Shirley Jones (1) (1934–)

Even if you like Hollywood gossip AND are a closet fan of The Partridge Family TV series, you should still skip this one. This may be the only 1-star I've ever awarded.

This is Shirley Jones's attempt to tell her fans that she is not that sunny, wholesome, do-gooder she always portrays on TV and in the movies. Instead you will find out that she's had her share of affairs and is proud to walk downstairs in the morning to announce to her husband that she's just masturbated. Really, it was too show more much for me. show less

Even if you like Hollywood gossip AND are a closet fan of The Partridge Family TV series, you should still skip this one. This may be the only 1-star I've ever awarded.

This is Shirley Jones's attempt to tell her fans that she is not that sunny, wholesome, do-gooder she always portrays on TV and in the movies. Instead you will find out that she's had her share of affairs and is proud to walk downstairs in the morning to announce to her husband that she's just masturbated. Really, it was too show more much for me. show less

Firstly, this biography of husband and wife entertainers feels disorganized for the several voices. Shirley, Marty Engels, and their co-writer Mickey Herskowitz interrupt each. At times, it is obvious the same story is being told before it is clear by whom. Others make cameos. The telling of their lives reveals Ingels' crippling anxiety, at times leading to stage fright, agoraphobia, etc. Ingels' success is despite these handicaps while Jones comes across as the strong, vivacious one. The show more alcoholic travesty of Jack Cassidy is background as, surprisingly, The Partridge Family years and the Cassidy brothers despite a chapter on Ryan's enforced drug treatment. The book end anti-climactically with an accounting of Ingel's publically unveiled cash savings and a trite listing of commandments for a good marriage. show less

Shirley Jones' autobiography starts out with her childhood and her love of her parents and her discovery and signing with Rodgers and Hammerstein. She talks about some of her leading men including Gordon MacRae, Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster, Glenn Ford, Richard Widmark, and encounters with Bobby Darin, Frank Sinatra, and others. However, most of the book is about her sex life with husband Jack Cassidy and there was too much detail for me. He was unfaithful and jealous and had no interest in show more his children. The difficulties of raising her sons without much input from Cassidy shows what a strong woman Jones is and I admire her for that. However, we did not need to hear about the size of their organs or their sex lives either. She worked with so many interesting folks over the years including Jay C Flippen, Eddie Albert, Charlotte Greenwood, Gene Lockhart, James Cagney, Arthur Kennedy, Dean Jagger, Andy Devine, Harry Carey Jr., Reta Shaw, Buddy Hackett, Gig Young, Howard Morris, Jim Backus, Stephen Boyd, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Angela Lansbury, to name a few. I much rather would have heard stories about them or even stories about which of her films she is most proud of, what role did she turn down that she has regrets about, etc. The book just had too many intimate details that I did not care to read about. show less