The first pilot was filmed in December 1969, but it never aired. Both pilots portray Shirley Partridge as a widow with five children. Interestingly, in the first version, Shirley Partridge has a boyfriend who is played by Jack Cassidy, actress Shirley Jones’ real-life husband at the time.
In that first pilot, one of the children divulges their father, who died, had a drinking problem. Another difference is that in the unaired first pilot, the family is from Ohio. But we all know the Partridge’s were from California!
Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones turned down a role in The Brady Bunch to play the mother of The Partridge Family. 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-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 also stepmom to David Cassidy in real life. Shirley Jones is a stage actress with a six-decade career under her belt.
“C’mon Get Happy”
Riding around in a colorful tour bus with four younger siblings, playing guitar and singing, “Hello, world, hear the song that we’re singin’/C’mon get happy!” was slightly less-than-cool for pop music sensation David Cassidy. In real life, he fought off groupies, had a band, and banked $50,000 gigs. He had naked women throwing themselves at him or else hiding out and stalking him from his limo. In 1972 he decided to bare all to Rolling Stone magazine.
Annie Leibovitz photographed a naked spread of the 22-year-old Partridge Family star for the May cover. Inside the covers, he revealed every secret, from drug use and sexual conquests to the pride he feels over his disproportionate endowment, nicknamed “donk” by his three stepbrothers. The piece includes bisexual groupies and a pot-smoking account. The fallout? Coca-Cola pulled their ad and network suits freaked.
Brian Forster
The youngest Partridge was Chris, the cute little brother drummer. This character was played by Brian Forster, but not until 1971, a year into the show. 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.
‘The Partridge Family’ Shared a Studio With ‘The Monkees’
Another Screen Gems production was The Monkees. They played an imaginary band that wanted to be as successful as the Beatles but always failed on a TV show of the same name. The Monkees were a popular primetime show until 1968.
Ironically, the Monkees became one of the grooviest classic rock bands of the Sixties. When The Monkees’ TV show was canceled, The Partridge family moved in.