Shirley Jones: A Memoir

Anyone expecting sweetness and light Laurie or any of the other young girls Jones played early in her career is going to be in for a rude shock.Shirley Jones is a red blooded woman who accepts and embraces her life and her sexuality. She doesn't mince words about her life with her two husbands. I think she's a good role model. A woman who is comfortable in her own skin. Who has made her choices and decisions and stuck with them. She doesn't whine or moan about Jack Cassidy's infidelities. She notes, he came home to her after his flings, and since this was pre-HIV she didn't worry. Cassidy always seemed a little oily to me, but that may be, because of the roles I saw him in. But he was talented, good looking and from the way Jones tells it, very good in the sack. Good for her. Everyone should be able to enjoy sex.Jones is very honest about sexual relationships, but she doesn't go into play-by-play detail. I was grateful for that, then the book would have been a trashy tell all.She is quite honest about her second husband and their relationship too. And she includes a chapter on her self-pleasuring. I could have done without an entire chapter announcing she can get herself off, but this was her story to tell.She told of the people she met in the entertainment industry and gave us insights into what made other people tick and how they related to her. I like seeing into that world and Jones was a clear story teller.When Cassidy spiraled into a mental breakdown and ultimately died in an accidental fire, it was clear how much he meant to her, and how deeply she loved him.It was a good book. I didn't power through it breathlessly. I put it down and picked it up for days. But it is worth the time to read it, unless you agree with the person who accorded this book one star because it was "smutty." I didn't think it was smut, and I think I'd know smut if I read it. This is a frank life story, that's all.

Reading this book made me realize the gaping difference between memoir and autobiography - namely a lack of attention to details. And Shirley Jones found herself in several movies and shows that beg details. But, as many have stated on here, Jones tears through her life skimming only the surface of her most memorable career high points. Stars often forget that their fans love them because of the films that live on. For me, it's THE COURTSHIP OF EDDIE'S FATHER, a minor film in many people's minds, but a personal favorite of mine. I was so looking forward to her discussion of how intricate the tone of it was - aside from THE APARTMENT, it treads the line of comedy and drama better than any film I can remember - but she didn't appear to realize it. I also wondered how and why "My White Knight" was replaced by "Being in Love" for the film of THE MUSIC MAN. I'm not sure she's aware that happened. For flop fans, the debacle of MAGGIE FLYNN was worth double the space and dissection she gave it. Jones was also poised to blow the cover on one of filmdom's greatest mysteries: why Sinatra walked off CAROUSEL. By now, it is pretty widely known that Sinatra couldn't nail the role of Billy vocally, his pop range unequal to the near-operatic demands of the score. Jones herself alluded to it in an interview for the Angel CD release of CAROUSEL nearly twenty years ago, but she didn't mention it in her book, stating that it's still a mystery to her. At the very least, I thought she would finally divulge the details of the pre-recording sessions wherein she and Sinatra sang the score, which had to have occurred before they began shooting, and would doubtlessly have shone a light on the problem. There is only one mention of lovely Barbara Ruick, another fascinating figure I'd hoped to learn more about. In addition, Jones doesn't seem to be aware that the film version of CAROUSEL is widely reviled because it added the flashback device, robbing audiences of the shock of Billy's death midway through the show. In her book, she intimates that the original stage version also started in heaven, which it did not.I do think Jones gave Jack Cassidy his due. Talk about a fascinating character. Even as a kid, I could see something was not quite right about him in his TV guest appearances. His style, his leer, the artificiality of his voice, the debauched look. The man dripped narcissism from his pores, so the fact that he was an absent father and insensitive lout as a husband is hardly a shock, but the revelation of his mental illness explains so much. Her lifelong psychological dissociation from the effects of his behavior is, as others have stated, concerning. She repeatedly quotes the lyrics of "What's the Use of Wond'rin'" to rationalize her acceptance of Cassidy's many cruelties, which makes her emerge as someone who either isn't very deep, or had an abnormal pattern of ignoring truth. Where second husband Ingels is concerned... well, when a woman has to defend her marriage as opposed to describing it, the less said the better. She is obviously drawn to the mentally ill where men are concerned, and she seems just fine with it.As to the overt sexual revelations in this memoir, I agree it's way more than anyone ever needed to know about Shirley Jones, or anyone else for that matter. But I'm not surprised; I think it follows a pattern of behavior she has always exhibited: the rejection of Shirley Jones as Ingenue. While I have always been a fan of hers, I have noticed over the years - in interviews and exposés - that she is fixated on being remembered as an actress as opposed to an ingenue. She has, historically, taken any opportunity she can to use the words 'Academy Award' and 'ELMER GANTRY' in conversation, no matter how ill-placed. She appears to suffer from the same affliction that Cassidy did - an incessant need to achieve more than she did as a performer. Jones can go on citing her Oscar from here to eternity, but the truth is that she possessed limited range as an actor. I think her crowning achievement as an actress - not a singer, but an actress - was in THE MUSIC MAN. Forget Preston - for me, her Marian Paroo was a heartbreaker, and her relationships - with Hill, Winthrop, her mother, the town - served as the anchor of that story. But because she perceives Marian as an ingenue role, she dismisses it as one of her musical trifles. She continues to dredge up GANTRY as if it's a movie classic, which, curiously, it isn't. It's a film that, today, comes to mind only when Shirley Jones mentions it, despite the Oscars it won. I squirm when I watch her in that film, because her work is such a blatant, desperate attempt to shed an image, push an envelope. There's no blood or guts to Lulu Baines, and the Oscar she won remains a headscratcher to me, one of several the Academy awarded over the years to change-of-pace roles (think Dorothy Malone in WRITTEN ON THE WIND), beauty-sacrifices-makeup roles (think Grace Kelly in THE COUNTRY GIRL), etc. In each case, it was arguably shock value, as opposed to the actual performance, that led to the Oscar. Bottom line: I think the Oscar Jones won is a headscratcher for her, too, which is why she keeps talking about it. As long as she can call herself "an Academy Award winner," she's a real actress. And I think she knows she's not seen that way, not because of Laurey and Julie, but because she was not a gifted actress as much as a pleasant one. Hence one of the images she chose for her book's centerfold - Jones, easily 25 years after the ceremony, still clutching her Oscar, with the unfortunate caption "Eat your heart out, Florence Henderson." Shirley, as much as I like her, needs to give ELMER GANTRY a rest. It's a forgotten movie, and her performance in it is adequate at best, despite the validation the Oscar continues to feed her. Keeping things in perspective, the Academy also gave Charlton Heston an award for acting, and Tom Hanks two. Enough said...In the end, Shirley Jones emerges from her memoir as, above all else, a truly terrific mother. Those four boys of hers obviously mean the world to her. But her memoir makes me wish she'd had the grit to write an autobiography. And, on a personal note, if one more human being forces me to read about the time they stole candy from the five-and-dime until their parent forced them to return it, I think I shall scream...

I thoroughly LOVED this book and I think it's partly because I got the audible Kindle version where Shirley narrates the whole thing.. I honestly can't tell you what a difference it makes hearing the stories come out of her own mouth. I suggest to anyone getting an electronic version to get the audible narrated one - you can work around the house, drive etc and hear her tell her story. She is an honest person and some of the things people have mentioned being offended by were just the truth - it's what her reality was. Had she just put out a dry book with nothing but banal stories of her acting jobs one after another, it would be a pretty boring book. I loved hearing her talk about her kids and of course Jack. I have always wanted more details surrounding their relationship and also the demise of it, and she tells everything and how it happened. She does jump back and forth a little in time and I would have preferred a linear account, but it was not hard to follow. I was in tears as she read the letter she wrote to Jack after he begged her to come back for the last time. She was so kind in what she wrote. It would have been nice to say a little more about her own emotions as she found out about his death, but maybe it was just too painful. I wish she had mentioned Jack's 2 appearances on Bewitched and their relationship with the Ashers also. But all in all, best money I have spent on a book!! I think there is something for everyone in there, especially Partridge fans.

Usual Hollywood celebrity story of small town girl gets spotted does a screen test gets big break and then all the usual gossip to go with it . Predictable stuff mostly which have been written before.That is really the back story here to what is an account of her tumultuous relationship and marriage with Jack Cassidy. Lots of sleaze .bed hopping and intimate details of her relationship with him and others.This would have been ok is she hadn't gone into detail of the size of his and his step sons manhood! Whilst we didn't need to know this information it wasn't even news and her step son she wrote about which was David Cassidy had even bored us with this revelation in his own autobiography .I could have overlooked this and given a reasonable review if it wasn't for the last chapter where she described her ways of pleasuring herself. Seriously it's all in there. Whether she wrote this for shock value or because she needed the money who knows. If it had been written in 1970s then it would be shocking but these days it was just sad. Hope her son's don't read it not something you want to read about your mother.At her age should have kept her dignity.

This was a woman of huge self esteem, was so shocked at her arrogance, I will never view Oklahoma in the same light any more, thank goodness she said nice things about Gordon McCrae, one of my all time favourites, she has dropped dramatically in my eyes.

SHIRLEY JONES: a Memoir. This was definitely an eye opener if you think you knew her! Lady (Shirley) you are something else! Shirley is the most stunning looking 87 year old silver haired entertainer! I have seen come out of Hollywood, that Lady (Shirley) looks GOOD!

This was an honest account of her life and that of her family. I found it a great read especially her early days pre Partridge Family which was new to me. Some parts especially the comments on masterbation could have been omitted.

Film star reveals a lot. I remember seeing Shirley Jones in Carousel in 1956. She comes over as a balanced and pleasant person with a tendency to fall for crazy husbands. One has to admire her for coming through it intact. Her lack of ego is endearing and as they say, 'It's important to be nice'.