Shirley Jones

She was born in Charleroi, PA, but her family moved to Smithton, PA, in 1937, when Shirley was three.

Graduated from South Huntingdon High School in Ruffs Dale, Pennsylvania, in 1952.

Named after child star Shirley Temple, Shirley Jones started singing at the age of six. She started formal training at the age of 12 and would dream of singing with her idol, Gordon MacRae. Upon graduating from high school, Shirley went to New York to audition for the casting director of Rodgers & Hammerstein. Taken by Shirley's beautifully trained voice, Shirley was signed as a nurse in the Broadway production of "South Pacific". Within a year, she would be in Hollywood to appear in her first film Oklahoma! (1955) as Laurey, the farm girl in love with cowboy Gordon MacRae.

Oklahoma! (1955) would be filmed in CinemaScope and Todd-AO wide-screen and would take a year to shoot.

After that, Shirley returned to Broadway for the stage production of "Oklahoma!" before returning to Hollywood for Carousel (1956). But by this time, musicals were a dying art and she would have a few lean years.

She would work on television in programs like Days Of Wine & Roses - Cliff Robertson & Piper Laurie, "Playhouse 90" Original TV Version (1956). With a screen image comparable to peaches-n-cream, Shirley wanted a darker role to change her image.

Gave birth to her first child at age 24, son Shaun Cassidy, on September 27, 1958.

In 1960, she would be cast as the vengeful prostitute in the Richard Brooks dramatic film Elmer Gantry (1960). With a brilliant performance against an equally brilliant Burt Lancaster, Shirley would win the Oscar for Supporting Actress.

Was the 52nd actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Elmer Gantry (1960) at The 33rd Annual Academy Awards (1961) on April 17, 1961.

But the public wanted the good Shirley so she was cast as "Marion", the librarian, in the successful musical The Music Man (1962). Robert Preston had played the role on Broadway and his performance along with Shirley was magic.

Shirley would again work with little Ron Howard in The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963).

But the movies changed in the 60's and Shirley's image did not fit so she would see her movie career stop in 1965.

Gave birth to her third child at age 31, son Ryan Cassidy, on February 23, 1966.

Turned down the role of Carol Brady on The Brady Bunch (1969). Jones wasn't ready to do a television series, hence, the role was given to her best friend Florence Henderson.

There were always nightclubs, but Shirley would be remembered by another generation as "Shirley Partridge" in the television series The Partridge Family (1970). While the success of the show would do more for her stepson, teen idol David Cassidy, it would keep her name and face in the public view for the four years that the series ran. The show still plays in reruns. After the show ended, Shirley would spend the rest of the 70's in the land of television movies.

The television movie The Lives of Jenny Dolan (1975) would be made as a pilot for a series that was not picked up.

After she had refused an offer of reconciliation from Jack Cassidy, she received word that her ex-husband's penthouse apartment was on fire. Apparently, the fire started from his lit cigarette when he fell asleep on the couch; the following morning, firefighters found her ex-husband's body inside the gutted apartment. [12 December 1976].

Was a spokesperson for the popular California-based Ralphs Supermarkets in the 1980s.

Has ten grandchildren: Caitlin Cassidy (b. 1981), John Cassidy (b. 1985), Juliet (b. 1998), Caleb (b. 2005), Roan (b. 2006), Lila (b. 2008) and Mairin (2011) via her son Shaun Cassidy, and Cole (b. 1995) and Jack (b. 1998) via her son Patrick Cassidy. Meaghan (b. 2011) via her son Ryan.

Replaced Jane Wyman in the role of Aunt Polly in The Magical World of Disney: The Adventures of Pollyanna (1982), despite being under contract starring in Falcon Crest (1981).

Filed a libel suit in 1985 against the National Enquirer after it wrote that she was "drinking vodka like it was water"; won a retraction and a settlement.

Received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame on Valentine's Day, 1986.

Featured performer at the 1988 Republican National Convention.

Played by Dey Young in The David Cassidy Story (2000) and Eve Gordon in Come On, Get Happy: The Partridge Family Story (1999).

In December 2001 she and husband Marty Ingels spent more than $100,000 to outbid two developers for a half-acre commercial lot in downtown Fawnskin, CA. They plan to turn it into a public park.

On March 1, 2002, she filed for divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court from Marty Ingels, but later withdrew the petition. Conflict between Ingels and Jones' sons (his version) and his outrageous behavior (her version) had caused them to separate several times in recent years, the longest being for 10 months in 2000.