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"When I was growing up, I loved my dad's passion for history and artifacts and things that tell a story." Ryan Cassidy is an American actor who belongs to the famous Cassidy family. As the youngest of the Cassidy brothers, Ryan always had to work twice as hard in order to get half of the exposure. With that being said, he never let anything get in his way. After making his acting debut in 1985 on the hit series The Facts of Life, Cassidy has gone on to have a successful career behind the scenes as a set designer.

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Throughout Cassidy's interesting career, he has touched on a number of different major projects. In order to get to know this young Cassidy brother a little bit better, we are going to take a close look at how he became the man that you see before you today! Let's dig deep into Cassidy's life as an actor, a set designer, and the youngest brother of one of Hollywood's largest families.

A Showbusiness Family

Ryan Cassidy was born on February 23, 1966, in Los Angeles, CA. His parents are Jack Cassidy and Shirley Jones. Before Jack Cassidy passed away at the young age of 49, he would establish himself as one of the best working actors on television. Throughout his career, Jack Cassidy managed to star in 76 projects over twenty years. He was nominated for a pair of Primetime Emmy awards along the way. Shirley Jones is an Oscar-winning actress with over 100 credits to her name. She has been in such films as The Music Man (1962), Grandma's Boy (2006), and The Partridge Family (1970). So, it was clear pretty early on that Cassidy had a chance to pursue the family business!

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While Cassidy was always interested in acting, his attention early on in life had actually been on a career in law enforcement. Cassidy would attend Beverly Hills High School until his graduation in 1984. It was about this time that Cassidy realized that maybe he had more interest in pursuing an entertainment career than he had thought! Cassidy would end up landing a decently large role on the hit NBC sitcom, The Facts of Life, and the rest would end up being history. Cassidy would pivot away from his initial aspirations in law enforcement in order to fully focus on his career in show business. 

Making Career Transitions

Ryan Cassidy would make his television debut in 1985 when he landed the role of Kevin Metcalf on The Facts of Life. At the time, Cassidy was only 19 years old and completely new to the actual world of acting. Despite not having appeared on television before, Cassidy would go on to successfully portray Kevin Metcalf for a full five episodes.  After experiencing some level of success with The Facts of Life, Cassidy would land an appearance on Jesse Hawkes in 1989 as Jake Hitman. That was, unfortunately, the last time that Cassidy would appear on television. With that being said, Cassidy did land a role in the Lionel Ritchie video, Penny Lover, in 1984.

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After spending roughly seven years of training and performing as an actor, Cassidy would end up leaving show business altogether. During his time away from the industry, Cassidy would pursue several different avenues of business in his private life before finally deciding to come back to Hollywood. Only this time, Cassidy was returning in order to pursue his passion as a set dresser and art designer. 

When Cassidy returned to Hollywood it would be on the set of JAG: Judge Advocate General in 1995. Cassidy would work as a set dresser for a single episode on the show before landing a steadier gig on 1996's The Secret World of Alex Mack. Cassidy would end up working for six episodes as a member of the swing gang on the production team. From there, Cassidy would land a great gig with one of the best puppeteers in the industry, Jim Henson. From 1996 to 1998, Cassidy worked with the art department on 21 episodes of Muppets Tonight.

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While Cassidy found the majority of his career success on television, he would eventually transition to working on some major blockbusters. Following his stint with Muppets Tonight, Cassidy would earn a set dresser gig on the Johnny Depp-led film, Blow (2001). Following Blow, Cassidy would find himself on another huge set when he teamed up with Will Ferrell and Jon Heder on Blades of Glory (2007). Most recently, Cassidy has worked on The Lincoln Lawyer (2011), Good Luck Charlie (2012), Semi-Pro (2008), and Mr. Woodcock (2007).

When he's not working on set, Cassidy spends time with his wife, Bonnie, and their one child. Bonnie and Cassidy have been together since 2008, and they currently live in Los Angeles, CA.  In his private life, Cassidy is a collector of maritime antiques as well as anything pertaining to the Titanic.  Cassidy would end up featured for his collection on a documentary about the Titanic that premiered on A&E in 1998.