David Cassidy on the News
A New Image Tonight For David Cassidy
May 28, 1978
Birmingham News
By Dennis Washburn
Not having to work may be a luxury, but "It's very frustrating when you really want to work and can't find what you want to do," said David Cassidy. The former pop music sensation telephoned to talk about his role in A Chance To Live, an NBC-TV "Police Story" which will be aired on Channel 13 tonight, 8-10 p.m.
"You know, this is the first thing of any consequence I've done for TV in about three years. After I finished doing The Partridge Family series, I took a tour of the world. And I made a conscious decision to stop doing everything. I needed to take a step back and get a proper perspective so I could decide what I really wanted to do, where I wanted to go.
"And thinking about it now, I think it was right for me to do this. I had taken the other experience as far as I could take it. But when I made the decision to come back to work again, it was difficult to find the right thing. I read a lot of things, a lot of roles and nothing seemed to fit. The reason I took this "Police Story" role was it did seem honest and right," said Cassidy.
Young Cassidy is joined in the film by Vince Edwards, Gloria DeHaven, Anee Lockhart, Dane Clark and Dee Wallace. He plays the role of a young rookie cop who poses as a high school student to bust a drug ring. Recruited because of his youthful appearance by Walt Abrams (Edwards), the head of a juvenile narcotics division, Officer Dan Shay (Cassidy) infiltrates a high school and becomes fast friends with some of the leading drug connoisseurs.
As he patiently seeks a school connection to a major supplier, Shay constantly guards against disclosing his true identity and compromising his professional objectivity because of amorous advances by a few foxy "classmates." Confused by these temptations, tempered only by love for his pregnant wife, Shay is disturbed by the overdose of an earnest friend as he nears the source of the school's narcotics traffic.
"This kind of thing is actually going on around us," said Cassidy. "In doing the show, I found that there are actually narcotics officers going back to high schools undercover. This is the story of how one officer deals with this. It's not easy having to bust people you know and like. And if (sic) becomes more difficult as he gets closer to the young kids. A young girl falls in love with him. He finds he's leading a dual life with a love affair at the school and a pregnant wife at home. Before long he finds he can't draw a line between his personal life and his professional life. It's too much of an emotional burden."
How much research did David Cassidy have to do to play the role?
"My research was the fact that I was going to school in the 1960s during the big drug explosion then. I can remember being around the kids involved with drugs back then. And on the set of the picture, our technical advisors were all narcs (narcotics officers). The things you'll see in this picture were drawn from their experiences. We did a lot of talking about these things. One officer, in particular, did a lot of soul-searching through me. These undercover people lead a very lonely existence. Police personnel don't associate with them and the kids don't want to associate with them either. They're under an enormous amount of stress everyday of their lives."
Not having to work may be a luxury, but "It's very frustrating when you really want to work and can't find what you want to do," said David Cassidy. The former pop music sensation telephoned to talk about his role in A Chance To Live, an NBC-TV "Police Story" which will be aired on Channel 13 tonight, 8-10 p.m.
"You know, this is the first thing of any consequence I've done for TV in about three years. After I finished doing The Partridge Family series, I took a tour of the world. And I made a conscious decision to stop doing everything. I needed to take a step back and get a proper perspective so I could decide what I really wanted to do, where I wanted to go.
"And thinking about it now, I think it was right for me to do this. I had taken the other experience as far as I could take it. But when I made the decision to come back to work again, it was difficult to find the right thing. I read a lot of things, a lot of roles and nothing seemed to fit. The reason I took this "Police Story" role was it did seem honest and right," said Cassidy.
Young Cassidy is joined in the film by Vince Edwards, Gloria DeHaven, Anee Lockhart, Dane Clark and Dee Wallace. He plays the role of a young rookie cop who poses as a high school student to bust a drug ring. Recruited because of his youthful appearance by Walt Abrams (Edwards), the head of a juvenile narcotics division, Officer Dan Shay (Cassidy) infiltrates a high school and becomes fast friends with some of the leading drug connoisseurs.
As he patiently seeks a school connection to a major supplier, Shay constantly guards against disclosing his true identity and compromising his professional objectivity because of amorous advances by a few foxy "classmates." Confused by these temptations, tempered only by love for his pregnant wife, Shay is disturbed by the overdose of an earnest friend as he nears the source of the school's narcotics traffic.
"This kind of thing is actually going on around us," said Cassidy. "In doing the show, I found that there are actually narcotics officers going back to high schools undercover. This is the story of how one officer deals with this. It's not easy having to bust people you know and like. And if (sic) becomes more difficult as he gets closer to the young kids. A young girl falls in love with him. He finds he's leading a dual life with a love affair at the school and a pregnant wife at home. Before long he finds he can't draw a line between his personal life and his professional life. It's too much of an emotional burden."
How much research did David Cassidy have to do to play the role?
"My research was the fact that I was going to school in the 1960s during the big drug explosion then. I can remember being around the kids involved with drugs back then. And on the set of the picture, our technical advisors were all narcs (narcotics officers). The things you'll see in this picture were drawn from their experiences. We did a lot of talking about these things. One officer, in particular, did a lot of soul-searching through me. These undercover people lead a very lonely existence. Police personnel don't associate with them and the kids don't want to associate with them either. They're under an enormous amount of stress everyday of their lives."
