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Shirley Jones
A sunny personality and a gorgeous singing voice brought actress Shirley Jones to the Broadway stage, which in turn led to her career in Hollywood. She was a natural for big-screen musicals, but defied critics' expectations for her surprising turn as a prostitute in "Elmer Gantry" (1960), which earned her an Oscar. Her film work cooled in the 1960s, but she gained a following among younger viewers in the early 1970s as one of television's coolest moms on "The Partridge Family" (ABC, 1970-1974), which also starred her stepson, pop idol David Cassidy. The show's success ensured her status as a pop culture icon and helped her to maintain steady work in television and on stage for the next three decades.