Shirley Jones Height, Weight and Measurements

Shirley Jones measurements, in terms of height and build, are commonly listed at about 5 ft 5 in (165 cm) with a slim frame. As of 2026 no official weight has been published, and the Oscar-winning star, now in her 90s, has never made a habit of quoting numbers.

Her story is far more interesting than the statistics. She went from a Pennsylvania small town to Broadway, Hollywood and television stardom.

Quick facts

Height and build

Listings generally put Jones at around 5 ft 5 in. In her heyday she was known for a graceful, slim presence on screen and stage, and in old publicity photos she is often shown in the period costumes of the musicals that made her famous. Numbers beyond height are not public.

Rise to stardom

Jones studied voice and acting and won a beauty pageant in Pittsburgh before moving to New York. She was cast by Rodgers and Hammerstein in the film Oklahoma! (1955), playing Laurey, and the screen debut launched her career. She followed it with Carousel (1956), another Rodgers and Hammerstein adaptation.

Working with Rodgers and Hammerstein

Landing Oklahoma! was unusual even by the standards of the era. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein reportedly auditioned her personally, and she was signed to a contract with their organisation before she had any real film experience. Her clear soprano suited the material, and she held her own opposite Gordon MacRae. In Carousel she again starred opposite him, as Julie Jordan. Those two films cemented her as the model of the Hollywood musical ingenue in the 1950s.

Career highlights

• Oklahoma! (1955) – her film debut.
• Carousel (1956) – a second musical lead.
• The Music Man (1962) – she played Marian the librarian opposite Robert Preston.
• Elmer Gantry (1960) – a dramatic turn as a woman wronged, which won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
• The Partridge Family (1970–1974) – she played Shirley Partridge, the singing mother of a pop band, on the ABC sitcom.
• Later work – she has continued to work in television, film and concerts, and she has written a memoir.

Elmer Gantry and the Oscar

Elmer Gantry, starring Burt Lancaster, gave her the part of Lulu Bains, a woman who has been used and discarded by the title character. It was a deliberate break from her sweet image, and she has often said she had to push for the chance to play it. The Academy rewarded the gamble with the Best Supporting Actress award for the 1960 film year. It remains the achievement she’s most proud of, and it changed the kind of scripts she was sent.

Image shift

The Oscar for Elmer Gantry mattered as much as the win. Audiences knew her as the wholesome heroine of musicals, and playing a vulnerable, damaged character proved she had range. Years later The Partridge Family made her a household name for a new generation.

Later years

After The Partridge Family ended, Jones kept working in television movies, guest appearances and stage tours. She published a memoir in 2013, in which she wrote candidly about her marriages, her career and her family. She has also appeared in live concerts that revisit the great American songbook, which is a natural fit for a performer who built her name on singing. Her willingness to talk plainly about the less glamorous parts of her life helped her connect with readers of a later generation.

What fans ask

Fans of old Hollywood regularly ask how tall she is, because costume photos and period films can make people look quite different on screen. Around 5 ft 5 in is the usual figure. Others ask how much of the singing on The Partridge Family was really hers. She sang on the show, but the musical group’s records were mostly built around studio musicians and her stepson’s lead vocals. And many viewers simply want to know why she is so closely tied to both the glamorous musicals and the TV sitcom, which is the answer to a long career: she adapted rather than clinging to one image.

Personal life

Jones was married to actor Jack Cassidy and later to comedian Marty Ingels. Her stepson, David Cassidy, who was Jack Cassidy’s son from an earlier marriage, also became a star through the same TV show, a connection that fans of the series still talk about.

Frequently asked questions