-starred on The Love Boat, Melrose Place, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, That ‘70s Show and Raising Hope, among many other series.

She did, in fact, appear in some films, including Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979), Tank (1984) and Grandma’s Boy (2006). Her last known project was the 2021 indie Western Forgiven This Gun4hire.

In August 1956, Jones married Jack Cassidy in Las Vegas. Jack was already a father to David before welcoming his three sons, Shaun, Patrick and Ryan Cassidy, with the actress. After her split from Jack in 1974, Jones married Pac-Man voice actor Marty Ingels in November 1977.

In addition to her four children, she is a grandmother of 13.

03 of 07

Danny Bonaduce as Danny Partridge

Bonaduce played the part of the wisecracking middle child Danny.

“Because of the nature of being a singing group, [we] had different kinds of fans than normal sitcom stars,” he said during an episode of The Real Brady Bros. in September 2025.

Landing the role on The Partridge Family as a preteen, Bonaduce scored many TV guest spots after the series ended, including on CHiPs, Boston Common, That ‘70s Show and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and also had voice roles in various projects.

The Pennsylvania-born actor had a starring role in 1978’s Corvette Summer, opposite Mark Hamill, and appeared in a few other films, such as H.O.T.S. (1979) and Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003).

Bonaduce was also a long-standing radio talk show host. In 2022, he took a hiatus from his radio show after suffering from a mysterious illness that left him unable to walk. According to his Instagram, Bonaduce is enjoying life as a retiree, but is still in touch with his musical side.

Like David, he has experienced drug and alcohol addiction throughout his life. These subjects were tackled in his 2005 reality show Breaking Bonaduce.

Bonaduce wed his third wife, Amy Railsback, in Maui, Hawaii, in November 2010; she is now her husband’s manager. He was married to his second wife, Gretchen Hillmer, from 1990 to 2007; the exes share two children, daughter Isabella and son Dante.

04 of 07

Susan Dey as Laurie Partridge

At 17 years old, model Dey took on the role of Laurie, the second-oldest Partridge sibling who sang and played keyboard.

She’s been open about her struggles with anorexia while starring on the show, telling The Washington Post in October 1989, “You feel like an adult, but you are not an adult and society does not treat you as an adult … One of the choices you do have is what you eat and what you don’t eat.”

Following the end of The Partridge Family, Dey appeared in the 1978 NBC miniseries Little Women and on the primetime soap Emerald Point N.A.S. before starring on L.A. Law from 1986 to 1992. Her performance as Grace Van Owen on the procedural earned her a Golden Globe in 1988 and three Emmy nominations.

The New York native followed that up with a lead role on the ‘90s sitcom Love & War, alongside Annie Potts and Jay Thomas, and a handful of TV movies. Her last acting credit was two episodes of Third Watch in 2004.

Dey has kept a low profile since retiring from acting. She lives in Upstate New York, where she is a board member of the Mark Project, a non-profit helping rural communities in the Catskills through housing and economic development projects.

She has been married to her second husband, TV producer Bernard Sofronski, since February 1988. Dey has one daughter, actress Sara Dey-Hirshan, from her previous marriage to Leonard “Lenny” Hirshan.

05 of 07

Dave Madden as Reuben Kincaid

Best known for his role as The Partridge Family manager Reuben Kincaid, Madden first made a splash as a comedian after performing on the Ed Sullivan Show.

The Canada-born and Indiana-raised actor, who served in the Air Force in the 1950s, went on to have a recurring role on the long-running TV series Alice. He also kept busy with a slew of guest-spot gigs on shows like Fantasy Island, Married… with Children and Boy Meets World.

In addition to voicing characters for numerous projects, including the animated series Richie Rich, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures and Adventures in Odyssey, he published the 2007 memoir Reuben on Wry: The Memoirs of Dave Madden.

Madden died at the age of 82 in January 2014 from complications of myelodysplastic syndrome. He was survived by his wife and two children, a daughter and a son.

“Dave Madden was a great guy & like family to me,” Bonaduce wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “He taught me to drive a car when I was 10. One of many great memories. I’ll truly miss him.”

06 of 07

Suzanne Crough as Tracy Partridge

Suzanne Crough’s biggest role came as the youngest sibling, Tracy, on The Partridge Family.

Though she had a handful of small roles after the sitcom ended, including on the TV series Wonder Woman, Crough largely stayed away from Hollywood. She was last seen on-screen in the 1980 TV movie Children of Divorce.

Crough owned a bookstore in Temecula, Calif., before moving to Nevada with her family. She also attended various Partridge Family reunions over the years, per AP News.

The California native married husband William Condray in July 1985, and they were together until her sudden death in April 2015 after suffering from a rare form of cardiomyopathy. She was 52.

After her death, Condray told the AP that Crough had been interested in returning to acting after they married, but she ultimately decided to focus on their two daughters.

07 of 07

Brian Forster as Chris Partridge

Brian Forster took on the role of pint-sized drummer Chris in The Partridge Family after the original actor, Jeremy Gelbwaks, exited the show in 1971.

“I remember being in fourth or fifth grade, dancing around to ‘I Think I Love You’ and all of a sudden I was going to be on the show, so I was pretty excited,” he told cmongethappy.com around 2002.

Since the show’s end in 1974, Forster dabbled in race car driving in the early 2000s and occasionally acts outside of Hollywood. He last appeared on an episode of the web series Break a Leg in 2008.

The L.A. native is married to Lisa Forster and largely lives life outside the public eye.

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