Shirley Jones

Shirley Jones (born March 31, 1934, Charleroi, Pennsylvania, U.S.) is an American actress who was a musical star in the 1950s and early ’60s before becoming better known for her role as Shirley Partridge, the matriarch of a family singing group, in the television sitcom The Partridge Family (1970–74).

1 of 3

2 of 3

3 of 3

Jones, who was named after child star Shirley Temple, showed early talent as a singer and began taking voice lessons as a child. Following high school she studied theatre at the Pittsburgh Playhouse and performed with the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera. She auditioned in New York City for Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, who were so impressed that they signed her to a seven-year contract. She had a small part (1953–54) in the Broadway musical South Pacific (1949–54) and was catapulted into national fame when she played the role of Laurey in Oklahoma! (1955), the film version of the smash-hit Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical. Jones performed as Julie, the female lead in Carousel (1956), the next Rodgers and Hammerstein musical to be adapted for film. She also appeared on such anthology television shows as Playhouse 90 and Lux Video Theatre, and she performed opposite Pat Boone in the movie musical April Love (1957) and with James Cagney in Never Steal Anything Small (1959). Jones played her first dramatic role, that of a good girl who becomes a prostitute out for revenge, in Richard Brooks’s Elmer Gantry (1960), based on the 1927 novel by Sinclair Lewis. Her performance earned her an Academy Award for best supporting actress. She then played an ingénue opposite Richard Widmark in the John Ford western Two Rode Together (1961) before returning to her roots with a winning performance as Marian, the librarian, in the musical The Music Man (1962).

Jones appeared with Glenn Ford and Ron Howard in Vincente Minnelli’s The Courtship of Eddie’s Father (1963), with Marlon Brando and David Niven in Bedtime Story (1964), and with Tony Randall in Fluffy (1965). She also acted in Brooks’s melodrama The Happy Ending (1969) and in Gene Kelly’s western comedy The Cheyenne Social Club (1970), where she played the operator of a brothel, and she appeared in such TV movies as But I Don’t Want to Get Married! (1970). Jones was twice nominated (1971 and 1972) for Golden Globe Awards for her role in The Partridge Family. Thereafter she mostly worked in television. She starred in the unsuccessful TV series Shirley (1979–80) and played recurring characters on The Slap Maxwell Story (1987–88), The Drew Carey Show (1995–2004), and Raising Hope (2010–14), and in 2008 she appeared in a story arc on the soap opera Days of Our Lives. In addition, she performed in the film Grandma’s Boy (2006) as well as the TV movie The Irresistible Blueberry Farm (2016).

Britannica Quiz

Oscar-Worthy Movie Trivia