Actress-singer Shirley Jones has had a 70-plus year stage and screen career, starring in family-friendly musicals like Oklahoma! and The Music Man and as the matriarch on the sitcom, The Partridge Family. She was born on March 31, 1934, in Charleroi, PA to Marjorie and Paul Jones, owners of the Jones Brewing Company.

Jones started singing in church when she was just 6 years old, taking voice lessons to improve her ability. She participated in school plays in high school and won the Miss Pittsburgh title in 1952. Her first audition was for Rodgers and Hammerstein who were so impressed that they signed her under a personal contract. She debuted on Broadway in South Pacific, then was in Me and Juliet, and had the lead role in Chicago.

Her first TV role came in a 1950 episode of Fireside Theatre, then she was cast in the ’55 film adaptation of Oklahoma! as the female lead. This was followed by a string of musicals including Carousel, April Love, and The Music Man. During that period, she won an Academy Award for her work in Elmer Gantry, starred in The Courtship of Eddie’s Father and Fluffy, and was nominated for an Emmy for Silent Night, Lonely Night.

From 1970 to 1974, she starred in The Partridge Family as Shirley Partridge, the widowed mother and head of a family pop band. Not only was the show a big success across age demographics, it also spawned pop hits like “I Think I Love You,” which Jones sang with TV son (and real life stepson) David Cassidy.

After the series ended, she starred in a string of TV movies and led the short-lived series Shirley in which she played another widowed mother. Her work in the ‘80s included appearances in The Love Boat, The Slap Maxwell Story, and Murder, She Wrote. She did episodes of Empty Nest, Burke’s Law, Something So Right, Melrose Place, played the older woman girlfriend Celia in The Drew Carey Show, and did a guest spot on Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Jones played herself in That ‘70s Show, earned a second Emmy nomination for Hidden Places, starred in the raunchy comedy Grandma’s Boy, had recurring roles in Monarch Cove and Days of Our Lives, and was nominated for a third Emmy for The Cleaner. Some of her more recent roles have included episodes of Cougar Town, Children’s Hospital, and she was recently in Forgiven This Gun4hire.