The youngest sibling of the Partridge Family was Chris, the cute little drummer brother. This character was played by Brian Forster, but not until 1971, a year into the show. (Back then, making changes to the cast during the show was still a thing). The former child actor was Jeremy Gelbwaks.
Brian played Chris for the remainder of the series. He’s the son of British film actor Peter Forster and step-grandson of British acting legend Alan Napier. And, are you ready for this? He’s the great-great-grandson of Charles Dickens. His days of stardom are long behind him as he hasn’t been on any non-partridge-related roles since 1974.
Ron Paolillo
You might remember "Welcome Back Kotter" as the hit 70s sitcom that has brought Arnold Horshack to your TV screens. Horshack, the class clown of his high school friends, aka the Sweathogs. Playing Horshack was none other than Ron Paolillo, whose hyena-like laugh still rings in everyone's ears to this day.
Ron's fame stretched beyond the realm of "Welcome Back Kotter," and he played lots of characters on the big screen as well as the small one. You might remember him from "Laverne and Shirley in The Army" or from "Friday The Thirteenth" and others. He has also branched out and worked as a Broadway director, a fashion designer, and even a children's books author. He sadly passed from a 2012 heart attack.
Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones turned down a role in "The Brady Bunch" to play the mother of "The Partridge Family," so she would have made her mark on the 70s one way or another. She could’ve been Carol Brady, but she said playing a housewife, and nothing more, was not her style. So she played the lead in what can only be described as an American TV rendition of "The Sound of Music."
The difference being, she was a hippie-dippy widow, managing all of the children on her own just fine. Since she was married to Jack Cassidy until 1974, she was not only a TV mom, but she also was a stepmom to David Cassidy in real life. Shirley Jones is a stage actress with a six-decade career under her belt.
Karen Carpenter
Karen Carpenter's immense musical talent gained her fame, the kind most people can only dream of. She hypnotized people with her fantastic voice and her mesmerizing drumming skills. She saw massive success when performing with her brother as The Carpenters. Her hit 70s singles, "We've Only Just Begun" and "Close to You," made it into the top two of the Hot 100 list.
Her success, however, got the best of her, and she developed an eating disorder which made the Carpenters cancel a tour and a performance in front of the Queen of England. Karen Carpenter's unfortunate end came in 1983 when she was only 32 after a long battle with an eating disorder, which ended in a cardiac arrest.
Linda Blair
Linda Blair's career in show business started in the late 1960s when she was just six years old and started modeling. However, the thing that truly made her famous was the child in "The Exorcist" and its sequel during the 1970s. That role got her an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe win.
After her possessed glory, however, she descended into minor roles in minor productions, none of which was as big as her horror stint. She had parts in films like "Hell Night," and "Savage Street," and in TV shows such as "Supernatural" and "S Club 7 in LA." While she maintains a low profile, she still maintains a decades-long acting career.