Shirley Jones made a limited engagement starring in the
musical "42nd Street" on Broadway here in NYC last Fall/Winter,
alongside her stepson Patrick Cassidy. On her opening night in the
musical, my wife and I bought 8x10's of Shirley that day in
a celebrity photo/poster shop and preceded to wait for her by the
stage door after the show. While were waiting for her to come out,
Suzanne Crough and her husband walked out the stage door - obviously
wishing Shirley a good run on her opening night.
Then came Patrick Cassidy who dutifully signed our Playbills. I
asked him how it was to work alongside his step mom and he said "she
is great and so fabulous to work with".
Shirley followed shortly, stopped and signed our Playbills and
photos, posed for pictures and was extremely nice to all waiting for
her.
Flash ahead this past Spring at JFK airport where I am waiting
for a friend to come off a flight from Los Angeles. It was also a
day before "42nd Street" closed. Shirley was in it briefly while
Patrick Cassidy stayed the whole run. While the plane is pulling up
to the gates, he calls me on the cell phone to tell me Shirley Jones
is on his flight in 1st class (what else). I then notice a limo
driver with a sign reading "S. Jones". I wander over to him and ask
him if his pickup is Shirley Jones. He says "yes" but has no idea
what she looks like. So I preceded to wait with him so I could point
her out to him. Out comes Shirley looking all the Hollywood Star in
her sunglasses (mind you this flight arrived at 10:30PM!). I point
her out to him but the crowd swells and she can't see the driver. So
I walked over to Shirley and said "your driver is over there Ms.
Jones" and pointed her to his direction. Shirley first looked
stunned that I knew who she was (I'm 38yrs old and look a lot
younger) then a big smile came over her face as she said "Wow, thank
you young man, that's very nice of you". I replied "anything for
Mrs. Partridge" to which she burst out a laugh and shook my hand
saying "thank you" once again.
I have met Suzanne and Brian before at Autograph Shows but never
really talked to them accept for a "thank you" after buying signed
photos.