SHIRLEY JONES AT 90 - I've Had an Amazing Life!

THE ACTRESS HAS NO REGRETS ABOUT THE HARD CHOICES SHE'S MADE ON HER WAY TO HAPPINESS & STARDOM

- A. BARILE

As a teenager, Shirley Jones faced one of the biggest decisions of her life. She had gotten pinned to her first boyfriend, a West Point cadet, and everyone in her small Pennsylvania town expected them to get engaged. "I left the dance thinking this is not for me," she confesses to Closer.

A gifted singer since childhood, Shirley became a star in musicals, an Oscar-winning dramatic actress, and a beloved TV icon on The Partridge Family. There were tears, struggles and tragedy, but Shirley, who turns 90 on March 31, can't help but count the blessings in her public and private life. "I've been so fortunate," she says. "I have three incredible kids, 12 incredible grandchildren. I had two incredible husbands-what else could I want?"

The star began singing in church at 6 and performed in plays in high school. She won the title of Miss Pittsburgh in 1952. "I went on to the Miss Pennsylvania competition and came in second," she recalls. Shirley loved performing, but she thought she'd wind up in veterinary school. That dream changed on a trip to New York just before her 18th birthday.

On a whim, Shirley attended an open audition for a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. "Two weeks later, I was in my first ever Broadway show, South Pacific. I was one of the nurses," she says.