“You’re going to be fine, kid,” the actor recalled the “I Walk the Line” singer telling him.

Danny Bonaduce reveals how Johnny Cash defended him from David Cassidy’s criticism on The Partridge Family set

"You're going to be fine, kid," the actor recalled the "I Walk the Line" singer telling him.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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May 29, 2026 5:55 p.m. ET

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Danny Bonaduce on 'The Partridge Family'; Johnny Cash in Los Angeles. Credit:

ABC Photo Archives/getty; Ron Galella Collection via Getty

- Danny Bonaduce said that David Cassidy criticized his musicianship while filming *The Partridge Family*'s pilot.

- However, Johnny Cash defended him from his on-screen brother's criticism.

- "Nobody would have thought I was playing," Bonaduce said of his bass performances.

Danny Bonaduce was overwhelmed on the set of *The Partridge Family*'s pilot — but he had a powerful ally in Johnny Cash.

The actor, who portrayed young bassist Danny Partridge on the sitcom on all 4 of its seasons on ABC, recalled a fond memory of filming the show's pilot when he was 10 years old in 1970 during an interview with *Pop Culture Retro*.

Cash appeared as himself on the episode to introduce the fictional musical family to the audience at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas (which was actually filmed at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles).

"Johnny Cash says, 'Ladies and gentlemen, the Partridge Family,'" Bonaduce remembered. "And the curtains open, and we're frozen solid with fear, and finally we get to do it, and we're playing, 'I Think I Love You,' our first and only number one hit."

David Redfern/getty

Bonaduce said that David Cassidy, who played his on-screen older brother Keith in the show, had some harsh notes for him during their performance.

"In the middle of the song or at the end of the song, David Cassidy turns to me, a 10-year-old Danny Bonaduce, and looks at me and says, 'You don't strum a bass guitar, you pluck it. Do you think you can pluck it, kid?'" he recalled.

Bonaduce said that the "Ring of Fire" musician immediately helped him recover from the criticism. "And Johnny Cash walks up on stage [and] puts a finger to David's face like this," he said, holding up an index finger. "And he turns to me, I'm 10 years old, and he goes, 'You're going to be fine, kid. You'll get it.' And walked off. And that's my very nice Johnny Cash story that I like very much."

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The actor admitted that his on-screen bass performances weren't particularly convincing. "Nobody thought I was playing," he said. "Nobody would have thought I was playing."

Cash was the first of numerous major guest stars to appear on *The Partridge Family*. The show later welcomed Richard Pryor, Dick Clark, Margaret Hamilton, Slim Pickens, Bobby Sherman, and Jackie Coogan in various episodes. Additionally, numerous actors who appeared on the show became famous after their *Partridge* stints, including Jodie Foster, Farrah Fawcett, Mark Hamill, Rob Reiner, Louis Gossett Jr., and Jackie Earle Haley.

Danny Bonaduce in Los Angeles on February 15, 2019. SMXRF/Star Max/GC Images

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Elsewhere in the interview, Bonaduce recalled how he secured the role of Danny in the audition process.

"Jerry Paris, the director of *The Dick Van Dyke Show*, he said, 'Do you think you can be comfortable with Danny's real over-the-top interest in money?'" Bonaduce remembered. "I said, 'Here's the problem with that. Everybody gets the quote wrong. Everybody thinks money is the root of all evil, and [the Bible] doesn't say that. It says *the love* of money is the root of all evil. And to be honest with you, I love money.'"

He continued, "They cracked up and gave me the job."

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