John Astin, Shirley Jones, Marion Ross, more TV greats in their 90s

In the past couple of weeks, three beloved stars of TV hits of the past blew out a combined total of 284 birthday candles. On March 30, John Astin of “The Addams Family” fame turned 95, while the next day, “The Partridge Family” matriarch Shirley Jones hit 91 and “St. Elsewhere” doc William Daniels celebrated his 98th birthday.

Here’s a salute to them as well as three other TV celebs of the past who are inching their way to 100.

Joan Collins, 91

CLAIM TO FAME Collins toiled for more than three decades in a string of mostly forgettable films before achieving full-fledged stardom as clawing and conniving Alexis Carrington Colby on the '80s prime-time soap "Dynasty." "I want to thank Sophia Loren for turning down the role," Collins said in her 1983 Golden Globes acceptance speech.

BEYOND TV Like her sister, Jackie Collins, Joan has penned several sex-soaked novels, starting with "Prime Time" in 1988. 

FUN FACT Collins lost out on the lead in 1963's "Cleopatra" when she rejected a studio executive's advances and turned down the role of Jill Masterson in "Goldfinger" (1964).

Shirley Jones, 91

CLAIM TO FAME Jones won an Oscar for playing a vengeful prostitute in the 1961 drama “Elmer Gantry,” but she is best known for her more G-rated role as the mom who drove a psychedelic school bus and warbled in a pop-rock band with her Partridge kids.

BEYOND TV Her 2013 book, “Shirley Jones: A Memoir,” revealed a different side of Mother Partridge, especially with the frank revelations about her marriage to actor Jack Cassidy whom she called a “sexual Svengali.”

FUN FACT She turned down the role of Carol Brady in “The Brady Bunch.”

Marla Gibbs, 93

CLAIM TO FAME She stole scenes as sassy maid Florence Johnston on the long-running sitcom "The Jeffersons" (1975-85) then headlined the brownstone-set "227," which ran from 1985 to 1990. 

BEYOND TV From 1993 to 1997, she operated Marla's Memory Lane and Jazz Club in Los Angeles and performed there regularly. She released a 2006 jazz album, "It's Never Too Late," which is also the title of her yet-to-be-published memoir.

FUN FACT Gibbs continued to moonlight as a reservations agent for United Airlines for two more years while filming "The Jeffersons" during the day. "I had unlimited passes," Gibbs told The Washington Post in a 2015 interview.

John Astin, 95

CLAIM TO FAME He was the patriarch Gomez of ABC’s creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky Addams clan from 1964 to 1966. Astin was originally told he’d be playing Lurch, until producer David Levy decided to take the show in a macabre “Father Knows Best” direction.

BEYOND TV Astin also taught acting and directing at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

FUN FACT He auditioned several times for Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings.”

Marion Ross, 96

CLAIM TO FAME She starred on “Happy Days” as mom to Richie and Joanie — not to mention oldest child Chuck, who vanished after season 2. Ross also played two memorable grandmothers — Sophie Berger on "Brooklyn Bridge" and SpongeBob's grandma on five episodes of "SpongeBob SquarePants."

BEYOND TV In her 2018 memoir "My Days: Happy and Otherwise," she shared that it took a long time to win over her sitcom husband Tom Bosley, who did not originally think she was the right type to play his wife.

FUN FACT The Marion Ross Performing Arts Center in her hometown Albert Lea, Minnesota, was named for her in 2008.

William Daniels, 98

CLAIM TO FAME On ’80s TV, he was seen as arrogant surgeon Dr. Mark Craig on “St. Elsewhere” and heard as the voice of the talking car KITT on “Knight Rider.” In the ’90s. he was back on TV as by-the-rules teacher George Feeny on the sitcom “Boy Meets World.”

BEYOND TV As president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1999 to 2001, he dealt with a members’ strike that lasted for six months in 2000.

FUN FACT He’s been married for 73 years to Bonnie Bartlett, 95, who also played his wife on “St. Elsewhere.”