Shirley Mae Jones
(born March 31, 1934) is an American singer and actress of stage, film and television. She starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma!
, Carousel
, and The Music Man
. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing a prostitute in Elmer Gantry
. She is probably best known as Shirley Partridge, the widowed mother of five children in the sitcom/television series, The Partridge Family
, co-starring her real-life stepson David Cassidy, son of Jack Cassidy.
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SHIRLEY JONES TICKETS
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Early life
Jones was born in
Charleroi, Pennsylvania, a
suburb of
Pittsburgh, to Marjorie Williams, a strict strong-minded homemaker, and Paul Jones, owners of the
Jones Brewing Company. An only child, she was named after
Shirley Temple. The family later moved to nearby
Smithton, Pennsylvania. Jones could sing almost as soon as she could speak. Encouraged by her summer camp counselors, her family arranged for teenaged Shirley to study twice a week, in
Pittsburgh, with the world-renowned singer and teacher, Ralph Lawando. Afterwards, she frequently joined her father for a show at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, where she fell in love with the musical theater.
Early stage career
In
Manhattan, one of Shirley's friends convinced her to sing for a
Broadway agent, Gus Sherman. Sherman was pleased to put Jones under contract, and with her parents' approval, she resettled in
New York and gave herself one year to become a Broadway performer. She only had $100 in her pocket. If she didn't succeed, she would move back to Smithton and work as a veterinarian. Her first audition was for a replacement chorus girl in the long-running
musical,
South Pacific
.
Rodgers and Hammerstein, writers of
South Pacific
, saw great potential in Shirley. She became the first and only singer to be put under personal contract with the songwriters. The duo cast her in her second
Broadway show,
Me and Juliet
. On tour, she understudied the lead and earned rave reviews.
Movie actress of the 1950s and 1960s
Jones impressed
Richard Rodgers and
Oscar Hammerstein II with her musically-trained voice and was cast as the female lead in the
film adaptation of their hit play
Oklahoma!
in 1955. Other musicals quickly followed, including
Carousel
(1956),
April Love
(1957) and
The Music Man
(1962), in which she was often typecast as a wholesome, kind character. However, she won a 1960
Oscar for her performance in
Elmer Gantry
as a woman corrupted by the title character played by
Burt Lancaster. Jones' character becomes a
prostitute who encounters her seducer years later and takes her revenge. She was reunited with
Ron Howard (who had played a role in
The Music Man
) in
The Courtship of Eddie's Father
in 1963. Jones landed the role of a lady who fell in love with the professor in
Fluffy
(1965). In addition, she also has an impressive stage resume, including playing the title character in the
Broadway musical
Maggie Flynn
in 1968.
Prolific character actress
As a teenager, Jones made her debut on an episode of
Fireside Theatre
. The part led to other roles such as:
Gruen Guild Playhouse
,
Ford Star Jubilee
,
Playhouse 90
,
Lux Video Theatre
,
The United States Steel Hour
,
The DuPont Show of the Month
,
Make Room for Daddy
, where she played herself,
The Comedy Spot
,
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
,
The Name of the Game
,
McMillan and Wife
,
Disneyland
,
The Love Boat
,
Hotel
,
Murder, She Wrote
,
Melrose Place
,
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
, among many others.
TV series
The Partridge Family
In 1970, after her film roles dwindled, Jones was more than happy to be the producers' first choice to audition for the lead role of Shirley Partridge, in
The Partridge Family
, a
sitcom based on the real-life musical family,
The Cowsills, for
ABC. The show focused on a young widowed mother, whose five children form a
pop/
rock group, after the entire family painted its signature bus to travel. She was convinced that the combination of music and comedy would be a surefire hit. Jones realized however that:
The problem with Partridge
- though it was great for me and gave me an opportunity to stay home and raise my kids - when my agents came to me and presented it to me, they said if you do a series and it becomes a hit show, you will be that character for the rest of your life and your movie career will go into the toilet, which is what happened. But I have no regrets. [1]
During its first season, it was indeed a hit, as it premiered in over 70 countries. Within months, Jones and her co-stars were
pop culture TV icons. Her real-life twenty-year-old stepson
David Cassidy, who was an unknown actor at the time, was playing Shirley Partridge's eldest son, Keith, became the hottest
teen idol in the country. The show itself also spawned a number of records and songs, performed by David and Shirley. That same year, "
I Think I Love You" reached #1 on the
Billboard Hot 100 music chart.
While enjoying playing Shirley Partridge, Jones was in a real-life crisis with her emotionally-troubled husband. This sitcom also starred a lot of unknown actors and/or actresses, such as ex-
model Susan Dey as the eldest daughter and second child, Laurie, future
radio personality Danny Bonaduce as sarcastic son, Danny, and future bookstore manager
Suzanne Crough as the youngest daughter and child, Tracy.
Jeremy Gelbwaks played the original Chris Partridge, but left the show after the first season because his parents were moving to another state. Future race car driver
Brian Forster replaced him during the series' second season in 1971.
By 1974, the ratings had sunk low, David Cassidy finally had enough of playing Keith Partridge, and one of his teenage fans had died of a
heart failure from injuries sustained while attending one of his concerts.
The Partridge Family
was dropped from the prime-time line-up after four seasons and 96 episodes. Jones was outraged about the series' cancellation and she held the show together. In fact, it was one of the six series to be cancelled that year, along with
Room 222
,
The F.B.I.
,
The Brady Bunch
,
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
, and
Here's Lucy
, to make room for new shows.
Shirley Jones' friendship with David Cassidy's family began in the mid-to-late 1950s, when David was just 6, after he learned about his father's divorce from his mother Evelyn Ward, before remarrying Shirley. Upon David's first meeting with Shirley before co-starring with her on
The Partridge Family
, he said, "The day he tells me that they're divorced, he tells me, 'We're remarried, and let me introduce you to my new wife.' He was thrilled her first movie,
Oklahoma!
(1955), had come out; and my dad took me to see it --- I just see her, and I go, uh-oh, it doesn't really quite register with me, 'cause I'm in total shock, because I wanted to hate her, but, the instant that I met her, I got the essence of her. She's a very warm open, sweet good human being. She couldn't have thought of me in the coldness of the ice, anymore than she did." Shirley was shocked to hear her real-life stepson was going to audition for the role of Keith Partridge. David said, "At the auditions, they introduced me to the lead actress (Shirley Jones), cause they had no idea, they had no idea. So I said, 'What are you doing here?' She looked at me and said, 'What are you doing here?' And I said, 'Well, I'm reading for the lead guy.' I said, 'What are you doing here?' She said, 'I'm the mother!'" Cassidy discussed his relationship with his stepmother on the show: "She wasn't my mother, and I can be very open, and we can speak, and became very close friends for me. She was a very good role model for me, watching the way, you know, she dealt with people on the set, and watching people revere her." After the show's cancellation, Cassidy remained very close to his half-brothers and the rest of his
Partridge Family
castmates, especially Shirley.
Cassidy appeared on many shows alongside his stepmother, in addition to
A&E Biography
, such as
TV Land Confidential
,
The Today Show
, one of the presenters of his stepmother's
Intimate Portrait
on
Lifetime Television, and the defunct
reality show,
In Search of the Partridge Family
, where he served as co-executive producer. The rest of the cast also celebrated the 25th, 30th and the 35th anniversary of
The Partridge Family
(although Cassidy was unavailable to attend the 25th anniversary in 1995, due to other commitments). In addition, Jack Cassidy's death in 1976 drew Jones and Cassidy closer, as Shirley's three children and stepson mourned their father.
Shirley
and other projects
Shirley tried her hand at television for the second time starring in
Shirley
, but failed to win ratings. Jones also played the "older woman" girlfriend of Drew Carey's character in several episodes of
The Drew Carey Show
.
She also won fans in the memorable
dramatic project,
There Were Times, Dear
, in which she played a loyal wife, whose husband is dying of
Alzheimer's Disease; she was nominated for an
Emmy for this work.
In February 1986 Shirley Jones unveiled her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Vine Street just around the corner from Hollywood Boulevard.
Jones had a stellar turn in a rare revival of
Noel Coward's operetta
Bitter Sweet
at the
Long Beach Civic Light Opera in 1983. In 2004, Shirley returned to Broadway in a revival of
42nd Street
, portraying diva "Dorothy Brock", opposite her son
Patrick Cassidy, the first time a mother and son were known to star together on Broadway. In July 2005, Shirley revisited the musical
Carousel
onstage in Massachusetts portraying "Cousin Nettie". Shirley continues to appear in venues nationwide, in concert and in speaking engagements.
In July 2006, Jones received an
Emmy nomination for her supporting performance in the TV film
Hidden Places
. Shirley was nominated for a
Screen Actors Guild award for the same film, but lost to
Helen Mirren for
Elizabeth I
. She also appeared in 2006's
Grandma's Boy
, produced by
Adam Sandler, as a
nymphomaniac senior citizen.
On
November 16,
2007, Shirley Jones took stage at the Oklahoma
Centennial Spectacular concert at the
Ford Center celebrating Oklahoma's 100th birthday. Jones sang the songs "
Oklahoma!" and "
People Will Say We're In Love" from the musical
Oklahoma!
.
In early 2008, it was announced that Shirley would play
Colleen Brady on the long-running
NBC soap opera
Days of our Lives
.
On August 25, UK label Stage Door Records will release the retrospective collection - 'Shirley Jones - Then & Now' featuring 24 songs from Jones' musical career including songs from the timeless films 'Oklahoma!', 'Carousel' and 'April Love'. The album also features new recordings such as 'Beauty And The Beast', 'Memory' and a sentimental tribute to 'The Music Man'.
Personal life
thumb,
September 29,
1982
She was best friends with her late co-star
Gordon MacRae and his ex-wife Shiela, and he was the godfather of her first son,
Shaun Cassidy. She also admitted that she had a crush on Gordon when she was young and was starstruck when she worked opposite him on
Oklahoma!
. She is also the one who convinced MacRae to take the part as Billy Bigelow in
Carousel
.
Jones married the actor
Jack Cassidy on
August 5,
1956, with whom she had three sons,
Shaun,
Patrick, and
Ryan.
David Cassidy, Jack's only child from his first marriage to actress
Evelyn Ward, became her stepson. Divorcing Cassidy in 1974, she later married comic/actor
Marty Ingels on
November 13,
1977. Despite drastically different personalities and several separations (she filed, then withdrew, a divorce petition in 2002), they remained married.
Jones' father, Paul, underwent surgery for
lung cancer in 1958 but died within days.
Jones is a registered
Republican, who appeared at the 1988 Republican Convention and sang the National Anthem. She also sang at the 2003 lighting of the
National Christmas Tree in
Washington, D.C., at President
George W. Bush's request.
Jones and her son
Shaun Cassidy are the only mother and son to each have a song reach number one on the Billboard Charts. Jones hit #1 with The Partridges "I Think I Love You" in 1970 (sung with stepson David Cassidy). Shaun followed that in 1977 with "Da Do Ron Ron."
On the evening of
December 11,
1976, after Jones had refused an offer of reconciliation from Jack Cassidy, she received news that her ex-husband's penthouse apartment was in flames. Apparently, the fire started from his lit cigarette while he was falling asleep on the couch. The next morning, the firefighters found Cassidy's dead body inside.
In 1979, the
National Enquirer
ran a story about Jones' consumption of alcoholic beverages and her husband's erratic behavior. Together they filed a $20 million lawsuit that dragged on until 1984 when the
Enquirer
agreed to a retraction and an out-of-court settlement.
Jones and Ingels wrote an
autobiography based on their quirky relationship/marriage,
Shirley & Marty: An Unlikely Love Story
(Morrow, 1990, co-written with Mickey Herskowitz).
Jones is a
vegetarian.
[2]
Filmography
- Oklahoma!
(1955)
- Carousel
(1956)
- April Love
(1957)
- Never Steal Anything Small
(1959)
- Bobbikins
(1959)
- Elmer Gantry
(1960)
- Pepe
(1960)
- Two Rode Together
(1961)
- The Music Man
(1962)
- The Courtship of Eddie's Father
(1963)
- A Ticklish Affair
(1963)
- Dark Purpose
(1964)
- Bedtime Story
(1964)
- Fluffy
(1965)
- The Secret of My Success
(1965)
- The Gulf
(1969)
- The Happy Ending
(1969)
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- Oddly Coupled
(1970)
- The Cheyenne Social Club
(1970)
- Beyond the Poseidon Adventure
(1979)
- Tank
(1984)
- Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul
(1993) (documentary)
- Cops n Roberts
(1995)
- This Is My Father
(1998) (documentary)
- Gideon
(1999)
- The Adventures of Cinderella's Daughter
(2000)
- Ping!
(2000)
- Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth
(2000)
- Manna from Heaven
(2002)
- The Creature of the Sunny Side Up Trailer Park
(2004)
- Raising Genius
(2004)
- Grandma's Boy
(2006)
- Christmas Is Here Again
(2007) (voice)
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Television work
- Out of the Blue
(1968) (unsold pilot)
- Silent Night, Lonely Night
(1969)
- The Partridge Family
(1970-1974)
- The Girls of Huntington House
(1973)
- The Family Nobody Wanted
(1975)
- Winner Take All
(1975)
- The Lives of Jenny Dolan
(1975)
- Yesterday's Child
(1977)
- Evening in Byzantium
(1978)
- Who'll Save Our Children?
(1978)
- A Last Cry for Help
(1979)
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- Shirley
(1979-1980)
- The Children of An Lac
(1980)
- Inmates: A Love Story
(1981)
- The Adventures of Pollyanna
(1982)
- Hotel
(1983) (pilot for series)
- Charlie
(1989) (unsold pilot)
- Dog's Best Friend
(1997)
- Hidden Places
(2006)
- Monarch Cove
(2006)
- Days of our Lives
(2008)
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Stage work
- South Pacific
(1953) (Broadway, ensemble role)
- Me and Juliet
(1954) (Chicago)
- Oklahoma!
(1956) (European tour with Jack Cassidy)
- The Beggar's Opera
(1957) (with Jack Cassidy)
- Wish You Were Here!
(1959) (Dallas State Fair Theater with Jack Cassidy)
- The Sound of Music
(1966) (Regional - various)
- Maggie Flynn
(1967) (Broadway with Jack Cassidy)
- Wait Until Dark
(1967) (with Jack Cassidy)
- The Marriage Band
(1972) (with Jack Cassidy)
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- On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
(1974)
- Show Boat
(1976)
- The Sound of Music
(1977)
- Bitter Sweet
(1982)
- Love Letters
(1994) (with Marty Ingels)
- The King & I
(1994)
- Love Letters
(1995) (with Marty Ingels)
- 42nd Street
(2004) (Broadway with Patrick Cassidy)
- Carousel
(2005)
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