LOS ANGELES— Inspired by a former president, Shirley Jones can’t wait to jump into her birthday plans.

The Oscar-winning actress and singer says she’ll take her first skydive Monday – her 80th birthday.

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Shirley Jones wants to mark her 80th birthday with a high-flying adventure. She says she plans to go skydiving Monday.
Shirley Jones wants to mark her 80th birthday with a high-flying adventure. She says she plans to go skydiving Monday. The Associated Press

“That’s something I wanted to do all my life,” Jones said Friday. The inspiration to try comes from former President George H.W. Bush’s jumps on several birthdays, including when he turned 85 in 2009.

“When I saw him do it I thought, ‘Wow, if he can do this, I can,”’ Jones said.

Jones, who starred in TV’s “The Partridge Family” in the 1970s, gained fame with the 1950s film versions of the Broadway musicals “Oklahoma!” and “Carousel.” She won an Oscar for the 1960 drama “Elmer Gantry.”

She will be jumping in tandem with an instructor in Perris, a popular Southern California skydiving spot, according to her husband, comedian Marty Ingels.

Ingels was taken aback when she suggested it but has since come around, Jones said. Her children, not so much.

She quoted her son Shaun Cassidy, as saying, “Mom, what’s the matter with you? Why would you want to do this at your age?”

Jones said she understands her sons’ concerns, especially since she has arthritis, and she realizes that “anything like this can be dangerous.”

But she’s not deterred. It was either skydiving or the other top item on her to-do list, an African safari to satisfy the animal lover in her, Jones said.

 

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