Jack Cassidy left a strong legacy in entertainment — and so have his children.
The Broadway and television actor, best known for his Grammy award-winning work on the musical She Loves Me, as well as his recurring roles as various villains in the detective drama Columbo, had four sons. His eldest, David, was born during his first marriage to actress Evelyn Ward in 1950. Jack and Ward split in 1956, and he went on to marry The Partridge Family star Shirley Jones, with whom he welcomed sons Shaun, Patrick and Ryan.
Jack’s sons followed his footsteps into the spotlight, with David, Shaun, Patrick, and Ryan all pursuing acting careers fresh out of high school. David and Shaun both became known as “teen heartthrobs” performing as musicians in addition to acting, while Patrick began his career on Broadway at his older brothers’ persuasion. Ryan started acting on television, including a recurring role on the NBC sitcom The Facts of Life, before transitioning to behind-the-scenes work.
Shaun recalled being proud while watching his parents in the spotlight during a September 2025 interview with PEOPLE.
“Going out in public with them as a little kid, everyone was in love with my mother, and everybody was sort of dazzled by my father,” he said. “I remember being proud of that, feeling like, ‘Oh, isn’t that cool?’ ”
However, the glamour often came at a cost. Jack died at age 49 after an accidental fire in his apartment in 1976, leaving a complex legacy with his children. Shaun opened up to PEOPLE about his atypical relationship with his father.
“He was not a good father — and I don’t say that with disrespect. I just say it with objectivity,” Shaun added. “And yet I wouldn’t have traded him for the world. I got so many gifts from him, so many.”
From growing up with two parents in show business to pursuing their own careers, here’s everything to know about Jack Cassidy’s four children.
David Cassidy
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Jack welcomed David, his first and only child with actress Evelyn Ward, in 1950. Jack and Ward separated in 1956 when David was 6 years old. David was raised by his mother on the East Coast before moving to Los Angeles at age 11. Shortly after he graduated high school, he was cast in The Partridge Family with his stepmother, Jones.
The actor revealed to PEOPLE in 1983 that he was inspired to become an actor at age 3 when he saw his father perform in the Broadway show Wish You Were Here. While he looked up to his dad, Ward confessed that Jack was absent for David’s early years. “He wouldn’t show up half the time he said he’d come,” she said.
David quit show business in early 1975, at the age of 24, citing burnout. The next year, in 1976, Jack died tragically in an accidental fire in his Los Angeles apartment.
“Dad was so charismatic. There was a madness in him. And he was wild. It was controlled for most of his life. I’m not sure of that the last few years. I just wish I could have talked to him before he left. I didn’t have a chance to say ‘I love you,’ ” he said.
A year after his father’s death, he married Kay Lenz, the pair split in 1983, after which he married Meryl Tanz, a horsebreeder from South Africa, and the two ran a business together before divorcing in 1987. David’s final marriage was to the actress and composer Sue Shifrin in 1991. The two welcomed one son together, Beau Devin. They divorced in 2016. David also welcomed his daughter, Katie Cassidy, during his relationship with model Sherry Williams.
David returned to show business at 33, taking over the lead role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, entering into the second act of his career on Broadway.
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However, David struggled with alcoholism throughout his life. In 2017, he was hospitalized with organ failure. He died of liver failure in November of that year at age 67. His death came just one year after he announced that he had revealed to PEOPLE he’d been suffering from dementia in one of his final interviews.
His younger brother Shaun opened up about his early memories with David in a touching post on what would have been David’s 75th birthday.
“When David came to visit us on the weekends, my mother always made it a priority to celebrate him. She knew how difficult it was for a kid to be shuttled back and forth between two households, and she never wanted David to feel like he was a guest or a ‘half-brother’ in our home,” he wrote.
“There were no better nights than when David came to sleep over, and no better mornings than those spent walking around Westwood, dining at ‘Ships’ coffee shop, and then riding the ponies at Beverly Park. Before my younger brothers were born, these were the happiest days of my childhood because I got to share them with my big brother, Dave. God, I miss him. Happy Birthday pal.”
Shaun Cassidy
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Shaun, the eldest child of Jack and Jones, was born on Sept. 27, 1958.
Like his older brother David, he began acting and singing right out of high school, starring in The Hardy Boy Mysteries in 1977. In 1993, David and Shaun starred together in a Broadway musical called Blood Brothers.
“We shared a mutual experience that is kind of unique,” Shaun told PEOPLE of his relationship with David. “We compared notes. But I had an advantage: I saw him go through it.”
In September 2025, Shaun opened up about his “complicated” relationship with his father to PEOPLE.
“I didn’t get the dad who went to my Little League games or took me on camping trips or any of that stuff. My mom did,” he said of his mother, Jones. “My mom showed up for a lot of that stuff, but she was also gone a lot. She was making movies around the world. I think one of the reasons she took The Partridge Family job is because she wanted to be close to home.”
Shaun is a father of eight children from three marriages. His first marriage to model Ann Pennington made him stepfather to Jessica, born in 1970, and also brought him two children: Caitlin and Jake. With his second wife, Susan Diol, he welcomed a daughter, Juliet, in 1998. Since 2004, Shaun has been married to his third wife, Tracey Lynne Turner, with whom he shares four children: Caleb, Roan, Lila, and Mairin.
He returned to performing in 2019 with his autobiographical music show The Magic of a Midnight Sky. Shaun told PEOPLE that he had missed having a connection with an audience.
“I missed that connection because I’d been hiding out behind a desk or in my house, trying not to be a celebrity, not to look like the kid I had been,” he said in 2023. “And I realized I was denying myself not only an important part of who I am but a connection with this audience and an experience that was really left unfinished.”
Patrick Cassidy
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Patrick is the second child of Jack and Jones.
He made his acting debut on Broadway in 1982 in The Pirates of Penzance before appearing in 42nd Street with his mother. The two have also appeared in several iterations of The Music Man, including a concert tour. The musical held special significance for the mother-son duo, as Jones was pregnant with Patrick when she starred as Marian the Librarian in the 1961 movie adaptation, alongside Robert Preston.
Patrick married actress Melissa Hurley in 1994, and they welcomed two sons: Cole and Jack. Their younger child inherited the family flair for show business, auditioning for The Voice at just 17.
Ryan Cassidy
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Ryan is the youngest child born to Jack and Jones. Like his parents and brothers, Ryan has made a career in entertainment, acting in the NBC sitcom The Facts of Life and appearing in the Lionel Ritchie music video “Penny Lover,” per IMDB.
However, he has mostly made his career working behind the scenes. In 2023, he published the children’s book James Cagney Was My Babysitter, which was inspired by his own childhood.
“I’m very fortunate to have had a wonderful career in show business and to have worked with some brilliant actors,” he wrote in the forward. “Among the many movies and television shows I was privileged to do, the opportunity to work with the legendary James Cagney was a very special moment for me.”
Ryan is also a husband and father. He shares daughter, Meghan Mae, was his wife, Bonnie.
“I would say I’m proud of my family,” he told PEOPLE in 2023. “I’m my own person, and I am where I’m at in life because I have learned through whatever I went through to get to where I’m at. And I’m proud of who I am, but I’m not my family. I’m my own person.”
