Coincidentally, the first star Jones ever met was West, who was performing at the Twin Coaches supper club in Rostraver around 1954.

For her second Broadway show, Me and Juliet, she started as a chorus girl, and then an understudy for the lead role, earning rave reviews in Chicago.

[8] Jones impressed Rodgers and Hammerstein with her musically trained voice, and was cast as the female lead in the film adaptation Oklahoma!

However, she won a 1960 Academy Award for her performance in Elmer Gantry portraying a woman corrupted by the title character played by Burt Lancaster.

With an uncharacteristically brunette hairstyle, Jones played the role of a woman who falls in love with Tony Randall's lion-owning professor in Fluffy (1965).

In her film career, she has worked with some of Hollywood's icons: Jimmy Stewart, Gene Kelly, Marlon Brando, James Cagney, Henry Fonda, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and director John Ford.

The series focused on a young widowed mother whose five children form a pop-rock group after the entire family painted its signature bus to travel.

Jones realized, however, that: The problem with Partridge—though it was great for me and gave me an opportunity to stay home and raise my kids—when my agents came to me and presented it to me, they said if you do a series and it becomes a hit show, you will be that character for the rest of your life and your film career will go into the toilet, which is what happened.

[12] Her real-life 20-year-old stepson David Cassidy, who was an unknown actor at the time, played Shirley Partridge's eldest son Keith and became a teen idol.

The show also spawned a number of albums and singles by The Partridge Family, performed by David Cassidy and Shirley Jones.

[12] She was also in the dramatic project There Were Times, Dear, in which she played a loyal wife whose husband is dying of Alzheimer's disease; she was nominated for an Emmy Award for this work.

In July 2006, Jones received another Emmy Award nomination for her supporting performance in the television film Hidden Places.

In early 2008, it was announced that Jones would play Colleen Brady on the long-running NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives.

Jones guest-starred on ABC Family's short-lived show Ruby & The Rockits as David and Patrick's mother.

The album featured new recordings of songs including "Beauty and the Beast", "Memory", and a sentimental tribute to The Music Man.

[21] Jones and Ingels wrote an autobiography based on their relationship called Shirley & Marty: An Unlikely Love Story.

"[23] On the evening of December 11, 1976, after Jones had refused an offer of reconciliation from Jack Cassidy, she received news that her ex-husband's penthouse apartment was on fire.

[citation needed] Apparently, the fire started from his lit cigarette when he fell asleep on the couch; the following morning, firefighters found Cassidy's body inside the gutted apartment.

Jones said of Crough's death on Hollywood Life:I am so devastated to hear of the sad and sudden loss of Suzanne.

Suzanne Crough ... my sweet TV baby for 5 years ... only 52 ... never a sick day ... two adorable children ... a devoted husband ... everything to live for ... just fell asleep at the dining room table and left us forever.

[28] With regard to David Cassidy's alcohol abuse and legal problems, Jones once shared her family's related concerns:We are just scared to death that we are going to wake up one morning and find out that he is dead on the floor.

[30][31] The day after his death, Jones commented publicly:Long before he played my son on The Partridge Family, he was my stepson in real life.

As a little boy, his sweet sensitivity, and wicked sense of humor were already on display, and I will treasure the years we spent working and growing together.