Love Is All That I Ever Needed. Chapter 21. I'm Breaking Down Again..

 

David flew to Hawaii, turned off the phone, and tried to have some rest. He was extremely tired, burned out and very upset because of Bernadette’s death. 

But there were so many things which needed his attention. First of all, his money. After 4 years of constant working, he was a very wealthy man. A millionaire. No one in his family knew how to invest, he wasn’t taught how to handle money. When Jack Cassidy had money, he used to spend a lot on himself - on expensive clothes, beautiful items, expensive presents and on gambling. 

David’s fame was fast and unexpected. He was so busy working that had no time to think about his financial affairs. He hired people or better say, his manager Ruth Aarons hired people to invest and cared for his money. His business managers always told him that everything was going great. There was nothing to worry about, and he didn’t. He thought he was set for life. He earned about 8 million dollars and in 2023 it would have been more than 62 million. A lot of money. 

He was trustful and inexperienced, and many ruthless people wronged him. They took advantage of a naive, very busy young man, In 1972 when he became a global superstar, he started spending more. David had a house in Encino, and at the end of 1972 bought a BMW 3.0 CSL. It was the fastest model at the time. The original price was $12,000, and it wasn’t sold in the USA. 

He had an estate in Hawaii, and later also in Santa Barbara, in California. When David bought his first race horses, he started seriously thinking about leaving show business and became a horse breeder. But it was a very expensive and risky business, especially that he was interested in thoroughbred racehorses. It meant a lot of expenses. It included not only the price of the horses, but also upkeep and hiring a good trainer. 

David was a typical Aries, stubborn and impatient. If he wanted something, he wanted it now. That included the things he wanted to buy. He said in an interview: ’It’s a wild impulse with me, like a kid in a candy store. I see a ranch and I want a ranch, a lodge in the mountains or a seaside shack, it’s all the same. It is sometimes a good thing that my managers are so careful with my money as I might have blown it all by now.’

David didn’t blame Ruth Aarons for the loss of his very hard-earned money. For many years, it was her brother who handled those business matters. However, he died just around the time David became a teen idol. The business managers Ruth hired were incompetent or just thieves. Her clients lost fortunes, not only David, but also his dad and Shirley. In 1974 a lot of famous persons, including known lawyers, experienced businessmen and show business stars, were victims of $ 100-million oil-drilling swindle, one of the biggest of its kind in history. Andy Williams lost $ 538,000, Liza Minnelli $ 231,000. David - $ 300,000.

He flew to Los Angeles to guest star in ‘Good Night America’, a popular TV talk show, on July 4, 1974. David looked in every way a superstar in his very posh long jacket, a maroon shirt and in shorts. He dyed his hair. He was very calm and looked exhausted or maybe under the influence of some sedative.

He told the host, Geraldo Rivera, that he was glad his career as teen idol was over. The Partridge Family was a good vehicle for his career, but it became stagnant and it had gone on too long. He was asked difficult questions - about lost money and opinions that his career had peaked. David answered that he had plans, but first wanted to live a little bit. 

Rivera seemed as though he wanted David to say something disrespectful about his young fans. David said he got so much energy from them and the youngsters were sincere. They didn’t pretend like adults when they liked someone. 

David Cassidy wrote in his autobiography that after his retirement he had a breakdown. That the years between May 1974 up to about 1980 were the darkest he had ever known. For the first six months he locked himself in his room. He was lost and alone and feeling bleak. Finding solace in drinking. He wrote: ‘I can’t remember a whole lot about that period’.

David Cassidy called it a breakdown - one after another. But probably he had a very severe depression lasting several years. 

It looks so obvious when we listen to the Elliot Mintz’ tapes published a few years ago. Elliot Mintz while with David in Hawaii in 1974, recorded several hours of their conversation for a book on David he wanted to write. Nothing came of it. But at the end of 2019, Elliot Mintz published about 3 hours of those tapes on his YouTube Channel. 

Listening to them is a shocking experience. 

In 1974, one of the most desirable man in the world, a global superstar, talked about his career in the most indifferent voice imaginable. Barely remembering the details of his own concerts. It was as if he was talking about something very boring, not interesting, that happened years ago and of no importance. David was animated only when he was talking about the times he wasn’t famous and about the woman he loved. 

He didn’t lie when he said later in many interviews that he had done nothing for a few years. He genuinely didn’t want to remember. It was too dark and too painful. He needed a specialist’s help, but he was lonely. He didn’t have any support to speak of and felt like a failure. Used and manipulated. He didn’t want the career he had. He didn’t know who he really was. 

For a few years he was Keith Partridge, on the show and in teen magazines, and there was that other character, a sex symbol, a teen idol, David Cassidy.

Already in August 1972 he said in one interview, and it wasn’t a joke: ’I don’t even know what the real David Cassidy is like’. He didn’t know which David his fans loved. He was afraid that the created image, a manufactured person, was the one they loved, not him.. 

David became skeptical and paranoid. For a few years he lived the artificial life of a superstar. Everything was done for him. All his days were organized for him. He worked very hard, but also all his whims were fulfilled. Women were brought to him, and all the time he was told how beautiful and extraordinary he was. Worshiped. He knew he had to resign from that unnatural success he had. 

But he had no idea who he was and what to do with his life.