The 67-year-old Partridge Family actor and singer is surrounded by his family after being rushed to hospital in Florida, spokeswoman says

US actor and singer David Cassidy is “conscious and surrounded by family”, his spokeswoman has said, after he was admitted to hospital for organ failure earlier this week.

The Partridge Family star, 67, was rushed to a Florida hospital three days ago and requires a liver transplant. A spokeswoman for Cassidy told the Press Association: “He is now conscious and surrounded by family,” following reports he had been put into an induced coma.

Cassidy rose to fame in the early 1970s through the musical sitcom The Partridge Family, where he played the eldest of five siblings who embarked upon a musical career together.

The success of the show spawned more than a dozen group and solo albums and sparked ‘Cassidymania’, with hordes of young fans buying lunchboxes, pillowcases, bubblegum and other items adorned with Cassidy’s image.



In February, Cassidy announced he was suffering from dementia, a condition suffered by both his mother and grandfather. He said he was in “denial” about his health until a fraught performance in California where he appeared to be slurring his words and reportedly fell off the stage at one point.



The star, who enjoyed hits in the 1970s like How Can I Be Sure, said he had decided to stop touring, adding: “I want to focus on what I am. I want to love. I want to enjoy life.”

In 2014, a judge sentenced Cassidy – who divorced his third wife last year and was recently declared bankrupt – to three months in rehab and five years’ probation for drink-driving.