Born as John Joseph Edward Cassidy in New York City, on March 5, 1927, he was an actor, singer, and theatre director and the youngest of five children. His father was an engineer at the Long Island Rail Road and was of Irish descent, while his mother was of German ancestry.
Cassidy achieved success as a musical performer on Broadway. He appeared in several productions, including "Alive and Kicking", "Wish You Were Here", "Shangri-La", "Maggie Flynn", "Fade Out – Fade In", "It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman", and "She Loves Me", for which he won a Tony Award.
In addition to his stage work, Cassidy made a name for himself on television. He guest-starred in numerous programs such as "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour", "Gunsmoke", "Bewitched", "Get Smart", "That Girl", "Hawaii Five-O", "Cannon", "Match Game", "McCloud", and "Barnaby Jones". He received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations.
However, it's his work on Columbo we're here for. Cassidy appeared three times as a murderer on Columbo.
It's a strong opening episode and Cassidy swaggers his way through it right to the end.
Cassidy achieved success as a musical performer on Broadway. He appeared in several productions, including "Alive and Kicking", "Wish You Were Here", "Shangri-La", "Maggie Flynn", "Fade Out – Fade In", "It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman", and "She Loves Me", for which he won a Tony Award.
In addition to his stage work, Cassidy made a name for himself on television. He guest-starred in numerous programs such as "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour", "Gunsmoke", "Bewitched", "Get Smart", "That Girl", "Hawaii Five-O", "Cannon", "Match Game", "McCloud", and "Barnaby Jones". He received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations.
However, it's his work on Columbo we're here for. Cassidy appeared three times as a murderer on Columbo.
Murder by the Book
The first episode of the first season (though it wasn't filmed first) Cassidy played "writer" Ken Franklin who kills his partner Jim Ferris when Ferris wants to break up the partnership.
It's a strong opening episode and Cassidy swaggers his way through it right to the end.
For more on this one see Murder by the Book.
Publish or Perish
Cassidy was back in Season 3's Publish or Perish, another episode that centered around book publishing. This time Cassidy wasn't the writer, he was the publisher. When his star writer wants to leave his publishing house Cassidy has him killed.
Eddie Kane is an interesting character, played with an engaging mania by John Davis Chandler but the motive seemed pretty weak to me. It's not clear that Greenleaf gained much from it.
Now You See Him
Cassidy was back one more time in season 5's Now You See Him, this time as former Nazi and current magician The Great Santini.
When club owner Jessie Jerome threatens to expose Santini's Nazi past, and blackmails him, Santini murders him. This is probably Cassidy's strongest performance. The episode also gives us nice turns by Bob Dishy ("Sergeant Wilson"), Thayer David, and Robert Loggia.
Personal life
Cassidy was married (and divorced) twice, first to Evelyn Ward and then to Shirley Jones, and was the father of teen idols David Cassidy and Shaun Cassidy.Tragic passing
Cassidy might have appeared in even more Columbos but he tragically passed away on December 12, 1976, at the age of 49. He died in a fire at his apartment in West Hollywood, California. The fire was reportedly caused by a cigarette that Cassidy had lit and then accidentally dropped on his couch while he was asleep.
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