Shaun Cassidy says he walked away from touring at the peak of his teen idol fame because life as a celebrity had started to feel like a trap.
“I stopped touring when I was 21. Astrodome was my last show — not because I didn’t love touring. I did, I loved performing, loved singing, but I found that writing and producing TV gave me, frankly, a much better life,” Cassidy said on the “Naked Lunch” podcast.
By the time he made that decision, Cassidy was already one of the biggest teen stars of the late 1970s. His self-titled 1977 debut album produced the No. 1 hit “Da Doo Ron Ron,” and his role as Joe Hardy on ABC’s “The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries” made him a household name.
Cassidy said the choice to stop touring came down to wanting a different kind of life. “I got to stay home. I had kids at a young age. And I love writing,” he said.
He also described the creative pull of writing and producing compared with performing. “I was a magician as a really young kid … when you write something, it’s like magic. You pulled something out of the air and 200 people have a job on a sound stage.”
By the mid-1990s, Cassidy had largely moved from the stage to the writers’ room, working on shows including “American Gothic,” “Roar” and “New Amsterdam.”
Cassidy said fame as a teen idol left him feeling isolated. “Because once you are well-known — at least in my case — I became insulated. I couldn’t go out … kind of a prisoner in your house,” he said.
“And that’s one of the reasons again, like I don’t want to be Elvis — not that I was Elvis, but you know what I mean — like I don’t want that life. I don’t want the Michael Jackson isolation, it’s not healthy,” he added.
He said he chose family life instead. “I’m glad I made the choice I did because now I’ve got a great life, I’ve got a great family, I’ve got … 107 children, and I’m a lucky man,” said Cassidy, who is father to seven children.
Cassidy’s relationship with fame took shape early. He is the son of Broadway and television star Jack Cassidy and Oscar winner Shirley Jones, known for her role as Shirley Partridge on “The Partridge Family.” Jack Cassidy and Jones married in 1956 and divorced in 1975.
Cassidy has previously called his late father a “phony,” saying his father’s showman persona did not carry over into fatherhood. He and his brothers, including actor Patrick Cassidy and the late David Cassidy, have described a Hollywood upbringing that looked very different from the family’s public image, and Cassidy has said he largely raised himself while his parents focused on their careers.
Cassidy is currently preparing for his “Unwrapped: Songs & Stories for the Holidays” tour, set to begin in November.
