Editing David Cassidy (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Jack Cassidy, Shirley Jones and David Cassidy.jpg|left|thumb|Cassidy (right) with his father, actor [[Jack Cassidy]] (left) and his stepmother [[Shirley Jones]] (center) in 1971]]
David Cassidy was born at [[Flower Fifth Avenue Hospital]] in [[New York City]], the son of singer and actor [[Jack Cassidy]] and actress [[Evelyn Ward]].<ref name=TCM>{{cite web| url = https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/797124%7C0/David-Cassidy/| title=David Cassidy| publisher=[[Turner Classic Movies]]| access-date=February 28, 2017| archive-date= February 28, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228201628/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/797124%7C0/David-Cassidy/| url-status=live|quote=David Bruce Cassidy was born on April 12, 1950, at Manhattan's Flower Fifth Avenue Hospital (now the Terence Cardinal Cook Healthcare Center) on Upper Fifth Avenue.}}</ref><ref name="biography.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.biography.com/people/david-cassidy-307308|title=David Cassidy Biography: Television Actor, Singer (1950–)|publisher=[[Biography (TV series)|Biography.com]] ([[FYI (U.S. TV network)|FYI]]/[[A&E Networks]])|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105112252/http://www.biography.com/people/david-cassidy-307308|archive-date=January 5, 2017|url-status=dead|access-date=February 28, 2017}}</ref> His father was of half [[Irish people|Irish]] and half [[Germans|German]] ancestry, and his mother was descended mostly from [[British Americans|Colonial Americans]], along with having some Irish and [[Switzerland|Swiss]] roots.<ref name="hdugdp">{{cite news |last=Smolenyak |first=Megan |date=March 7, 2011 |title=Should David Cassidy Have Let His Roots Show on Celebrity Apprentice? |work=The Huffington Post |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/megan-smolenyak-smolenyak/should-david-cassidy-have_b_832283.html |access-date=May 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206062835/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/should-david-cassidy-have_b_832283 |archive-date=February 6, 2022 |quote=Aside from a dash of Swiss and a little more Irish, this part of Cassidy's tree marches steadily back in New Jersey for generations. In fact, some of his ancestors were among the founders of Newark.}}</ref> His mother's ancestors were among the founders of [[Newark, New Jersey]].<ref name=hdugdp/>

As his parents were frequently touring on the road, he spent his early years being raised by his maternal grandparents Frederick and Ethel Ward in a middle-class neighborhood in [[West Orange, New Jersey]].<ref name="Get Happy">{{cite book |last1=Cassidy |first1=David |last2=Deffaa |first2=Chip|title=C'mon, Get Happy ... Fear and Loathing on the Partridge Family Bus |year=1994|publisher=Warner Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-446-39531-1 |page=1}}</ref> In 1958, he found out from neighbors' children that his parents had been divorced for more than two years and had not told him.<ref>''C'mon, Get Happy'', p. 4</ref>

In 1956, Cassidy's father married singer and actress [[Shirley Jones]]. They had three children, David's half-brothers [[Shaun Cassidy|Shaun]] (b. 1958), [[Patrick Cassidy (actor)|Patrick]] (b. 1962), and Ryan (b. 1966). In 1968, after completing one final session of summer school to obtain credits necessary to get a high school diploma, David moved into the rental home of Jack Cassidy and Shirley Jones in [[Irvington, New York]], where his half-brothers also lived.<ref>''C'mon, Get Happy'', p. 35</ref> Cassidy remained there, seeking fame as an actor/musician, while simultaneously working half-days in the mailroom of a textile firm.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/naked-lunch-box-19720511|title=David Cassidy: Naked Lunch Box|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=October 4, 2015|date=May 11, 1972|archive-date=October 4, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004003214/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/naked-lunch-box-19720511|url-status=dead}}</ref> He moved out when his career began to flourish.

Cassidy's father, Jack, is credited with setting his son up with his first manager. After David Cassidy signed with [[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]] in 1969, Jack introduced him to former table tennis champion and close friend [[Ruth Aarons]], who later found her niche as a talent manager, given her theater background.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ruth Aarons |url=http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Table-Tennis/USATT/Hall-of-Fame/Profiles/Ruth-Aarons.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120621165659/https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Table-Tennis/USATT/Hall-of-Fame/Profiles/Ruth-Aarons.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 21, 2012 |publisher=Team USA }}</ref> Aarons had represented Jack and Shirley Jones for several years and later represented Cassidy's half-brother Shaun. Aarons became an authority figure and close friend to Cassidy and was the driving force behind his on-screen success. After Cassidy made small wages from [[Screen Gems]] for his work on ''[[The Partridge Family]]'' during season one, Aarons discovered that he had been underage when he signed his contract; she then renegotiated the contract with far superior provisions and a rare four-year term.<ref name="Cassidy 2007">{{cite book|last=Cassidy|first=David|title=Could it be Forever? My Story|year=2007|publisher=Headline Publishing Group|location=London|isbn=9780755315796|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/coulditbeforever0000cass}}</ref>