John Joseph Edward (Jack) Cassidy

Stats and Biography

"If anyone personified the exuberance of musical comedy performance, it was the beloved and debonair Jack Cassidy, who never had or provided more fun than when he was kidding himself, playing a golden-haired, silver-voiced, brass-plated ham."


Born: March 5, 1927

Died: December 12, 1976

Hometown: Richmond Hill, NY

Parents: William and Charlotte Cassidy

Siblings: Four, names unknown

Married To: Evelyn Ward (1948-1956) and Shirley Jones (1956-1974)

Children: David Bruce Cassidy (with Evelyn Ward - b. 1950), Shaun Paul Cassidy (with Shirley Jones - b. 1958), Patrick William Cassidy (with Shirley Jones - b. 1962) and Ryan John Cassidy (with Shirley Jones - b. 1966)

Pre-Theater Jobs: Bell-hop, counterman, dishwasher, chauffer, clothing salesman, postal clerk, hotel clerk, stable boy, coal and ice truck handler

Television (Starring Roles): He and She (Emmy nomination)

Television (Guest Roles): Numerous - including This Is Show Business (CBS), The Ed Sullivan Show (CBS), US Steel Hour (CBS - "Shadow of Evil" - 2/27/57), Lux Video Theater (NBC), Richard Diamond, Private Detective (CBS - "The Percentage Takers" - 5/8/58), Gunsmoke(CBS - as Marcus France in "The Gentleman" - 6/7/58), Wagon Train (NBC - "The Nancy Palmer Story" - 3/7/61), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (CBS - as Mark in "The Pearl Necklace" - 5/2/61 & "the Photographer" in "The Photographer & the Undertaker" (date unknown)), Maverick ("The Art Lovers" - 10/1/61), The Wide Country ("The Judas Goat" - 2/21/63), I Spy ("The Trouble with Temple" - 1/25/67), Coronet Blue (as Spangler/Demier in "A Charade for Murder" - 8/7/67), Get Smart (as Mr. Bob in "The Return of the Ancient Mariner" - 1968), Bewitched (as Rance Butler in "Samantha Goes South for a Spell" - 10/3/68 and as Dinsdale in "A Chance on Love" - 3/19/70), Bonanza ("Cassie" - 1971), Night Gallery (as Marius Davis in "The Last Laurel" - 1/20/71), Alias Smith And Jones (as Harry Wagener in "How to Rob a Bank in One Hard Lesson" - 9/23/71), Mary Tyler Moore (as Hal Baxter in "Cover Boy" - 10/23/71), Mission:Impossible (as Orin Kerr in "Casino" - 2/19/72), Matt Helm ("Murder On Ice" - 1975), McCloud (as Lord Charles Bridges in "London Bridges" - 3/77), Chevy Mystery Theatre (NBC), the Dick Powell Theater (NBC), The Real McCoy's (CBS), Bell Telephone Hour (NBC), Hennesey (CBS), 77 Sunset Strip (ABC), Cheyenne (ABC), Surfside 6 (ABC), Hawaiian Eye (ABC), Columbo (as Ken Franklin in "Murder By the Book" - 1971, as Riley Greenleaf in "Publish or Perish" - 1974 and as Santini in "Now You See Him" - 1976), Girl From UNCLE, Ed Sullivan's Broadway (CBS), Hawaii Five-O, Cannon, Barnaby Jones, Carol Burnett Show, and That Girl as well as appearances on several game shows inluding Personality (see photo below) and What's My Line and also a London series with Shirley Jones Date With Shirley and Jack (ATV, London, 1959)

Films: Look in Any Window (as Gareth Lowell, 1961),Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (animated - as Bob Cratchit, 1962 - TV), The Chapman Report (as Ted Dyson, 1962), The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County (as Roger Hand, 1970), Andersonville Trial (1970 - TV - Emmy nomination), Bunny O'Hare (as Greeley, 1971), Your Money or Your Wife (as a TV producer, 1972 - TV), A Time For Love (1973 - TV - aka New Kind of Love), Phantom of Hollywood (as Otto/The Phantom, 1974 - TV), Death Among Friends (as Chico Donovan, 1975 - TV), Eiger Sanction (as Miles Mellough, 1975), WC Fields and Me (as John Barrymore, 1976), Benny and Barney: Las Vegas Undercover (1977 - TV), George M!, FBI Code 98

Stage Work (Broadway): Something for the Boys (chorus - Alvin Theater, 1943), Sadie Thompson (chorus - Alvin Theater, 1945), Marinka (Winter Garden, 1945), The Red Mill (Ziegfeld, 1945), Billion Dollar Baby (as Rocky Barton - Monte Prosser Cafe, 1945), Around the World in 80 Days (Adelphi, 1946), Music in My Heart (Adelphi, 1947), Inside U.S.A (Century, 1948), Small Wonder (Coronet, 1948), Alive and Kicking (Winter Garden, 1949), South Pacific (Majestic, 1949), Wish You Were Here (as Chick Miller - Imperial, 1952), Sandhog (as Johnny O'Sullivan - Phoenix, 1954), Shangri-La (as Charles Mallinson - Winter Garden, 1956), She Loves Me (as Mr. Kodaly - Eugene O'Neill Theater, 1963 - Tony Award), Fade Out, Fade, In (Mark Hellinger Theater, 1964 - Tony nomination), It's A Bird...It's A Plane...It's Superman (1966 - Tony nomination - click here for even more information), Maggie Flynn (1968 - Tony nomination), The Mundy Scheme (1970), Oh, Kay!

Stage Work (Off-Broadway): Several - including Spring in Brazil (1945-6), Three Indelicate Ladies (Shubert, New Haven CT, 1947), Oklahoma (as Curley - Paris, France and Rome, Italy under State Department sponsorship, 1955), Wedding Breakfast (Bucks County Playhouse, PA, 1955), Mistress of the Inn (Bucks County Playhouse, PA, 1955), The Importance of Being Earnest (Bucks County Playhouse, PA, 1955), Witness for the Prosecution (Bucks County Playhouse, PA, 1955), The Beggar's Opera (as Macheath - Cambridge Drama Festival, 1956), Wonderful Town (Brussels, Belgium and London, England, 1959), Epitaph for George Dillon (Players Ring, Los Angeles, CA, 1959), The Vagabond King (Westbury Music Fair, NY, 1961), Gypsy (State Fair Music Hall, Dallas, TX, 1962), Brigadoon (with Shirley Jones), and Wait Until Dark

Night Clubs: Featured singer in the Milton Berle Show (Carnival Room, NYC, 1955), One Thousand and One Nights (Versailles, NYC, 1955-6), his own show at the Cocoanut Grove (Los Angeles, CA, 1958), and The Marriage Band (with Shirley Jones)

Discography: Several - including these soundtracks: She Loves Me, Oh, Kay!, Boys from Syracuse, On Your Toes, Babes in Arms, Roberta, Show Boat, It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman, Brigadoon (with Shirley Jones), Fade Out, Fade In, Wish You Were Here (with Shirley Jones) and Maggie Flynn (with Shirley Jones) - Also: Free To Be...You and Me, Speaking of Love (with Shirley Jones) and With Love, From Hollywood (with Shirley Jones)

Awards: Also numerous - most notably the 1964 Tony Award for She Loves Me but also the Variety NY Drama Critics Poll and the Saturday Review Critics Poll

Other Information: Jack is on the list of the all-time top Tony winners as a featured actor in a musical.


Cassidy Family News

David Cassidy Biography

Shaun Cassidy Biography

Patrick Cassidy Biography

Ryan Cassidy Biography

Shirley Jones Biography

Evelyn Ward Biography

Cassidy Wives Biographies

FACF Main Page


Black And White Photos From The Book Too Young To Die by Patricia Fox-Sheinwold