Why Shaun Cassidy Branded His Dad as a ‘Phony’

Former teen idol Shaun Cassidy recently labeled his late father, Broadway and television star Jack Cassidy, a “phony.”

Shaun, who gained fame in the 1970s, revealed that he and his brothers, including actor Patrick and the late David, saw through their father’s public persona.

“My dad was so complicated,” the 67-year-old recently told PEOPLE. “He basically invented this public persona with an accent that didn’t exist in any country ever.”

Jack Cassidy was born in New York City into a family of engineers and was expected to follow the family railroad tradition—until a trip to Broadway at 14 derailed those plans.

As Jack Cassidy gained fame, he appeared on talk shows, speaking with a borderline-English accent. This baffled Shaun and his younger brothers—Patrick, 63, and Ryan, 59—who had