The comedy actor Dave Madden, who played band manager Reuben Kincaid on the hit 1970s sitcom The Partridge Family, died in Florida on Thursday (Jan. 16) at age 82.
According to TMZ, Madden died of congestive heart failure and kidney failure on Thursday morning following a long illness. His niece, Mary Frances Miller, said that the actor died at a hospice center near his home in Jacksonville area.
The actor was best known for his role as Reuben Kincaid, whose job was managing the Partridge family band. Even though the series starred Shirley Jones with her real-life son David Cassidy, the relationship between Madden and the impish preteen bassist played by Danny Bonaduce made the show.
“His relationship with Danny Bonaduce is what made the show work: this strange, mad little boy and the grown man who was even worse as a father figure,” said Jones on Thursday. “It was hysterical!” as noted by The Hollywood Reporter. The actress also added that even though Madden played a guy who hated children, in real life he real “loved kids”.
Before The Partridge Family series, Madden was part of the Laugh-In comedy series and later he had a recurring role as one of the customers at Mel’s Diner on the long-running sitcom Alice.
The actor was born in Ontario, Canada and grew up in North Terre Haute, Ind. He was at first a nightclub comic and then he landed his first acting job in the mid 1960s on the short-lived sitcom titled Camp Runamuck. His credits also include roles in series as Bewitched, Barney Miller, Happy Days, The Love Boat and Fantasy Island.
In 2007 Dave Madden published a memoir titled Reuben and Wry.