Susan Dey was one of the biggest TV stars of the 1970s when she was only 18 years old. From 1970 to 1974, “The Partridge Family” was on TV. It was about a musical family who lived in the made-up city of San Pueblo, California.
Dey, who was a model at the time, was cast as the older sister Laurie in the hit ABC TV show, whose singing family traveled to shows in a remodeled psychedelic school bus. Dey had never acted or sung before.
From 1970 to 1974, Dey played Laurie Partridge, a main character on The Partridge Family who was kind and smart. The show won over the hearts and minds of millions of Americans, and even after it stopped being the most popular show on TV in the U.S., it became popular in the U.K.
The show’s popularity took a toll on the cast. Dey is said to have had an eating disorder, and her weight dropped to 92 pounds. A TV producer saw this and called her out on it, which led her to start a healthier eating plan that didn’t involve starving herself.
According to his memoir, C’mon, Get Happy: Fear and Loathing on the Partridge Family Bus, David Cassidy, who played Keith on the show, felt a lot of pressure as his popularity grew and “mass hysteria” followed his every move.
During the show’s four-year run, Cassidy became a teen idol, and women all over the world, including his co-star Susan Dey, had a huge crush on the singing star.
They didn’t start dating until after the show ended, but their relationship didn’t last long. Cassidy ended it quickly and later wrote in his memoir that he thought she was too innocent for him and other private details about her.
Even though they were still friends after they broke up, Dey was hurt by the personal things Cassidy said about him. He vowed to never see him again and didn’t even go to a Partridge family reunion years later.
But it was her role as Grace Van Owen in “LA Law” that won her the Golden Globe for Best Actress. She played a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles County who later became a judge for six years.
Susan Hallock Dey was born in 1952. She grew up in Westchester County, New York. Her mother was a nurse, and her father was the editor of the New Rochelle, New York Standard-Star.
Over the past 10 years, Dey has stayed out of the spotlight. She is said to be living happily with her husband of more than 30 years, Bernard, in upstate New York, where she grew up.
After she broke up with Dey, she told everyone how much she liked dating older men. She said that older men were better because they knew how to get what they wanted.
Susan Dey told the press in 1988 that she has always been attracted to older men.
She said, “I’m drawn to older men because they know how to get what they want.”
Lenny Hirshan, her first husband, was 25 years older than Dey and worked as an agent. From 1976 to 1981, they were married, and in 1978, their daughter Sara was born.
Susan has been married to Bernard Sofronski, a TV producer, since 1988. They got married in a small, private ceremony where only family and close friends were present.
“Bernie has taught me that love is about giving and taking. I never understood love until I met him. I feel like I have more energy, and I’m letting myself be more myself every day. She told Woman’s Own Magazine in 1988, “Life is so much easier when you’re with someone you can trust.”