Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones
The Partridge Family, The Music Man, Carousel, Oklahoma!, Elmer Gantry
Note: For her doodle, Shirley Jones taped together two 8.5" x 5.5" doodle cards.
The Shirley Jones story is the quintessential American Cinderella Dream. An only child, she was born on March 31, 1934 in Charleroi, PA and named after Shirley Temple. She had a normal, carefree childhood in this quiet, small town. However, she was already showing signs of extraordinary talent by the age of six, when she became the youngest member of her church choir.
Immediately following her graduation from high school, she was spotted by a scout photographer for the coveted Miss Pittsburg Beauty Pageant. She zoomed by 43 other anxious entries to be named Pittsburg's crowned princess. She went on to compete in the Miss Pennsylvania pageant where she became the first runner up and was awarded a scholarship to the famed Pittsburg Playhouse.
Following her apprenticeship at the playhouse, she headed to New York where, incredibly,
America's number one musical show masters signed her to an exclusive personal contract! She had learned that replacement try-outs for the chorus of South Pacific were underway, so she auditioned. Richard Rodgers, in a rare visit to a chorus audition, asked her to wait for his associate, Oscar Hammerstein. She did and the stage lit up. Rodgers & Hammerstein had found themselves a new gem.
Her first stage appearance was as one of the nurses in South Pacific. Rodgers & Hammerstein then gave her a small role in their new musical Me and Juliet. She faired so well that she played the lead role in the subsequent national tours. It was during this tour that preparations for the movie version of Oklahoma! began in Hollywood. Along with scores of contenders, Rodgers & Hammerstein arranged for Shirley to interrupt her tour to fly to Hollywood for a screen test. Months later, the call came letting her know that she was Oklahoma!'s new Laurey and America's new Cinderella Sweetheart.
The movie follow-ups to the Oklahoma! smash hit came quickly: The Courtship of Eddie's Father opposite Glenn Ford; Bedtime Story with David Niven and Marlon Brando; The Happy Ending with Lloyd Bridges; The Cheyenne Social Club with Henry Fonda and James Stewart; Never Steal Anything Small opposite James Cagney; Two Rode Together co-starring Richard Widmark and James Stewart; Pepe with Cantinflas; April Love with Pat Boone; and, of course, she starred with her Oklahoma! co-star Gordon MacRae in the Rodgers & Hammerstein motion picture musical Carousel.
In 1960, Shirley won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her powerful portrayal of Lulu Baines - a vengeful prostitute who all but topples the growing empire of an ambitious evangelist - in the ageless American Class Elmer Gantry with Burt Lancaster.
Meredith Wilson's captivating story of The Music Man had electrified Broadway for four and a half years. Hollywood knew Shirley was the only one real "Marion" to play opposite Robert Preston in the film version. To this day, it is one of Columbia's biggest moneymakers and one of Shirley's proudest achievements.
Television gave us The Partridge Family (1970-1974) series with Shirley as a matriarch of a family's successful rock and roll band. But there were many significant TV-Movie specials too: Silent Night, Lonely Night, a very poignant Christmas story with Lloyd Bridges that earned her an Emmy nomination. Another Emmy nomination came in 1985 for her work in the acclaimed PBC movie There Were Times, Dear about the tragedy of living with a victim of Alzheimer's disease. In 2010, she received one more Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her performance as "Lola Zellman" in "Does Everybody Have a Drink?" in A&E's The Cleaner.
In 1979, Shirley starred in a weekly television series called Shirley for NBC. She was in constant demand by every TV variety show having already guested with Ed Sullivan, Steve Allen, Bob Hope, Carol Burnett, Dean Martin, Andy Williams, Perry Como, Danny Thomas, Danny Kaye, Johnny Carson, Mike Douglas, Dinah Shore, and two stints as hostess of NBC's series extravaganza The Big Show. She was headlined at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and traveled to Russia to how the incredible Moscow Circus for two CBS specials.
Shirley has made numerous summer tours starring in favorite theater musicals such as The Sound of Music and Show Boat. In 1967, she returned to Broadway with her first husband, Jack Cassidy, to perform in the musical Maggie Flynn. They also toured the nation with the thriller/drama play Wait Until Dark.
In 2004, Shirley returned to Broadway again 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, she revisited the musical Carousel onstage in Massachusetts portraying "Cousin Nettie". She continues to appear venues nationwide, in concerts, and in speaking engagements. Most recently, she played Burt's Mom in FOX's Raising Hope and guest-starred in Nickelodeon's Victorious.
On December 1, 1974, Shirley met TV producer Marty Ingels at an Art Exhibit on the lawn of actor Michael Landon's home. They married three years later after a frantic courtship so outrageous and romantic that the entire story has been told in their 1989 autobiography Shirley and Marty - An Unlikely Love Story. Shirley's three children with the late actor Jack Cassidy - Shaun, Patrick, and Ryan - all work within the film industry. She has nine grandchildren: Caitlin, Jake, Juliet, Caleb, Roan, Lila & Marian from son Shaun, and Cole & Jack, from son Patrick. Actor/Singer David Cassidy is her stepson.
Shirley Jones at the Internet Movie Database
Shirley Jones Official Website