# Shirley Jones
**Shirley Jones** (born Shirley Mae Jones, March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer who became a star as the heroine of the 1950s film musicals *Oklahoma!* and *Carousel*, won the [Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress](https://www.edgepedia.org/academy-award-for-best-supporting-actress) for *Elmer Gantry* (1960), and reached her widest audience as the mother on the television series *The Partridge Family* in the 1970s.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0429250/bio/) • [2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/jones-shirley-1934)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | March 31, 1934; birth name Shirley Mae Jones; birthplace is given as Charleroi, Pennsylvania by IMDb and Masterworks Broadway, and as Smithton, Pennsylvania by Encyclopedia.com[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0429250/bio/) • [3](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/shirley-jones/) • [2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/jones-shirley-1934) |
| Breakthrough | Laurey in the 1955 film of *Oklahoma!*, opposite Gordon MacRae as Curly[4](https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=OK090) |
| Academy Award | Best Supporting Actress for the prostitute Lulu Bains in *Elmer Gantry* (1960), awarded at the 33rd Academy Awards on April 17, 1961[5](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1961) • [3](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/shirley-jones/) |
| Signature musical role | Marian Paroo, the librarian, in the 1962 film of *The Music Man*, with Robert Preston[3](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/shirley-jones/) |
| Television peak | Shirley Renfrew Partridge on *The Partridge Family*, ABC, September 25, 1970 to August 31, 1974, co-starring her stepson David Cassidy[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/jones-shirley-1934) • [6](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/shirley-jones) |
| Marriages | Jack Cassidy, married August 5, 1956 (divorced); Marty Ingels, married 1978 (separated 1995); one son, Shaun Cassidy, and stepson David Cassidy[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/jones-shirley-1934) |
| Recognition | Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (Motion Picture), February 14, 1986, at 1541 Vine Street; Emmy nominations in 1970, 2006, and 2010[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0429250/awards/) • [6](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/shirley-jones) |
## Early life and Rodgers and Hammerstein
Jones was named after the child star [Shirley Temple](https://www.edgepedia.org/shirley-temple), a top film star of 1934, the year she was born, and grew up in Smithton, Pennsylvania, a small town outside Pittsburgh, as the only child of Paul Jones, a brewery owner, and Marjorie Williams Jones.[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/jones-shirley-1934) She began singing in her church choir at about age six, started formal training at twelve, and studied drama at the Pittsburgh Playhouse.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0429250/bio/) • [8](https://www.mtishows.com/news/filichia-features-shirley-jones-and-patrick-cassidy-discuss-the-music-man) Her ambition at the time was not the stage: she wanted to be a veterinarian, and was on her way to college in 1953 when her parents took her on a summer trip to New York.[9](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/shirley-jones/) • [10](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/shirley-joness-autobiography-reveals-wild-details-about-her-life-and-loves/2013/07/25/79859952-f2f7-11e2-bdae-0d1f78989e8a_story.html)
**The audition.** Through the [Pittsburgh](https://www.edgepedia.org/pittsburgh) vocal coach and pianist Ken Welch, Jones attended an open audition with John Fearnley, the casting director for the songwriting team of [Richard Rodgers](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-rodgers) and [Oscar Hammerstein II](https://www.edgepedia.org/oscar-hammerstein-ii). After she sang "The Best Things in Life Are Free," Fearnley brought Rodgers over from a rehearsal across the street, and Hammerstein arrived soon after; the team offered her a seven-year personal contract on the spot.[8](https://www.mtishows.com/news/filichia-features-shirley-jones-and-patrick-cassidy-discuss-the-music-man) • [10](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/shirley-joness-autobiography-reveals-wild-details-about-her-life-and-loves/2013/07/25/79859952-f2f7-11e2-bdae-0d1f78989e8a_story.html) PBS's Richard Rodgers Gala profile dates the audition to age 19 and says the pair cast her in a minor role in their 1953 Broadway production *Me and Juliet*, from which she graduated to the lead on tour.[11](https://www.pbs.org/weta/onstage/rodgers/performers_jones.html) She was also placed in the chorus of the long-running *South Pacific*; Masterworks Broadway records her Broadway debut in 1953 as a replacement for one of the female Ensigns in that show.[3](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/shirley-jones/)
## The film musicals
Less than a year after her first audition, Jones was cast as Laurey Williams, the farm girl, in the 1955 film version of *Oklahoma!*, opposite [Gordon MacRae](https://www.edgepedia.org/gordon-macrae) as Curly. The film was shot in [CinemaScope](https://www.edgepedia.org/cinemascope) and Todd-AO wide-screen and took about a year to make.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0429250/bio/) • [4](https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=OK090) The cast also included [Rod Steiger](https://www.edgepedia.org/rod-steiger) as Jud and Gloria Grahame as Ado Annie.[4](https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=OK090) The critic Bosley Crowther described her as "so full of beauty, sweetness and spirit that a better Laurey cannot be dreamed."
She reunited with MacRae a year later as Julie Jordan in the 1956 film of *Carousel*, [Rodgers and Hammerstein](https://www.edgepedia.org/rodgers-and-hammerstein)'s second show. [Frank Sinatra](https://www.edgepedia.org/frank-sinatra) had originally been set to play Billy Bigelow; recordings, photo shoots, costuming, and rehearsals were done before he left the production and MacRae was brought in.[9](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/shirley-jones/) • [3](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/shirley-jones/) The back-to-back musicals made her a star; *Life* magazine put her on its cover of February 6, 1956 as "a show business phenomenon."
Further film musicals followed: *April Love* (1957) with [Pat Boone](https://www.edgepedia.org/pat-boone), *Never Steal Anything Small* (1959) with [James Cagney](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-cagney), and, most successfully, *The Music Man* (1962), in which she played Marian Paroo, the small-town librarian who falls for a con man played by Robert Preston. Crowther wrote that Jones played the man-shy librarian "with a thoroughly winning choir-girl air."[3](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/shirley-jones/) All told, she has appeared in more than forty films.[3](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/shirley-jones/)
## Elmer Gantry and dramatic work
By the late 1950s the Hollywood musical was declining, and Jones, who had been typed in wholesome good-girl parts, pursued dramatic roles.[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/jones-shirley-1934) In her own account, the film industry thought of her as a singer rather than an actor, and musicals had become too expensive to produce; she later said that without *Elmer Gantry* she would not have had the longevity her career enjoyed.[12](https://www.popcultureclassics.com/shirley_jones.html)
In *Elmer Gantry* (1960), opposite [Burt Lancaster](https://www.edgepedia.org/burt-lancaster), she played Lulu Bains, a prostitute corrupted by Lancaster's charismatic evangelist, a casting against type that her co-star helped bring about.[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/jones-shirley-1934) The performance won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 33rd Academy Awards, held April 17, 1961, where she appeared on stage with fellow winner [Peter Ustinov](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-ustinov).[5](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1961) In a 2013 interview she said the Oscar "really gave me the longevity I've had in my career because then I proved myself as an actress."[13](https://dianerehm.org/shows/2013-07-25/shirley-jones-shirley-jones-memoir/)
Her early television work included dramatic performances on the anthology series *Playhouse 90*, and she received a 1970 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for the NBC premiere *Silent Night, Lonely Night*.[11](https://www.pbs.org/weta/onstage/rodgers/performers_jones.html) • [6](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/shirley-jones)
## The Partridge Family
With her film career dwindling as the 1960s closed, Jones took the role of Shirley Renfrew Partridge, the widowed mother who forms a singing act with her children, on ABC's *The Partridge Family*, which ran from September 25, 1970, to August 31, 1974. Her stepson [David Cassidy](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-cassidy) played the eldest Partridge son and became a teen idol on the show.[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/jones-shirley-1934) • [3](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/shirley-jones/) Accounts differ on how to count the run: Encyclopedia.com describes four seasons and nine hit record albums from the series, while PBS's gala profile says she led the show through five seasons.[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/jones-shirley-1934) • [11](https://www.pbs.org/weta/onstage/rodgers/performers_jones.html) During the 1970s her record output was dominated by Partridge Family LPs, and she also appeared on Marlo Thomas's *Free to Be ... You and Me* compilation.[11](https://www.pbs.org/weta/onstage/rodgers/performers_jones.html) Jones said the series suited her family life, since it let her work in Los Angeles and be home at night with her young children.[10](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/shirley-joness-autobiography-reveals-wild-details-about-her-life-and-loves/2013/07/25/79859952-f2f7-11e2-bdae-0d1f78989e8a_story.html)
## Later stage and television work
Jones returned to Broadway repeatedly: she created the title role in *Maggie Flynn* in 1968 opposite her then-husband Jack Cassidy, appeared in the 1994 revival of *The Sound of Music* and in *The King and I* in 1995, and joined the revival of *42nd Street* in 2004 as a replacement for Dorothy Brock.[3](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/shirley-jones/) • [11](https://www.pbs.org/weta/onstage/rodgers/performers_jones.html) On television she earned Emmy nominations as Aunt Batty in the Hallmark film *Hidden Places* (2006, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie) and as Lola Zellman in a guest role on A&E's *The Cleaner* (2010, Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series).[6](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/shirley-jones) • [14](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/shirley-jones/)
Her honors include a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for motion pictures, installed February 14, 1986, at 1541 Vine Street, and a lifetime achievement award at the Temecula Valley International Film Festival in 1999.[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0429250/awards/) Bob Hope once called her the "first lady of American song," and a 2008 retrospective album on Stage Door Records collected recordings from across her career, including duets with Gordon MacRae, Pat Boone, and Jack Cassidy.[15](https://www.stagedoorrecords.com/stage9008.html) In 2013 she published the autobiography *Shirley Jones*, written with Wendy Leigh, which paired the account of her career with a candid treatment of her troubled marriage to Jack Cassidy.[10](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/shirley-joness-autobiography-reveals-wild-details-about-her-life-and-loves/2013/07/25/79859952-f2f7-11e2-bdae-0d1f78989e8a_story.html)
## References
1. [Shirley Jones – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0429250/bio/)
2. [Jones, Shirley (1934—), Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/jones-shirley-1934)
3. [Shirley Jones, The Official Masterworks Broadway Site](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/shirley-jones/)
4. [Oklahoma!, Oklahoma Historical Society Encyclopedia](https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=OK090)
5. [The 33rd Academy Awards | 1961, Oscars.org](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1961)
6. [Shirley Jones, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/shirley-jones)
7. [Shirley Jones – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0429250/awards/)
8. [Filichia Features: Shirley Jones and Patrick Cassidy Discuss The Music Man, Music Theatre International](https://www.mtishows.com/news/filichia-features-shirley-jones-and-patrick-cassidy-discuss-the-music-man)
9. [Shirley Jones Interview, American Masters Digital Archive, PBS](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/shirley-jones/)
10. [Shirley Jones's autobiography reveals wild details about her life and loves, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/shirley-joness-autobiography-reveals-wild-details-about-her-life-and-loves/2013/07/25/79859952-f2f7-11e2-bdae-0d1f78989e8a_story.html)
11. [On Stage: The Richard Rodgers Gala – Shirley Jones, PBS](https://www.pbs.org/weta/onstage/rodgers/performers_jones.html)
12. [Shirley Jones: She'll Never Walk Alone, PopCultureClassics.com](https://www.popcultureclassics.com/shirley_jones.html)
13. [Shirley Jones: "Shirley Jones: A Memoir", The Diane Rehm Show](https://dianerehm.org/shows/2013-07-25/shirley-jones-shirley-jones-memoir/)
14. [Shirley Jones, CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/shirley-jones/)
15. [Shirley Jones – Then & Now (STAGE 9008), Stage Door Records](https://www.stagedoorrecords.com/stage9008.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1940s to 1960s › Surnames J to L*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license