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‘Partridge Family’ child star Suzanne Crough dies in Nevada

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  • Suzanne Crough Condray, who played Tracy Partridge, was found dead Monday night at home in Laughlin, near Las Vegas. She was 52. (Inside Edition)

LAS VEGAS » The youngest daughter on hit 1970s television show "The Partridge Family" has died.

Suzanne Crough Condray, who played Tracy Partridge, was found dead Monday night at home in Laughlin, near Las Vegas. She was 52.

Las Vegas police said they believe she suffered a medical episode and that the circumstances of her death are not suspicious.

Her husband, William Condray, said his wife was a patient and loving wife, mother and grandmother.

"She was madly in love with her granddaughter," Condray said of their 1-year-old granddaughter, Evelena.

Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said Tuesday that an autopsy was scheduled Wednesday. Her cause of death is pending the results of forensic laboratory testing.

The child actress was featured in commercials and on "The Partridge Family," which ran on ABC from September 1970 to March 1974. The show revolved around a widowed mother and her five children who formed a band. The series starred Shirley Jones, with her real-life stepson David Cassidy as the resident heartthrob.

Crough as Tracy played the tambourine as a member of the TV family’s band. She was often the warm backdrop that set up the zingers flung out by her on-screen brother Danny, played by Danny Bonaduce.

As an adult, she continued to work in movies for television and had a starring role in the film "Teenage Father," according to IMDB.com. The film won director Taylor Hackford an Oscar for best live action short film in 1979, and Crough was thanked in his acceptance speech. Her husband said that she had given her ticket to the awards show to Hackford, so that he could bring his wife.

Later on in life, the former actress attended the occasional "Partridge Family" reunion, including interviews and other celebrations. Her husband said she was especially close with Dave Madden, the grumpy manager on the show who died in 2014, and was very fond of Jones, her on-screen mother.

Crough lived for years in her native California with her husband and two daughters. She had also owned the Book Center bookstore in Temecula, California.

Her tearful husband said Tuesday that he met the beautiful, funny and quick-witted Crough through a friend when they were in their 20s. "I asked her if she was a real actress, and she asked me if I was a real cop," he said.

He worked at the time in law enforcement on the graveyard shift and later went to law school. Once they married, Crough was still interested in acting, her husband said, but she wanted to focus on their family.

"I can’t tell you the number of sacrifices she made in order for me to get through law school and for our kids. She was truly a devout mother," he said.

Crough stayed in touch with a group of child stars even after the family moved to Nevada. They relocated because she was promoted to a management role with a retail company.

This year, Crough was helping to plan her eldest daughter’s wedding, and the couple had plans to mark their anniversary.

"My wife and I were going to celebrate 30 years of marriage in July," he said.

Services have not been set.

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