Danny Bonaduce Reveals How Matthew Perry ‘Went Far Out of His Way to Help Me’

At a lull in his career, the Partridge Family alum Danny Bonaduce used to deliver his own headshot and résumé to casting directors in disguise. “I invented a character named Speedy,” he exclusively tells Closer. “I’d wear a hat, glasses and a name tag, and drop off my headshot and then get the heck out of there. I actually booked a couple of roles that way.”

After coming of age on The Partridge Family, Danny, 65, spent several years making headlines for all the wrong reasons. “I could have gotten more parts if I hadn’t gone off the deep end,” he admits. He survived addiction, brushes with the law, questionable reality TV show appearances, and a major health crisis to find love and a new career as a radio host. Recently retired and recovered from a 2023 brain surgery to treat hydrocephalus, Danny lives a calm, peaceful life in Palm Springs, California, with third wife Amy. “Memory lapses sometimes come and go,” he says, “but I not only have everything I ever hoped for, I have things I never thought to hope for.”

How did you break into show business?

“My father wrote a whole bunch of TV (including episodes of One Day at a Time, Good Times and The Andy Griffith Show). He was kind of a jerk as a person, but a writing genius. My first movie was The Trouble With Girls, starring Elvis Presley. He gifted me a kid’s peddle car from the circus scenes.”

As a child you did an episode of Bewitched with a chimpanzee. What was that like?

“I am the only guy I know who has been bitten by two chimpanzees. The first was when I stuck my hand in a cage at the Philadelphia Zoo, and then five years later Elizabeth Montgomery was there when a chimp bit me on the head. I remember Elizabeth telling me, ‘There are kids and actors, and you’re an actor.'”

You went to school with Michael Jackson. What was he like back then?

“He was painfully shy. I remember one day I startled him by saying, ‘Hey, Mike, how come you never say anything?’ And he said, ‘Because I’m in constant remembrance of God.’ I said, ‘That’s cool, but what about girls?'”

What was your home life like when you were playing Danny Partridge?

“I grew up in chaos and violence with things breaking all around me.”

Due to your home troubles, you spent a lot of time at your Partridge Family costar Shirley Jones’ house. What was that like?

“In the morning, her husband, David’s father Jack Cassidy, would be in his red smoking jacket holding a cocktail in one hand and a cigarette in a holder in the other. He opened the door like James Bond and acted like that 24 hours a day. One time he offered me and his son Shaun Cassidy 10 bucks to move a pile of rocks from one place to another. We ended up moving the whole pile to the wrong place and he never paid us.”

When was the last time you saw Shirley?

“At David Cassidy’s [2017] memorial. She’s now 90, and the last I heard she was doing well.”

Were you and David close?

“David was one of my dearest friends and showed up for me as a real big brother. In 1994, he called me up after I’d been arrested for doing something stupid and asked me to go on tour with him as his warm-up. By the end of the tour, I was working a morning radio show in Philadelphia making a real buck.”

You’ve said that Friends star Matthew Perry also tried to help you.

“Yes. Matthew was on his way to give a speech at a small rehab facility I was at. I hid from him because I’m a huge fan of Friends and Chandler Bing was my favorite character. He banged on my door and said, ‘Bonaduce, get out of there!’ He walked right in and offered to drive me to court and psychiatrist appointments — which he actually ended up doing, three times in the same week. That was his way of giving back. He went far out of his way to help me.”

What was your lowest point?

“I was dead broke from 1975 through 1988 and living in my car. During the day, I’d sign autographs and take between 20 and 100 photographs with fans outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. I didn’t make any money from these fans, but they made me feel great.”

How did you meet your wife?

“I met Amy when I was in line at a Starbucks, and she came up to say she enjoyed my book. Not missing a beat, I asked, ‘Would you like to get married?’ I was dead serious, but she said no. I did marry my two previous wives the same day I met them. Amy and I were together four years before we got married. I very much want to live to be 83, because that’ll mean I’ll live to see Amy turn 60.”

What’s your secret to a happy marriage?

“Amy says the answer is, ‘Don’t do reality TV.’ She’s 100 percent right.”

You have two adult children from an earlier marriage, Count Dante and Countess Isabella. How did you come up with their names and how are they doing?

“My wife at the time was nuts for the royals, so she came up with those names. My daughter lives in England now and loves being Countess Isabella. She’s married to a British scientist, and burlesque is her new passion. Dante is working as a chef in Denver. He also went to a martial arts camp in Thailand and is a certified EMT.”

What advice would you give your younger self if you could?

“Keep going. Keep coming back. Keep showing up and you’ll find something.”

On October 18 and 19, you’ll be meeting fans at the Hollywood Show in Burbank, California. How did you start doing these shows?

“Interestingly enough, one of the first people to get me into doing autograph shows was William Shatner, who I met when I was like 12 years old in Chuck Norris’ martial arts school. If you need positive reinforcement, this is the place to go. This time, I’m planning to bring my actual mug shots to sign for fans.”