David Cassidy’s Roommate Shares Terrifying Experience (Exclusive)

Denise Ames February 24, 2:19 pm

American actor and singer David Cassidy (1950 - 2017) in London, UK, circa 1975. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) — Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Just before The Partridge Family premiered in the fall of 1970 and sent David Cassidy into the stratosphere of international celebrity, he was making the rounds guest-starring on hit TV shows. Feeling confident, he grabbed his best friend, Sam Hyman, and together, the two rented their first home in February of 1970, when both were just 19.

Here Hyman, who met Cassidy in their shared neighborhood riding bikes in Cheviot Hills in 1963, recounts their scariest experience together.

“David was making up to $1,500 per guest spot on shows like Bonanza and The Mod Squad; I had a job as an editor’s apprentice for $2 an hour — remember, this was 1970! We rented what I call a cheap ‘box-like tree house’ built on a hill in Laurel Canyon. Not having extra funds, we furnished our crash pad with old mattresses and orange crates,” Hyman shares.

“One evening, David wandered into my room and said, ‘Hey, you wanna listen to this new music I just got?’ [Thinking it was] probably Jeff Beck or Jimi Hendrix, I lit up candles on my not-so-sturdy pseudo nightstand and we each plopped down on either side of two twin mattresses pushed together. Our dogs, Ricky Rascal and Sheesh, followed us wherever we went, so they were also in my room, relaxing.

“We all wound up falling asleep; one of us must have somehow accidentally kicked one of the lit candles over, because all of a sudden, I woke up to this horrible smell. My mattress was smoldering and on the verge of going up in flames. The house was carpeted and we were messy guys, so who knows what could have fueled that fire had I not gotten up in time!”

Cassidy, who was a deep sleeper, most likely would have never woke. Thankfully, Hyman was quick to take action.

THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY, David Cassidy, 1970-1974

Everett Collection

“I jumped off the smoking mattress as fast as I could, ran around to the other one and frantically shook David; once he’s asleep, it was never easy getting him up,” he explained. “Deciding I couldn’t waste any more time and my heart racing, I ran to get water and doused the fire out where the mattress was burning. Situated where we were, I realized had the house caught fire, the entire canyon could have gone up! I was really scared that’s for sure.

“When David finally became half-awake, I told him what had just happened. ‘We were almost a statistic!’ I breathlessly told him; however at that moment, he didn’t seem to realize the gravity of the situation. He just mumbled, ‘Hummm….okay,’ stumbled into his room and went back to sleep. Later on, we talked about it and it was then he finally understood just how frightening it was, exclaiming ‘Wow! We really were almost a statistic!’ Needless to say, I had to get a new mattress and to this day I can still remember that smell!”