Shirley Jones: Best TV moments before her sexy, boob-shaking book

Thanks to her new autobiography, the world now knows that 79-year-old Shirley Jones likes to strip and shake her breasts for her husband. What may have gotten lost in all the hubbub is the former Broadway star’s fine TV career.

Jones just dropped a self-titled memoir, and it looks like a scorcher, at least in content if not in sales potential. In addition to impromptu strip-tease for her appreciative husband, comic Marty Ingels, Jones digs into the details of her sex life, talking about her many orgasms, a youthful menage a trois and a gay affair her late husband Jack Cassidy supposedly had with songwriter Cole Porter.

“I never would have written this book if I weren’t the age I am now,” Jones told the Associated Press.

Some might wish she hadn’t written it at all. But the revelations do remind one that, with her clothes on, Jones is a fine actress still in demand — albeit these days, usually playing someone’s parent or grandparent.

A look back:

1. Jones is beloved by Boomers for her role as Mama Partridge on “The Partridge Family,” the early 1970s sitcom about a groovy family rock act that seemed forever on tour in a multicolored bus. Costarring with Jones was her stepson David Cassidy, who quickly became a teen idol. This clip features one of their hits, “I Woke Up in Love This Morning.” Check out the finger-synced bass playing of young Danny Bonaduce!

2. Jones had a memorable turn as Drew Carey’s love interest on three episodes during the 1998-99 season of “The Drew Carey Show.” Carey had initially approached Debbie Reynolds, Jones recalled, but it didn’t work out and Jones stepped in. It was a true May-December romance, because Jones is 24 years older than Carey. “The age difference is pretty wide here,” she remarked on the TV Academy’s video interview archive.

3. On the Fox sitcom “Raising Hope,” Jones and Lee Majors played the aging parents of Burt (Garret Dillahunt). The pair, who haven’t seen their son in years, announced they’re coming for a Thanksgiving visit. But Jones’ character, who refuses to wear her hearing aid, never gets the entire gist of what’s going on and keeps interrupting with “What?”

Hey, that’s the same reaction many people are having to Jones’ new book.

What do you make of all this?

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Twitter: @scottcollinsLAT