She’s been doing television since the 1950s, but believe it or not, Shirley Jones has never done a soap opera…’til now, that is. Jones, best known to TV geeks as the matriarch of the Partridge family, will be popping up on NBC’s “Days of Our Lives” as Colleen Brady, starting January 31st and sticking around ’til February 7th. (Not only that, but she’ll be sporting an Irish brogue!) I had a chance to sit in on a teleconference with Ms. Jones recently, where I asked her a bit about her current gig, her most famous gig, and her favorite unheralded performances.
Bullz-Eye: Hi, Shirley, how are you doing?
Shirley Jones: Good, thank you.
BE: So…are you now or have you ever been a soap opera addict yourself?
SJ: No. (Laughs) In a word, no. You know, I intermittently have watched, I guess, all of them maybe once or twice. But, no, I’m not a soap opera person, mostly because I…you know, I work myself during the day. So I’ve never had time really to get involved. But I loved doing this. I ended up loving doing it. I was terrified in the beginning and, you know, took on a challenge which I wasn’t sure I could meet. But I feel that I did, and now I’m very happy about it.
BE: I know that “Days of Our Lives” is your first daytime soap, but you have done nighttime soap before: you were on an episode of “Melrose Place.”
SJ: Yes. I did “Melrose Place,” and I did a thing for Lifetime in Australia just last year (“Monarch Cove”), you know, and it was called a nighttime soap. It didn’t do much… (Laughs) …but it was fun to be in Australia for two months!
BE: Did you find the melodrama any different from daytime to nighttime?
SJ: Not much. I think maybe it was a little less melodrama at night than in the daytime, I guess. But, you know, people love this. I mean, I guess it’s some form of escape for them, just as well as going to a Disney film. I mean, it’s an escape in its own way.
BE: You’ve played roles from Mother Goose to Lulu Bains. Is there any somewhat obscure performance on your resume that maybe not a lot of people remember, but you’re personally particularly proud of?
SJ: Well I did a couple of television movies that I loved a lot. I did a thing with Lloyd Bridges about a couple that met and fell in love, but they were both married. “Silent Night, Lonely Night” was the name of it, and it was aired over the Christmas holidays. It was a beautiful film, I thought. It had been a Broadway show, and Lloyd and I did the film version, and it was just a beautiful love story. I also did another film, about Alzheimer’s (“There Were Times, Dear”), which I was very proud of. It earned an Emmy nomination.
BE: What’s your favorite piece of Partridge Family merchandise that you’ve ever seen?
SJ: Merchandise? Let’s see. I’m trying to…I’m not sure I saw it all, to tell you the truth. You know, the lunchbox, obviously. That’s in the Smithsonian Institute right now, along with about ten other items of that period. So that was a biggie. And they had the dolls, and the paper dolls, which I thought was fun.
BE: And I’ll close with this one. I’m putting together a piece on great music related books and David’s “Come On, Get Happy” autobiography made the cut.
SJ: Oh, really?
BE: Yeah.
SJ: Oh, good!
BE: I was wondering what you thought of the book and, on a similar note, if you had any favorite music related books yourself.
SJ: Actually, I…you know, I haven’t read the book or seen the book. But I have obviously all the books about Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, and those people. I love all that. But that’s my time, you understand, much more so even than the Partridge Family music. That’s why I’m still singing. I still do concerts all over the country.
