Shirley Temple

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Shirley Jane Temple (born April 23, 1928) is an Academy Award-winning actress most famous for being an iconic American child actor of the 1930s, although she is also notable for her diplomatic career as an adult. After rising to fame at the age of six with her breakthrough performance in Bright Eyes in 1934, she starred in a series of highly successful films which won her widespread public adulation and saw her become the top grossing star at the American box-office during the height of the Depression. She went on to star in films as a young adult in the 1940s. In later life, she became a United States ambassador and diplomat.

Family

Temple was born to George Francis Temple (1888–1980), a businessman and banker, and Gertrude Amelia Krieger (1893–1977) in Santa Monica, California. She has two brothers, Jack (b. 1915), and George Jr. (b. 1919). Her mother loved dancing and this directed Temple towards performing. Gertrude was a constant presence on the lot during Temple's childhood acting years, helping her learn her lines, and controlled her wardrobe. Biographer Anne Edwards said Temple's famous hair style, known as the Shirley Temple Curls, was also under the control of Gertrude, who ensured there were exactly 52 ringlets in her hair for each take.

At the age of seventeen, Temple was married to soldier-turned-actor John Agar (1921–2002) on September 19, 1945. They had one daughter, Linda Susan Agar (later known as Susan Black), born on January 30, 1948. Temple filed for divorce in late 1949, with the divorce becoming final on December 5, 1950. In early 1950, while vacationing in Hawaii, Shirley met and fell in love with California businessman Charles Alden Black (1919–2005). They married on December 16 that year. Together, they had two children: Charles Alden Black Jr., born April 29, 1952, and Lori Black, born April 9, 1954. They remained married until Charles's death from myelodysplastic syndrome (a bone marrow disease) at age 86 on August 4, 2005.

She has one granddaughter, Teresa Caltabiano (b. 1980), Susan's daughter. She also has one great granddaughter, Lily Jane Caltabiano.

Movie career

Temple's popularity earned her both public adulation and the approval of peers. At the age of five, the hallmark of her acting work was her professionalism: she always had her lines memorized and dance steps prepared when shooting began.

In her earliest films she danced and was able to handle complex tap choreography. She was teamed with famed dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in The Little Colonel, The Littlest Rebel, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and Just Around the Corner. Robinson coached and developed her choreography for many of her other films. Because Robinson was African-American, his scenes holding hands with Temple were edited out in many cities in the South, due to segregationism. Shirley Temple once tap danced all the way down a staircase singing a line of her song on every single one of the 45 steps.

Temple made pictures with Carole Lombard, Gary Cooper, Adolphe Menjou, and many others. Arthur Treacher appeared as a kindly butler in several of Temple's films.

Child star

At the age of three Temple began dance classes at Meglin's Dance School in Los Angeles California. Her film career began when Charles Lamont, a casting director from Educational Pictures, visited her class. Although Temple hid behind a piano in the studio, she was chosen by Lamont, invited to audition, and eventually signed to a contract with Educational.

Temple worked at Educational from 1928 to 1933, and appeared in two series of short subjects for the studio. Her first series, Baby Burlesks, satirized recent motion pictures and politics. In the series, Temple would dress up in a diaper, but would otherwise wear adult clothes. Because of its depiction of young children in adult situations the series was considered controversial by some viewers. Her second series at Educational, Frolics of Youth, was a bit more acceptable, and cast her as a bratty younger sister in a contemporary suburban family.

While working for Educational Pictures, Temple performed many walk-on and bit player roles in various films at other studios. She was reported to have auditioned for a lead role in Hal Roach's Our Gang comedies (later known as The Little Rascals) in the early 1930s, although various reasons are given for her not having been cast in the role. Roach stated that Temple and her mother were unable to make it through the red tape of the audition process, while Our Gang producer/director Robert F. McGowan recalls the studio wanted to cast Temple, but they refused to give in to Temple's mother's demands that Temple receive special star billing. Temple, in her autobiography Child Star, denies auditioning for Our Gang at all.

20th Century Fox

Shirley Temple was finally signed to Fox Film Corporation (which later merged with 20th Century Pictures to become 20th Century Fox) in late 1933, after appearing in Stand Up and Cheer! with James Dunn. Later, she was paired with Dunn in several films, notably her breakthrough blockbuster Bright Eyes, produced by Sol M. Wurtzel. This was the film that saved Fox from near bankruptcy in 1934 at the height of the Great Depression. It was in Bright Eyes that Temple first performed the song that would become one of her trademarks, "On the Good Ship Lollipop". This was closely followed by the film Curly Top, in which she first sang another trademarked song, "Animal Crackers in My Soup". In 1936, Temple was paid an unprecedented amount of money for her work on Poor Little Rich Girl: $15,000 per week. It was during this period, in the depth of the Depression, when her films were seen as bringing hope and optimism, that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is reported to have proclaimed that "as long as our country has Shirley Temple, we will be all right.

In sixteen of the thirty films Temple made for Fox, she played characters with at least one dead parent. This was part of the formula for her films, which encouraged the adults in the audience to take on the role of her parent.

While at Fox, Temple became the studio's most lucrative player. Her contract was amended several times between 1933 and 1935, and she was loaned to Paramount for a pair of successful films in 1934. For four years, she was the top-grossing box-office star in America. Shirley's birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood; her birth year was advanced from 1928 to 1929. She was not told her real age until her "twelfth" (actually her thirteenth) birthday.

In 1940, Temple left Fox. Working steadily, she juggled classes at Westlake School for Girls with films for various other studios, including MGM and Paramount. Her most successful pictures of the time included Since You Went Away with Claudette Colbert, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer with Cary Grant, and Fort Apache with John Wayne. She retired from motion pictures in 1949.

Film career highlights

Temple was the first recipient of the special Juvenile Performer Academy Award in 1935 for recognition of her outstanding contribution to screen entertainment in 1934. Seventy years later, Temple is still the youngest performer ever to receive this honor, or any Oscar. She is also the youngest actress to add foot and hand prints to the forecourt at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

The role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz was originally meant for Judy Garland. However, MGM executives were concerned with Garland's box office appeal. Temple was considered for the role, although she was unable to appear in the film when a trade between Fox and MGM fell through. However, Terry, who played Temple's beloved dog Rags in Bright Eyes, was cast in The Wizard of Oz as Toto. In 1940 Temple starred in The Blue Bird, another fairy story with plot similarities to The Wizard of Oz. It was her first box-office flop. Temple was also rumored to be the inspiration for Bonnie Blue Butler in Gone with the Wind and was one of the early contenders for the role in the motion picture, but was too old by the time the film went into production.

Temple appeared in her first Technicolor film, The Little Princess, produced by Fox in 1939, near the end of her contract with them.

Product line

There were many Shirley Temple products manufactured and released during the 1930s. Ideal's Temple dolls, first made in 1934, dressed in costumes from the movies, were top sellers. Original Shirley Temple dolls bring in hundreds of dollars on the secondary market today. Other successful Temple items included a line of girls' dresses, hairbows, bracelets and handkerchiefs. A popular breakfast set, consisting of a mug, pitcher and cereal bowl in cobalt blue and featuring a decal of Temple, was given away as a premium with Wheaties and Bisquick. Several of Temple's film songs, including "On the Good Ship Lollipop"(from Bright Eyes), "Animal Crackers in My Soup" (from Curly Top) and "Goodnight My Love" (from Stowaway) were popular radio hits. She frequently lent her likeness and talent to promoting various social causes, including the Red Cross.

Hollywood return

In the 1950s and 1960s, she made a brief return to show business with two television series. Shirley Temple's Storybook premiered on NBC on January 12, 1958 and last aired December 1, 1959. Shirley Temple Theatre (also known as The Shirley Temple Show) premiered on NBC on September 11, 1960 and last aired September 10, 1961. Both shows featured adaptations of fairy tales and other family oriented stories. Shirley Temple was the hostess and occasional narrator/actress in both series.

In later years, she made occasional appearances on television talk shows, especially when she promoted her memoirs.

Political, business, and diplomatic career

In 1967, Shirley Temple Black ran unsuccessfully for Congress against retired Korean War veteran Pete McCloskey. She ran on a platform supporting America's involvement in the Vietnam War.

She went on to hold several diplomatic posts, serving as the U.S. delegate to many international conferences and summits. In 1969, She was appointed a delegate to the United Nations by President Richard M. Nixon. She was appointed United States Ambassador to Ghana (1974–76). In 1976, she became the first female Chief of Protocol of the United States which put in her charge of all State Department ceremonies, visits, gifts to foreign leaders and co-ordination of protocol issues with all U.S. embassies and consulates. She was United States Ambassador to Czechoslovakia (1989–92) and witnessed the Velvet Revolution. She commented, about her Ambassadorship, "That was the best job I ever had." In 1987 she was designated the first Honorary Foreign Service Officer in U.S. history by then U.S. Secretary of State, George Shultz.

Black served on the board of directors of some large enterprises including The Walt Disney Company (1974–75), Del Monte, Bancal Tri-State, and Fireman's Fund Insurance. Her non-profit board appointments included the Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Council of American Ambassadors, the World Affairs Council, the United States Commission for UNESCO, the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, the United Nations Association, and the U.S. Citizen's Space TaskForce.

She received honorary doctorates from Santa Clara University and Lehigh University, a Fellowship from College of Notre Dame, and a Chubb Fellowship from Yale University. Black now lives in Woodside, California.

Breast cancer

Black was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1972, and underwent a mastectomy. She is often remembered as the first celebrity to publicly discuss her involvement with this form of cancer, providing education and inspiration to many. In an interview published on the web page of the American Cancer Society, actress Barbara Barrie is quoted as saying:

Shirley Temple Black was the first person who said, on national television, 'I have breast cancer.' It wasn't Betty Ford, it was Shirley Temple, child star. One of the greatest stars of the world ever. And, she was so brave to say that, because first of all, people never said "cancer" and they never said "breast", not in public. She said it and she set the whole ball rolling. People don't remember that, but she did it.

Black appeared on the cover of People magazine in 1999 with the title "Picture Perfect" and again later that year as part of their special report, "Surviving Breast Cancer". She appeared at the 70th Academy Awards and also in that same year received Kennedy Center Honors.

Recent activity

In 1999, she hosted the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars awards show on CBS, a special list from the American Film Institute and part of the AFI 100 Years... series.

In 2001, she served as a consultant on the ABC Television Network production of Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story, based on part one of her autobiography.

In 2004, she teamed with Legend Films to restore, colorize and release her earliest black and white films, as well as episodes of her 1960 television series (originally shot on color videotape), The Shirley Temple Storybook Collection.

On September 12, 2005, Screen Actors Guild president Melissa Gilbert announced that Temple would receive the Guild's most prestigious honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award. Gilbert said:

I can think of no one more deserving of this year's SAG Life Achievement award than Shirley Temple Black. Her contributions to the entertainment industry are without precedent; her contributions to the world are nothing short of inspirational. She has lived the most remarkable life, as the brilliant performer the world came to know when she was just a child, to the dedicated public servant who has served her country both at home and abroad for 30 years. In everything she has done and accomplished, Shirley Temple Black has demonstrated uncommon grace, talent and determination, not to mention compassion and courage. As a child, I was thrilled to dance and sing to her films and more recently as Guild president I have been proud to work alongside her, as her friend and colleague, in service to our union. She has been an indelible influence on my life. She was my idol when I was a girl and remains my idol today.

References in popular culture

On The Jacksons Variety Show, Janet Jackson did a skit with brother Ronald to "On the Good Ship Lollipop".
New York band Interpol (band) mention her by name in their song 'The Specialist' with the line "put a lid on Shirley Temple"
Shirley was mentioned in Weird Al Yankovic's song "Confessions Part III", in which the singer/comedian states that "in private, I really like to dress up as Shirley Temple and spank myself with a hockey stick".
Carol Burnett occasionally performed an impression of "On the Good Ship Lollipop", exaggerating the concentration in Temple's face to look angry or scowling.
Towards the end of the Phish song, "The Wolfman's Brother", the name "Shirley Temple" can be heard numerous times.
The animated television series The Simpsons episode "Last Tap Dance in Springfield" features a former child-star turned tap-instructor 'Little' Vicki Valentine who is clearly modelled on Shirley. Also in "Treehouse of Horror III" during his rampage, King Kong (portrayed by Homer) eats a child actress similar to Shirley Temple.
On the animated televison show Family Guy, Stewie Griffin sings "On the Good Ship Lollipop" to get the attention of airport security when his backpack full of concealed weapons goes through the x-ray.
When she first ran for public office, a poster was published showing her in one of her earliest movies; a caption read, "Vote for Me or I'll Hold My Breath."
In the animated feature film Shrek the Third, the Gingerbread Man sings "On the Good Ship Lollipop" to himself after seeing his life flash before his eyes.
Shirley Temple is the only person, besides The Beatles themselves, who appears more than once on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover. She appears as a cut-out in the last row and a Shirley Temple doll is featured on the right side, wearing a shirt saying "Welcome The Rolling Stones".
The African-American stereotypes in some of Temple's films has been parodied on MADtv; specifically the scene from The Littlest Rebel when Bill Robinson teaches her to dance up and down the steps.
There is a non-alcoholic drink named after her. It consists of ginger ale or lemon-lime soda with grenadine (pomegranate syrup) and a whole cherry added. Consequently, a similar drink substituting cola for the ginger ale (usually referred to as a Roy Rogers) is known as a "Shirley Temple Black" in some regions.
In the episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled The Arsenal of Freedom, Riker says during his interrogation that he serves aboard the USS Lollipop, stating that 'it's a good ship'.
She is one of the celebrities charicatured in Donald Duck's The Autograph Hound.
She is mentioned on the song "(The legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs" from the musical Hairspray, on the line "Childhood dreams/for me were cracked/ when that damn Shirley Temple/ stole my frickin' act."

References

External links

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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 14:52:42 PDT (GMT -0700)
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