In other words, this Partridge got into some pairing-up treats
The matriarch of the Partridge family, in bed with a 24-year-old?
It happens in “Grandma’s Boy,” a boisterous new comedy produced by Adam Sandler‘s company that opens Friday.
“It’s a different role for me,” laughs Shirley Jones, the star of “Oklahoma!,” “Carousel,” “Music Man” and other squeaky-clean movies.
“People ask me, ‘Why would you want to do a role like this?’ I say, ‘Look, I’ve been Mrs. Partridge for many years. Let’s face it: I won an Academy Award for playing a prostitute in ‘Elmer Gantry.’ This is the kind of role that at my age (71) it’s fun to play.”
The fun starts when three housemates – played by Jones, Shirley Knight and Doris Roberts – find a jar left in the kitchen by a previous tenant. The contents look like tea, but what they actually end up sipping is hashish. That’s when things get wild with a group of fun-loving young men.
A possible antidote to “Grandma’s Boy” might be “Hidden Places,” airing Jan. 28 on the Hallmark Channel.
There Jones plays an elderly woman banished to a back bedroom by her Depression-era farm family. When the father dies and the family faces losing the farm, “Aunt Batty” comes to the rescue.
In real life, Jones lives in a rambling, hillside house in suburban Encino with her husband and manager, former comic Marty Ingels, and three dogs. She shows little sign of her age except for the snow-white hair, close-cut with stylish bangs.
She demonstrated her resilience last summer by starring on Broadway in “42nd Street,” opposite son Patrick Cassidy – her first stage show in 38 years.
Jones started her career in her hometown of Smithton, Pa., where at age 6 she was the youngest member of the church choir. She won the Miss Pittsburgh beauty contest and barely missed becoming Miss Pennsylvania.
In the summer of 1953, on her way to college with plans for a veterinary degree, she went to an open audition for three Rodgers and Hammerstein shows.
She sang for the casting director, who summoned Richard Rodgers. He liked what he heard and sent for Oscar Hammerstein. They took her across the street to sing with the City Center Symphony.
Jones – who had never heard a symphony orchestra, much less sing with one – did three songs and was offered a minor role in “South Pacific.”
Rodgers and Hammerstein had a grander plan for her: the female lead in the movie version of “Oklahoma!” She did well in an audition but was considered too young and inexperienced. Six months later, she was brought back, sailed through a screen test and was chosen for the part.
She followed with the film version of “Carousel” and “April Love,” a musical with Pat Boone. Then Jones turned to drama, stunning the film trade with her 1960 performance in “Elmer Gantry.”
On television, she was embraced by a whole new generation of fans as the mother of “The Partridge Family,” starring with her stepson, David Cassidy.
Jones shows no sign of quitting. She is booked for four concerts early this year, some with symphony orchestras. She has regular sessions with a voice coach and pedals several miles daily on her stationary bicycle.
“I lost 14 pounds doing ‘42nd Street,’ ” she says, “and I swore I would keep them off. And I have.”
The birthday bunch
Actress Gabrielle Carteris (“Beverly Hills, 90210”) is 45. Actress Tia Carrere is 39. Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. is 38. Model Christy Turlington is 37. Actor Taye Diggs is 35. Actress Kate Bosworth is 23.