Shirley Jones - 92 Today!

Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934, Charleroi, Pennsylvania) is an American actress and singer celebrated for her luminous presence in mid-20th-century musicals and her later work in television. 

She won an Academy Award for Elmer Gantry and became a beloved TV icon as matriarch Shirley Partridge in The Partridge Family.

Winning her academy award

Jones, who was raised in western Pennsylvania and was crowned Miss Pittsburgh in 1952, started her singing career in church. After auditioning for the legendary musical theatre writing team Rodgers and Hammerstein and being immediately signed, she appeared on Broadway in Oklahoma before transitioning into film roles.

She reprised her Oklahoma role on screen in 1956, followed by roles in Carousel and The Music Man. In 1960, she won the Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for Elmer Gantry, which remained a career highlight.

In the 1970s, she became famous to a new generation of fans when she took the role of Shirley Partridge, the matriarch of a family musical group, in TV’s The Partridge Family, alongside her stepson David Cassidy.

The hit sitcom produced chart-topping songs and made both Jones and Cassidy household names. She later appeared in numerous television films and series, maintaining a steady career into her eighties.

I Think I Love You - The Partridge Family