Cassidy decided to enter his
Beverly Hills High School drama program after breaking his collarbone while playing as the quarterback for the high school football team.
Screen Cassidy's first starring television role was in 1981 in the cautionary
NBC movie
Angel Dusted. Also in 1981, he co-starred in the made-for-TV movie
Midnight Offerings as David Sterling, the love interest of Vivian Sotherland and Robin Prentiss, two dueling teenage classmates who happen to be witches, played by
Melissa Sue Anderson and
Mary Elizabeth McDonough. In 1983, he starred in
Bay City Blues as Terry St. Marie, a baseball player in the
minor leagues. The show was canceled after just four episodes. In 1984, Cassidy portrayed Willard Freud, the initial love interest to
Heather Langenkamp's character Callie Wells in the film
Nickel Mountain. In 1986, Cassidy played David Hand, a cadet at a military academy in
Dress Gray and appeared in the holiday TV movie
Christmas Eve with
Loretta Young. He had a role as a gambling soldier in the
Ryan O'Neal sports and
Las Vegas gambling film
Fever Pitch. In 1988, he starred in the CBS television series
Dirty Dancing, based on the film. In 1989, he appeared in
Longtime Companion, portraying Howard, an actor who eventually contracts
AIDS. In 1994, he appeared in the films ''
I'll Do Anything and How the West Was Fun'' with
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. In 1997, he had a recurring role on TV's
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman as Leslie Luckaby and had another
Superman-related recurring role as Henry Small, the biological father of
Lana Lang (
Kristin Kreuk) in
Smallville, which was televised from 2001 to 2011. Cassidy co-starred alongside his half-brother David in a 2009
ABC Family comedy series entitled
Ruby & the Rockits created by his brother Shaun. ABC Family announced on September 12, 2009 that the show had been canceled.
Stage Cassidy played Frederic in the 1981 national tour of
Gilbert and Sullivan's
The Pirates of Penzance before taking over the role on
Broadway in 1982. Cassidy's next Broadway role was
Jeff Barry in the
Ellie Greenwich jukebox musical Leader of the Pack, which opened in April 1985. He originated the role of The Balladeer in the original
Off-Broadway production of
Stephen Sondheim's
Assassins at
Playwrights Horizons, which opened in December 1990 in previews. Cassidy starred at the
Elitch Theatre's production of
The Robber Bridegroom in 1991. This was the 100th anniversary of the theatre and it was the final production there before it was dormant for over 20 years. In 1993, Cassidy starred as Bobby opposite
Carol Burnett in a
Los Angeles production of Sondheim's musical
Company. In 1995, he portrayed
John Wilkes Booth in the Los Angeles Repertory staging of
Assassins. In 1998, Cassidy played Macheath in a Los Angeles Reprise! production of
The Threepenny Opera; he was nominated for the
Garland Award for Best Actor for his work in the role. In 1999, he played the title character
Joseph in a national tour of
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. In 2000, Cassidy co-starred with
Cheryl Ladd in
Annie Get Your Gun on Broadway when he took over for
Tom Wopat in the role of
Frank Butler. He later reprised his role of Frank Butler alongside
Patti LuPone and
George Hearn in August 2010 concert presentations at the
Ravinia Festival in Illinois, directed by
Lonny Price. In 2001, Cassidy played Radames in the national tour of the musical
Aida; he won the 2002
National Broadway Theatre Award for Best Actor in a Touring Musical before playing the role on Broadway in June 2002. From 2004 to 2005, Cassidy was back on Broadway in
42nd Street when he took over for Patrick Ryan Sullivan as Julian Marsh playing opposite his mother as Dorothy Brock. He appeared in a US national tour of
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, once again playing the title role, starting in September 2005. ==References==