NEED TO KNOW

Jack Cassidy was "complicated" and invented a public persona, his son Shaun tells PEOPLE

Shaun objectively says his dad "was not a great father... and yet I wouldn't have traded him for the world"

Jack died in an apartment fire in 1976

Jack Cassidy was a well-known talent in the ‘60s, but even those closest to the Tony winner say they never knew who he really was.

Shaun Cassidy exclusively tells PEOPLE that his father was a bit of a “phony,” at least publicly.

"My dad was so complicated,” the former teen idol , 66, says. “He basically invented this public persona with an accent that didn't exist in any country ever.”

Born in New York City, Jack hailed from a family of engineers, and it was all but assumed he’d follow in the footsteps of his railroad family, that is,

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