LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Former teen idol David Cassidy did not have dementia, as he claimed before he died, and lied about giving up drinking, the singer told the makers of a documentary about him in the months before his death.
Cassidy, 67, who shot to fame in the 1970s TV show “The Partridge Family,” died of organ failure at age 67 in Florida in November 2017, nine months after declaring he was fighting dementia in a bid to stave off reports about odd behaviour.
But in an excerpt released on Wednesday from documentary “David Cassidy: The Last Session,” Cassidy told producers that his problems were due to alcoholism.
“I have a liver disease,” Cassidy told one of the producers in a recorded telephone call after an emergency hospital admission in September.
“There is no sign of me having dementia at this stage of my life. It was complete alcohol poisoning. The fact is, I lied about my drinking,” he added.
Alcoholism is a bitch. Money, fame, opportunities– all these seem to be useless against an addiction.
Plenty of horror stories and cautionary examples. Too bad Cassidy was among them and couldn’t escape even at the end.
I’ve known a lot of alcoholics. It’s a terrible disease. Nothing sadder than getting sober late in the game and looking back at the decades thrown away. Watching a family friend go through that now.
I’m in contact with a longtime friend from my home town. I hadn’t seen or talked to him in years and when I visited last year I discovered he was an alcoholic (vodka and cranberry juice). He’s been having numerous health issues and last night he called to tell me he was in the hospital for the last week. He had had some kind of seizure and was flopping around the floor unconscious. Fortunately someone was there to call an ambulance. The doctors couldn’t tell him what was wrong but it was obvious to me. I told him the universe was telling him to stop drinking. If not he wouldn’t be alive for much longer.
What if David Cassidy simply forgot that he earlier claimed to have dementia?
He’s dead. Let’s leave him alone.
Kind of like it’ll be with Hillary when she croaks. Except she really does have dementia.
“He’s dead. Let’s leave him alone.”
Nope. He lied about having dementia when all he was was a drunk.
People with dementia have enough problems. They don’t need some lying Hollywood drunk to be made their poster boy for dementia.
Actually, he did have dementia. “Alcohol related Dementia.” It’s a real diagnosis and can clear with medication that causes the body to get rid of the ammonia. In other words, it makes one poop. A lot. Which iis why liver failure patients don’t like to take it. Without it, ammonia level rises to toxic levels and they get BSC.
Pity.
It’s just that, well, who cares?
David Cassidy became David Casualty.