"I can feel your heartbeat ... "
Do you remember the Partridge family? Singing family, mother was a widow, played by Shirley Jones. Her real step-son, David, played her eldest son on the show and he was the "heart-throb" of the show. Me, I preferred Danny (Bonaduce). He was closer to my age, smart, clever and ... he didn't have every other girl in my school in love with him!
The show was on L_O_N_G before IMDB was available, but somehow I knew that David's father, Shirley's husband, was Jack Cassidy who had played several roles on Bewitched. Very handsome man in the silvered, older statesman tradition. He looked quite elegant in 19th c. suits as a dandy.
Reason I'm thinking of this today is that I keep seeing a mug shot of David on the Comcast home page for current news (http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2010/11/05/pop-idol-david-cassidy-s-drink-drive-rap-115875-22693460/) and every time I see that, I remember how good-looking Jack was. Totally unfair, of course. No one looks their best at such a time and Jack before the cameras would have been a tribute to the make-up artist's ... artistry.
Mostly, what the image reminds me of is the passage of time. My birthday is next week. I tend to avoid mirrors and I live away from the family of my childhood, so the passage of time hits me harder when I notice it than it does one who daily sees the effects. People who are still children in my memory - are grown and living their own lives. When I go home, I feel like someone visiting from the fairy howe, like Rip van Winkle waking up from his 20 year nap.
FWIW, a picture of Danny Bonaduce would not affect me so strongly, even though he looks far worse now than David does. The real Danny is as much a "player" - a conniver, a promoter - as Danny Partridge ever was; and he makes publicity out of his missteps. Although ... I remember when CSI advertised that Danny would be on an episode. Yeah - right. He was the victim - the sum total of his "acting" on the show was to lie dead! Bummer.
The show was on L_O_N_G before IMDB was available, but somehow I knew that David's father, Shirley's husband, was Jack Cassidy who had played several roles on Bewitched. Very handsome man in the silvered, older statesman tradition. He looked quite elegant in 19th c. suits as a dandy.
Reason I'm thinking of this today is that I keep seeing a mug shot of David on the Comcast home page for current news (http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2010/11/05/pop-idol-david-cassidy-s-drink-drive-rap-115875-22693460/) and every time I see that, I remember how good-looking Jack was. Totally unfair, of course. No one looks their best at such a time and Jack before the cameras would have been a tribute to the make-up artist's ... artistry.
Mostly, what the image reminds me of is the passage of time. My birthday is next week. I tend to avoid mirrors and I live away from the family of my childhood, so the passage of time hits me harder when I notice it than it does one who daily sees the effects. People who are still children in my memory - are grown and living their own lives. When I go home, I feel like someone visiting from the fairy howe, like Rip van Winkle waking up from his 20 year nap.
FWIW, a picture of Danny Bonaduce would not affect me so strongly, even though he looks far worse now than David does. The real Danny is as much a "player" - a conniver, a promoter - as Danny Partridge ever was; and he makes publicity out of his missteps. Although ... I remember when CSI advertised that Danny would be on an episode. Yeah - right. He was the victim - the sum total of his "acting" on the show was to lie dead! Bummer.