Shirley Jones

Actress and singer whose claim to fame was the tambourine-playing mother, Shirley Partridge, on The Partridge Family, where she starred with her stepson David Cassidy.



Shirley Mae Jones was born in Pennsylvania; Paul and Marjorie Jones named their only child after the beloved and famous Shirley Temple. Jones began her singing career at the age of six in the Methodist Church Choir and took voice lessons from Ralph Lewando. She attended the Pittsburgh Playhouse in 1952 and went on to New York in 1953. It was here that she landed her first musical role on Broadway as a nurse in South Pacific. From there she went to Hollywood, where her singing/acting career flourished.



In 1952, after graduating from South Huntingdon High School, Shirley Jones won the Miss Pittsburgh Pageant and was the first runner up in the Miss Pennsylvania Pageant, which included a two-year drama scholarship to the Pittsburgh Playhouse. Instead of keeping with her original college plans, Jones decided to move to New York and pursue a career on the Broadway stage.

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