Why did Susan Dey disappear from the limelight

[biffbronson]

I think you mean exude instead of "elicit." If she's eliciting that, you're saying that the audience is developing "sweet shyness"...!

[TMC]

Originally Posted by PracTz

Perhaps having seen what intense fame had done to contribute to the destruction of her costar, she simply decided she wanted no part of it.

This is what somebody said on YouTube about what possibly "happened" to Susan Dey and why he haven't heard or seen much of her over the past 20 years. I must stress to take this with a huge grain of salt since this isn't fully verified:

From what I heard she was a problem on a lot of the sets and shows she's worked on and not an easy person to get along with, I also know that she has held a life long grudge against David Cassidy for not wanting to date her, that's why she's never been apart of any Partridge Family reunions and barely speaks of those times. I also heard that people/Hollywood really did not want to hire her because she was a problem.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by um

It is possible. That is a practical scenario after all, but also Ms Dey was probably able to see the most harsh side of fame during David Cassidy's heyday in the early 1970s. She reasonably might have decided right then and there not to stay in show business after the cancellation of The Partridge Family.
Also , if her last acting role was sometime in 2002 , that was before Cassidy's life really spiraled into chaos: He was 60 when he started getting in trouble with DWIs.




I don't know. It is very well known or reputed that the older that actresses get, the fewer acting roles they get. As true as it is, it can be inaccurate to jump to the conclusion that just because Ms Dey reached her 50s that she was considered to have too many older features to assign to acting roles.
She was successful in certain TV series after TPF and David Cassidy himself said that he assigned his own agent to work with Susan and that is how she went on to have the best acting career of all TPF cast members as Cassidy himself put it in his autobiography.

Some of us take little bits of information, and though it may be all we have to go on, we speculate sometimes using our wildest imaginations about the issue along with our own haughtiness.

I am not an expert on acting ability. I have seen some movies which critics have lauded as having "great acting" but I myself did not think it was so good, and I have seen movies that critics have said contain bad acting and I thought the acting was very well done and not deserving of being panned.

It seems that under the right director and also if she is in the right role an actress like Susan Dey can do a great acting job. It just might be that regardless of having had significantly established herself in LA Law (which is a TV show that I actually did not watch) she still was remembered as Lori Partridge.

Also there are just times in which a successful actor or actress just feels it is time to leave the business and do something else with his or her life.
I heard that the actress who gave Elvis his first screen kiss went on to become a nun. Also the kid who became famous as "Charlie" in the original Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory decided never to make a movie again and just tried to hide the fact that he was not merely a kid actor but that kid actor in Willy Wonka.
Sometimes it can be because of frustration with the business and getting the right roles for you. SOmetimes it is just that you suddenly feel that should have been doing something else all along. who knows ? Though we are free to discuss and make guesses we should not take it so personally so as to
say that Susan Dey failed to maintain her attractiveness and just has a bad attitude so it serves her right that she is forced to quit show business.
Sometimes a celebrity just knows that she or he can further a social or political cause by lending his or her name to it. Susan Dey seems to, at least partially, be using her past fame to do some good in helping victims of sex crimes.



Susan did not "Refuse to take part in any Partridge Family reunions."
She may not have done it to the perfect satisfaction of every Partridge Family fan, but she made an appearance in a "This Is Your Life" broadcast in which David Cassidy's life was reviewed, also she called in and talked with Danny Bonaduce and other members of TPF when Danny featured his former co-stars on his show.
I think Susan is given a great deal of criticism for not taking part in reunions as much as other cast members but she has to make a decision that is right for herself. She probably feels that it was a part of her acting career that should not become the emphasis even though other people have decided that Susan Dey's celebrity is unavoidably all about a 1970s sitcom that has been off the air for decades.
I am sure it was a difficult time for her too as she has stated that she was under pressure to be thin and attractive according to the current standards and dealt with an eating disorder.
I think that no one should judge her if she feels that she rather move on to other things . Maybe she is a bit angry about what David revealed in his autobiography. She is the only one who knows what it is like and if she believes it is best for herself to avoid the public eye, no one should second guess her decision .

Well, for what it's worth, this is what Shirley Jones said in her 2013 memoir:

"After The Partridge Family ended in 1974, Dey went on to several other TV parts, including a starring role on L.A. Law in 1986. “By then, she and David had grown apart, and nowadays they are completely out of touch, which hurts David tremendously,” Jones writes. “I was also hurt that out of everyone on the show, only Susan consistently refuses to take part in any TV reunions of The Partridge Family.”

[stevea]

"After The Partridge Family ended in 1974, Dey went on to several other TV parts, including a starring role on L.A. Law in 1986. “By then, she and David had grown apart, and nowadays they are completely out of touch, which hurts David tremendously,” Jones writes. “I was also hurt that out of everyone on the show, only Susan consistently refuses to take part in any TV reunions of The Partridge Family.”

She was notably absent from the Today show reunion. They gave some excuse. It seems every successful sitcom has some star who rejects their time with it.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by TMC

This is what somebody said on YouTube about what possibly "happened" to Susan Dey and why he haven't heard or seen much of her over the past 20 years. I must stress to take this with a huge grain of salt since this isn't fully verified:

To follow-up on this, I also found this:

She had a reputation as being difficult to work with on every project she ever booked. She seems like an unhappy person. She left LA Law in a huff, then when the dust settled a few years later and she was able to get a sitcom job, she tanked that, too, leaving mid-run.

Maybe she's not even looking for work, now, but even if she was, her reputation is terrible and she'd never be able to book a role as as series regular. Who would hire her as a regular on a series, after she keeps quitting/getting fired mid-way through? There's too much money on the line with a series for any producer to take that kind of risk. And she doesn't have the kind of spectacular talent that might balance the equation out so that it would be worth the risk. So, no dice.

by Anonymous reply 12 May 31, 2014 8:19

[TV Guy]

I believe Susan did show up at David Cassidy’s memorial service. David’s nephew Jack posted a picture of himself with Susan on instagram.

As mentioned above, she did the Stars in the House reunion of the LA Law cast. Her castmates seemed surprised and delighted to see her.

Hopefully, she’s enjoying the next phase in her life after a very successful run as an actor.

BTW, Datalounge is not a reliable source for anything.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by um

When it comes to actors saying their lines in a way that sounds "unnatural," for that matter the way most characters are portrayed on TV , the way they typically say exactly whats on their minds without having to stop and think what word they want to use or having to go back and restate what they are trying to say or using the wrong word etc (of course if an actor flubs his or her words the take is redone), is not the way real people talk in real life and even educated articulate people often say "what word am i looking for?" or "What" the name" and forget their train of thought.

Also if you watch any actor in different TV shows or movies you will often notice that even the best actors will do a scene poorly and will look as if s/he is looking directly at the camera and reading from a cue card

I wonder what was so bad about Susan Dey's performance on that Love & War sitcom. She was fired after only the first season and was replaced by Annie Potts, who was fresh off of Designing Women. Susan to the best of my knowledge, had never really done comedy before. Well, she did recently before that, guest hosted SNL, where she even participated in a spoof of The Partridge Family.

And The Partridge Family in itself, was a sitcom but unlike with Love & War, it was a single camera show with a mild laugh track and Susan herself, didn't do much that was remotely funny (at least intentionally) as Laurie Partridge. She always on the show, seemed more like the sweet, shy, earnest type.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by um

I never observed her career that closely so I was not aware of these very final stints at acting of hers. Perhaps her career was killed by the very last acting gig she took part in. However from what it seems, she was essentially done with acting by this time anyway. She had been acting for most of her life by this time and maybe she felt it was time to retire even though a lot of other actors continue seeking and doing roles into their senior years. From what it seems, she just wanted to call it quits with acting and just move on to something else which turned out to be charity work, or community service, or working at an organization meant to help victims of sexual violence.
It seems she mainly does not want to be constantly reminded or asked about her celebrity past. It seems she wants to be a person who works behind a desk or maybe talking with needy people or assisting in organizing all kinds of charitable events without being thought of as a star.
She probably is most remembered as Lori Partridge at least by people who are over the age of 55.

I didn't know this until recently, but Susan Dey could've been Sandy in Grease. She reportedly turned to down because she at that point, didn't want to play another teen. Of course, the role would ultimately go to Olivia Newton-John and Grease wound up being the biggest box office hit of 1978.

So I would like to imagine that Susan was forever kicking herself for turning down Grease. She still had I suppose, a reasonably OK career since she would eventually land her second biggest role with LA Law. But Susan regardless, never really had much of a film career of any merit or note. I mean, when was the last time you checked out First Love, Looker, and Echo Park?

[TMC]

Originally Posted by stevea

She was notably absent from the Today show reunion. They gave some excuse. It seems every successful sitcom has some star who rejects their time with it.

I know that Susan when she was on The Partridge Family, battled an eating disorder. Maybe that has something to do with the notion that she didn't have a lot of fond memories making it.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by um

I never observed her career that closely so I was not aware of these very final stints at acting of hers. Perhaps her career was killed by the very last acting gig she took part in. However from what it seems, she was essentially done with acting by this time anyway. She had been acting for most of her life by this time and maybe she felt it was time to retire even though a lot of other actors continue seeking and doing roles into their senior years. From what it seems, she just wanted to call it quits with acting and just move on to something else which turned out to be charity work, or community service, or working at an organization meant to help victims of sexual violence.
It seems she mainly does not want to be constantly reminded or asked about her celebrity past. It seems she wants to be a person who works behind a desk or maybe talking with needy people or assisting in organizing all kinds of charitable events without being thought of as a star.
She probably is most remembered as Lori Partridge at least by people who are over the age of 55.

Of course, I could be wrong about this but I somewhat get the sense that maybe Susan viewed acting as something of a means to an end. In other words, acting and being in show business probably wasn't her out and out passion at the end of the day.

Before she got on The Partridge Family, Susan never acted or had much training to act before. She worked as a teen model before that. And by the looks of it, Susan struggled a bit with the sudden fame as she reportedly had anorexia and later became an alcoholic. That has to be especially hard when you're pretty much growing up on TV.

I can't help but wonder if Susan had to deal with Harvey Weinstein types throughout her career that ultimately made her swear off Hollywood.

[TMC]

I believe Susan did show up at David Cassidy’s memorial service. David’s nephew Jack posted a picture of himself with Susan on Instagram.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by stevea

She was notably absent from the Today show reunion. They gave some excuse. It seems every successful sitcom has some star who rejects their time with it.

Just one more time? Please? Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most notable celebrities who, for one reason or another, declined to participate in reunion episodes, revivals or reboots of their TV shows. Our countdown includes actors David Hyde Pierce, Chevy Chase, Zachary Quinto and more! Which of these stars would you have loved to see back full-time on their respective shows?

[TMC]

Originally Posted by TMC

I of course, wonder if people immediately assumed that Susan didn't give a damn when David died because of the speculated falling out that she had with him over what he said about her in his book. Also, Susan is super low-key and private now. She as far as I know, isn't on social media, last gave an interview of note over 11 years ago, and doesn't do many public appearances since she retired from acting over 20 years ago. I'm guessing that she doesn't since she's now long out of the Hollywood game, have a publicist.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by um

I never observed her career that closely so I was not aware of these very final stints at acting of hers. Perhaps her career was killed by the very last acting gig she took part in. However from what it seems, she was essentially done with acting by this time anyway. She had been acting for most of her life by this time and maybe she felt it was time to retire even though a lot of other actors continue seeking and doing roles into their senior years. From what it seems, she just wanted to call it quits with acting and just move on to something else which turned out to be charity work, or community service, or working at an organization meant to help victims of sexual violence.
It seems she mainly does not want to be constantly reminded or asked about her celebrity past. It seems she wants to be a person who works behind a desk or maybe talking with needy people or assisting in organizing all kinds of charitable events without being thought of as a star.
She probably is most remembered as Lori Partridge at least by people who are over the age of 55.

Susan I believe, was in her early 50s when she last acted exactly 20 years ago. And given the way that Hollywood has historically viewed and treated women once they reached a certain age, one has to figure that Susan could see where this was heading. And you have to assume that Susan by that point in her career, would've been cosigned to play somebody's mom and eventually grandma.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by TMC

To follow-up on this, I also found this:

I'm not necessarily saying that this is absolutely indicative of Susan truly being "difficult" to work with. But I recently came across this interview with her from 1995. It's very clear that Susan at that particular point, fashioned herself as an actress with really high standards.

Basically, Susan said that she would only take on roles to which she felt that she could bring something special. So to accept a role, Susan would have to love a character and actually want to be her. She couldn't merely admire or understand her.