The Partridge Family, as a musical group, topped the Billboard Hot 100 with the hit single “I Think I Love You,” selling over 5 million copies and outselling the Beatles’ “Let it Be.” With lead singer Cassidy a verifiable teen idol, the album hit No. 4 on the Billboard Top 200.
Selling millions of records domestically and internationally, the group produced eight studio albums. In 1971, the TV show was nominated for the Best New Artist Grammy. In total, The Partridge Family group released 11 singles.
A Nod to ‘The Wizard of Oz’
Some observant fans probably caught on. A select few Partridge episodes harked back to that wonderful movie in the land of Oz. Guest stars Ray Bolger (Scarecrow) and Margaret Hamilton (The Wicked Witch) from the famous 1939 production joined The Partridge Family as guest stars.
Bolger played Shirley’s father, and Hamilton played Reuben’s mother. Other big-name stars like Johnny Cash and Richard Pryor surprised fans. Johnny Cash played himself opening for The Partridge Family at a Vegas show.
Shirley’s Husband Couldn't Handle Her Fame
In 1974, The Partridge Family went off the air for good while Shirley’s marriage to David Cassidy’s father Jack Cassidy went off the tracks. The years she played TV’s most popular mom on that Seventies show were rough on her husband. He was jealous and angry.
Shirley said, “His overriding sense of inferiority in the face of my success drove him into the arms of other women even more often than before.” Even David Cassidy admitted that his father had alcohol and anger issues due to the family’s sudden rise to fame.
The Real Partridge Family
The Partridge Family was loosely based on a real-life musical family called “The Cowsills.” The TV show was inspired by these troubadours whose hit song “The Rain, the Park & Other Things” made waves when it was released in 1967.
At first, the show planned to cast the family as the Partridges, but after ABC decided to go with Shirley Jones, the kids of the Cowsill family backed out.
Why Didn’t Shirley Jones Want to Play Carol Brady?
First of all, Shirley Jones chose Shirley Partridge instead of Carol Brady because she liked the idea of playing a single, working mom during the days when stay-at-home moms ruled. She said, “While the idea of playing the mother in The Brady Bunch was initially attractive to me, I turned it down because I didn’t want to be the mother taking the roast out of the oven and not doing much else.”
She was drawn to the role of the Partridge family’s mom, “First, because she was destined to become the first working mother on TV, and I loved the script. Second, because working on the series would let me be an almost full-time mom and raise my kids.”