If you were a teen (or pre-teen) girl at any time in the 1970s, you probably held in your (amateurly manicured) hands at some point a copy (or many, many copies) of Tiger Beat magazine. Known for glossy covers that featured saucy shots of the day’s most popular teen idols — most of them males and many of them shirtless — Tiger Beat (and its twin magazine 16) usually included a centerfold pin-up of a pop star of such import that the mere thought of his poster on her bedroom wall could persuade a young girl to part with her babysitting money. My bedroom wall was plastered with Bobby Sherman in all his glory — the purple shirts unbuttoned to the waist, the velvet choker necklaces, and those gorgeous blue eyes! Also clad in all black, with his beautiful brown tresses casually flowing in the breeze. And at least a half dozen other iterations of Bobby posing and smiling (or pouting). My cousin had all the Donny Osmond pin-ups, while my girlfriend across the street papered her walls with David Cassidy. We’d carefully remove the staples from our teen idols’ midsections, lovingly unfold our new treasures and smooth out the creases before taping (or push-pinning) them to our bedroom walls.
Did you ever wonder what became of the teen idol whose visage used to cast his gaze upon you every night as you drifted off to sleep?
Here’s what happened to 10 of our favorite Tiger Beat “Cover Boys”:
10. Vincent Van Patten
Vincent Van Patten, son of actor Dick Van Patten, appeared in numerous TV movies and miniseries throughout the 1970s including Bonanza, The High Chaparral, Medical Center, Adam-12, The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, Wonder Woman, and The Bionic Boy. He also spent time as a professional tennis player who once defeated John McEnroe and two other top ten ranked pros to win the Seiko World Super Tennis tournament in Tokyo. In 1982 he reached a career high ranking of No. 26.
Where is he now?
Vince Van Patten has made a name for himself on the high-roller poker circuit. He was a top finisher at the 2010 World Series of Poker main event, taking home winnings totaling $27,519. He was also a commentator for the World Poker Tour for nine seasons. Van Patten has been the face of Milwaukee’s Potawatomi Bingo Casino as well as the World Poker Room at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. He also co-wrote a novel with Robert Randisi called The Picasso Flop about… poker.
Van Patten is now 56-years old and he’s been married twice. The first marriage was to Betty Russell from 1989 – 2001 and produced two children. Van Patten has been married to Eileen Davidson since 2003. They have one child together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j8LT5_n9oo
9. Christopher Knight
Christopher Knight was best known for playing Peter Brady on the TV series The Brady Bunch. And for being a Tiger Beat “Cover Boy.” That was pretty much it.
Where is he now?
Knight left acting in 1988 to pursue a career in the computer industry with Martec, Inc., where he landed the company’s first million-dollar sales deal. In the 1990s he founded several tech companies and bounced around to various jobs in the IT industry.
In 1994 Knight lost his professional wrestling debut to fellow child star Danny Bonaduce of Partridge Family fame. Since then, Knight has been parading through various reality TV shows: The Weakest Link, The Surreal Life and My Fair Brady.
Knight, now 56, has been married three times. He married Julie Schulman in 1989 (divorced in 1992) and Toni Erickson in 1995 (divorced in 2000). In 2006 he married Adrianne Curry, winner of America’s Next Top Model Cycle 1, who is almost 25 years his junior. The two met on The Surreal Life, moved in together after the show, and their engagement and nuptials were documented on My Fair Brady. The couple divorced in 2012.
8. Leif Garrett
Can anyone think of anything notable that Leif Garrett did — besides gracing the cover of Tiger Beat? Sure, he had that beautiful feathered hair and the perfect look for the cover of a teen idol magazine, but did he sing? Act? Discover a major vaccine?
As it turns out, Garrett appeared in a 12-week CBS drama series called Three for the Road, which triggered a hysterical response by hormonal teenage girls. Garrett was soon on the cover of Tiger Beat and every other teeny bopper magazine. He also released a handful of albums, with his most successful single, “I Was Made For Dancin’,” reaching #10 on the US Hot 100 and #4 on the British chart in early-1979.
Where is he now?
Garrett has been spotted on reality TV shows like Celebrity Fear Factor (he won the $50,000 grand prize in 2006), and Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, which documented his struggle with heroin addiction. He has been arrested on numerous drug-related charges and most recently pleaded no contest to heroin possession in Los Angeles in 2010 and entered a court-ordered rehab program.
7. Parker Stevenson
Parker Stevenson became a teen heartthrob alongside Shaun Cassidy in the The Hardy Boys Mysteries series, which ran from 1977–79 on ABC. In 1986 he starred opposite his then wife Kirstie Alley, who portrayed his sister in the television miniseries North and South. He was also part of the original Baywatch series in 1989, returning for the syndicated 1997 and 1998 seasons.
Where is he now?
Stevenson, now 62, makes his living on the other side of the camera, operating the photography studio Shadow Works. He has been married once (to Alley). They divorced in 1997.
6. Rick Springfield
Rick Springfield, the Australian born singer and actor, became a teen heartthrob almost despite his best efforts to be taken seriously as a rocker. After his first two albums bombed, he began to be promoted as a teen pop idol, capitalizing on the popularity of others in that genre, like Donny Osmond and David Cassidy.
From September 1972 to September of 1973, Springfield starred as “himself” in the ABC-TV Saturday morning cartoon series Mission: Magic!, for which he wrote and performed original songs. He finally had a breakout hit with “Jessie’s Girl,” which peaked at No. 1 for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned Springfield the 1981 Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. He also starred as Dr. Noah Drake on the ABC soap opera General Hospital.
Where is he now?
Springfield married Barbara Porter in 1984 in Australia. They have two children. In 2010, Springfield (now 64) published his autobiography, Late, Late at Night: A Memoir, which reached number 13 on the New York Times best seller list. Springfield starred in several episodes of Showtime’s Californication, an episode of Hawaii Five-0, and also starred in Everything Goes Better with Vampires. In 2013 he revisited his role as Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital. He’s also been seen making the rounds of Barnes and Noble stores and talk shows, playing guitar and promoting his book. He was recently awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
5. Shaun Cassidy
Shaun Cassidy, arguably Hollywood royalty, is the eldest son of actress Shirley Jones and actor Jack Cassidy. His older half-brother is singer and actor David Cassidy. He became a teen heartthrob in his own right when he starred as Joe Hardy in The Hardy Boys Mysteries series on ABC. That same year, teen girls everywhere swooned when they heard Cassidy’s “Da Doo Ron Ron” from his album that went multi-platinum and netted him a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist.
Where is he now?
Shaun Cassidy, now 55, has been married to Tracey Lynne Turner since 2004 and they have four children. Shaun has four older children as well. Since the mid-1990s, he has worked as a television writer and producer, creating a number of television series, including American Gothic, Roar, and Invasion.
4. Scott Baio
Scott Baio was best known for his roles as Chachi on the sitcom Happy Days and its (unfortunate, many say) spin-off Joanie Loves Chachi. Baio was also the live-in babysitter on the sitcom Charles in Charge and played Dr. Jack Stewart in the medical-mystery-drama series Diagnosis: Murder.
He also kissed me on the cheek one time when he came to Cleveland for the Home and Garden Show, which may be the most significant item in his bio… a moment I’m certain he recalls with the same fondness I do.
Where is he now?
Baio is currently the star and producer of See Dad Run, a Nick at Night show about a former actor’s life as a stay-at-home dad. In 2013, Baio appeared in a guest starring role as a police officer in the Nickelodeon television series Sam & Cat.
The 53-year old Baio has been married to Renee Sloan since 2007. They have one daughter together (Sloan has a daughter from a previous marriage).
Baio is active on Twitter and has taken some heat in recent years for his tweets declaring he is a conservative and also for his support of Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential campaign. But he also warmed the hearts of stay-at-home moms around the world when he tweeted his support for them saying it’s the “hardest job ever.” Did I mention that Baio looks really good for a man in his 50s?
3. Bobby Sherman
Bobby Sherman became a favorite teen idol when he was cast in the role of Jeremy Bolt in the television series Here Come the Brides on ABC. He became the breakout star of the show and an instant Tiger Beat cover boy and centerfold. As a singer, Sherman earned seven gold singles, one platinum single, and five gold albums with a career total of seven top 40 hits. In 1969, his first gold single, “Little Woman,” sold over one million copies. He performed to sold-out crowds made up largely of screaming (and nearly hysterical) teenage girls. Sherman says the hearing loss he now experiences is a result of the excessive screaming.
Where is he now?
After leaving the public spotlight, Sherman, now age 70, became an emergency medical technician (EMT) and eventually became a technical reserve officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, a position he still holds today. He also served for over a decade as a medical training officer at the Los Angeles Police Academy. The former teen heartthrob also has a handmade one-fifth scale model of Disneyland’s Main Street at his home. His replica of the iconic Main Street has been featured on many television shows and news programs. Bobby has been married twice, first to Patti Carnel from 1971-1979, and then to Brigitte Poublon, whom he married in 2010. Sherman has two sons and six grandchildren from his first marriage.
2. David Cassidy
The son of actor Jack Cassidy and Evelyn Ward, David Cassidy was one of the most celebrated teen heartthrobs of the 1970s. Cassidy was best known for his role as Keith Partridge on the television series The Partridge Family, where he starred with his stepmother Shirley Jones. The Partridge Family produced ten albums and Cassidy had five solo albums during the run of the show, with most selling more than a million copies each. His sell-out concerts in major arenas around the world produced mass hysteria, resulting in the media coining the term “Cassidymania.”
Where is he now?
The past few years have been rough for the former teen idol. He admitted in 2008 that he had an alcohol problem. He was arrested in 2010 in Florida for a DUI and then again in New York in 2013 and in California in 2014.
He recorded a public service announcement in 2011 for Alzheimer’s research after he revealed his mother, Evelyn Ward, suffered from the disease. The long-time registered Democrat has been an outspoken critic of Republicans, and in particular, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, calling them “sad” and “pathetic” when he appeared on The Colbert Report.
Cassidy has been married three times. He was married to Kay Lenz from 1977-1983, Meryl Tanz from 1984-1984 and has been married to Sue Shifrin since 1991. David Cassidy is the father of two grown children.
Cassidy died Tuesday, November 21, 2017, at the age of 67. According to Variety, Cassidy’s representative JoAnn Geffen said:
On behalf of the entire Cassidy family, it is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, our uncle, and our dear brother, David Cassidy. David died surrounded by those he loved, with joy in his heart and free from the pain that had gripped him for so long. Thank you for the abundance and support you have shown him these many years.
1. Donny Osmond
Donny made his debut on The Andy Williams Show at the age of 5 singing with his brothers. The Osmonds made repeated appearances on the show throughout the 1960s along with their sister, Marie. In the early 1970s, the Osmonds sold over 80 million records in a single 12-month period, making them the most successful group of the era.
Donny became a teen idol in the early 1970s when he launched a solo career, while still continuing to sing with his older brothers. Between 1976 and 1979 Donny and his sister starred in The Donny and Marie Show, a musical variety show that frequently featured the rest of the Osmond family.
Donny, Bobby Sherman, and David Cassidy were the biggest “Cover Boy” pop stars for Tiger Beat magazine in the early 1970s.
Where is he now?
Donny Osmond re-invented himself in the 1980s and again in the 1990s, attempting to shed his All-American-apple pie image. He has hosted a wide variety of game shows and talk shows and participated in Dancing with the Stars, winning the competition in 2009. Donny and Marie have performed in Las Vegas since 2007. Now 56, he has been married to Debra Glenn since 1978; they have five sons and several grandchildren.
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