Shirley Jones's BIO Her role as Shirley Renfrew Partridge on TV series The Partridge Family (1970-1974)
March 31, 1934 (Charleroi, Pennsylvania, USA)
Shirley Jones's quotes |
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I was not an expert on child actors.
Oh, sure, I was doing a lot of movies for television, but the big screen was not as easy.
You had a salary every week, whereas if you had a movie, it's one lump sum and then you wait for four, five, or six months and not work.
But that's what made the show so much fun because we were a normal family BUT we had that extra little cherry on the cake that made us interesting.
The fact of the matter is, Marty can't lie. Everything is out there, whether he is talking to the press or the neighbor next door.
The Music Man is charming to watch on television.
Movies were always done on location then. You rarely ever did a film in the studio.
I'm not very good at harmony so I'm sure I had the melody.
I wanted some family structure and stability, and that's what The Partridge Family afforded me, not only financially but in the fact that I could be at home with my kids.
The musicals had a good, happy feeling, saying that the world is a better place.
I knew from the beginning that I wasn't supposed to front the band.
But for that time, it was a very good salary if the series was a hit.
I've never been a rock fan at all.
The woman was one of the first working mothers without a husband - which at that time I thought was a good step forward.
Now, for me, I want to keep an interest in what I am doing and have fun.
What AMC is trying to do is make people aware of what classics these films were.
I liked The Partridge Family because it had music in it and I felt it had a chance to succeed because it was different.
I thought we did a great pilot, which sold the show.
I didn't have to do a lot of driving, but it was nerve-wracking in the beginning. I would basically just put it in gear and we would go.
There's too much reality these days.
Actually, I had turned down The Brady Bunch first.
That show came at a time in my life where I wanted some normalcy.
They had musicals in the 1940s, of course, the MGM musicals, and then they did the stage musicals, and then they just stopped.
There's always someone to tell you you have to. Wrong. Don't. Rather, spend time finding out who you really are. Work on being more of that. A lot better than the futile "gotta change" treadmill, which never really ends.
I obviously learned to drive on an automatic so I had no idea how to drive a clutch with the gearshift in the floor.
We would have the readings every Monday, and read the scripts.
I feel very fortunate to have been associated with people such as Rodgers and Hammerstein. I think they were geniuses of their time.
It took a full week to shoot the show. We would go over the script and rehearse on Monday, and then shoot from Tuesday through Friday.
The genre of the European film was total stark reality and America was eager to get in on that kind of market.
Now, Marty's humor is a bit different and he has a different approach to humor than Jack did, but Jack wanted to be a stand-up comic.
I would have to be in make-up anytime after 5:30 AM, depending on my call.
Now in my career, I want to play roles that are challenging and fun and different for me.
I'm a fan of Jerome Kern and Gershwin. That's my kind of music.
The musicals will always remain very important to me because they are classics.
Actually, I turned down television. I was not about to go into television.
I had a live-in nanny.
The European market just was not receptive to the musicals.
But the salaries were nowhere near what they are today.
At that time it was a step down. Movie stars didn't do television.
I had done 25 motion pictures prior to The Partridge Family and nobody knew my name.
And it was an old bus. I mean, it had the clutch and shift in the floor.
A musical would go on for six months to a year. A regular movie was usually two or three months.
I had a problem with the 3-camera shoots because that was a very different experience.
It's great to see that celebrities can be just like us - that they too have their highs and lows, that they don't always wake up looking their best, that they have bad habits and annoying traits.
They put us opposite All In The Family and that was the death of the show.
For Shaun, I had a nurse from the time he was born until he was about four or five.
I don't think it had anything to do with David leaving. I think the show had just run its course.
All In The Family was a brand new concept in television, and suddenly we were old hat.
Now, they would welcome changes but I never actually just threw out the idea. That would have been too difficult to do.
Again, I liked the regularity of a TV series. I liked knowing what I am going to do every day.
First of all, I was home and working with kids, and they loved the show.
I don't read music! I have a good ear, fortunately, but I don't read.
When David was growing up, even though I spent time with him during the summer and on holidays, he was very withdrawn and reticent.
I knew I would be mostly in the background to David, because he was the lead singer.
But with TV, the days were shorter and they were much quicker.
We assume that celebrities have it easy and so love to watch them having to endure a bit of hardship.
I don't miss those days, but I miss that kind of musical format. I love watching them still.
David lived with his mother. His father and mother were arch-enemies, unfortunately, for most of his life.
David started on Broadway and Jack respected his talent.
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