Actor Calls His Legendary Actor Father a ‘Phony’

Shaun Cassidy remembers his late father, legendary actor Jack Cassidy, as a “complicated” man and a bit of a “phony.”

The actor, producer, writer, and singer, 66, recalled his unusual childhood and relationship with his father in an interview with PEOPLE published Sunday, revealing that his father’s signature accent was a complete invention of the He & She actor.

“My dad was so complicated,” said Shaun. “He basically invented this public persona with an accent that didn’t exist in any country ever.”

Looking back on growing up alongside his two brothers, whom Jack shared with Oscar-winning actress Shirley Jones, Shaun recalled, “Patrick and Ryan and I would be like, ‘What is up with this dude?’” adding, “I mean, it seemed so phony to us, and that wasn’t like who he was. I’m not sure he ever really figured out who he was.”

Shaun said that both of his parents, who divorced in 1975 after nearly two decades of marriage, put on a different face for the public. “Who they really are is not how they’re perceived by the public anyway. The public has an idea of who they are,” Shaun confessed. “If you grow up in a family of show folk, everything is very presentational.”

The Tony Award-winning performer would go on to die tragically at age 49 in a 1976 apartment fire.

Upon reflection, Shaun said he doesn’t see his late dad as a “good father.” He explained, “He was not a good father — and I don’t say that with disrespect. I just say it with objectivity. And yet I wouldn’t have traded him for the world. I got so many gifts from him, so many.”

“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,” the Hardy Boys Mysteries actor continued. “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.”

Luckily, Shaun was able to lean on a group of his peers who had similar challenges growing up with parents in the entertainment business.

“I have a whole friend group, kids, we were like Peanuts,” he recalled. “The parents weren’t around. And yet all of us had similar backgrounds. I mean, Carrie Fisher was two doors down, and she was a good pal of mine. We all got through it with challenges, for sure. We not only survived but thrived, and I think we looked after each other.”