THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY 50 years of singin secrets!

STAR DANNY BONADUCE CELEBRATES THE TV HIT

- Craig Bennett

Five decades have passed since The Partridge Family sang its swansong, but for Danny Bonaduce, one of the show's last surviving stars, the memories are bittersweet.

"It was a fun show. I had a blast and made lifelong friends," Danny, now 65, tells New Idea from his home in Palm Springs.

The Partridge Family ran for 96 episodes, from 1970 to 1974. It was loosely based on the reallife musical family The Cowsills. Danny played Danny Partridge, the bass guitar-playing third sibling known for his wisecracks. However, while the role made him a child superstar, that fame came at a price.

"At that time, I was living in a dysfunctional family and enduring physical and verbal abuse from my father who was a TV write and producer," Danny tells us candidly. "He became increasingly violent the more successful The Partridge Family became. I boil it down to jealousy."