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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.
Early lifeJones 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 careerIn 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 1960sJones 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 actressAs 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 seriesThe Partridge FamilyIn 1970, after her film roles dwindled, and for turning down the role of Carol Brady on The Brady Bunch, which ultimately gave the role to fellow actress, Florence Henderson, 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:
DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Shirley
Category:American female singers
Category:American film actors
Category:American television actors
Category:American vegetarians
Category:Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winners
Category:Actors from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Category:1934 births
Category:Living people
Category:Musicians from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Category:People from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
Category:Republicans (United States)
Category:Soap opera actors
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