Black, Shirley Temple (Actress/Politician)

Shirley Jane Temple (born April 23, 1928), later known as Shirley Temple Black, is an American diplomat and former film child actress. Not only was she the most famous child actress of the 1930s, she is also considered to be the most famous child actor/actress of all time. Her films continue to enjoy popularity today, particularly among young girls.

Film career

Born in Santa Monica, California, she starred in over 40 films during the 1930s. She was the only daughter of banker George Francis Temple (1888-1980) and his wife Gertrude Amelia Krieger (1893-1977). She had two older brothers. Temple began her career at the age of three, after being chosen from her dance class by a visiting director. Between the end of 1931 and 1933 she appeared in two series of short subjects for Educational Pictures. Her first series, Baby Burlesks, satirized recent motion pictures and politics. The series was considered controversial by some viewers because of its depiction of young children in adult situations. 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 also performed many walk-on and bit player roles in various other movies. She 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. She would stay with Fox until 1940, becoming 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 solid years, she ranked as the top-grossing box office star in America. To hold on to her babyhood, Shirley’s birth certificate had been altered. Only on her twelfth birthday did she realise she was actually thirteen.

Her popularity earned her both public adulation and the approval of her peers. Even 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. She was the first recipient of the special Juvenile Performer Academy Award in 1935. Seventy years later, Temple is still the youngest performer ever to receive this honor. She is also the youngest actor to add foot and hand prints to the forecourt at Grauman’s Chinese Theater.

Temple was paired with James Dunn in several films. She also 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.

Temple’s ability as a dancer (especially a tap dancer) is well known and celebrated. Even in her earliest films she danced, and she was able to handle complex tap choreography by the age of five. 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 also coached and developed her choreography for many of her other films. Because Robinson was African-American, his scenes holding hands with Temple had to be edited out in many cities in the South.

Aside from the films, there were many Shirley Temple product tie-ins during the 1930s. Ideal’s numerous Temple dolls, 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 and hairbows. Several of Temple’s film songs, including “On the Good Ship Lollipop” (from 1934’s Bright Eyes), “Animal Crackers in My Soup” (from 1935’s Curly Top) and “Goodnight my Love” (from 1936’s Stowaway) were popular radio hits. She frequently lent her likeness and talent to promoting various social causes, including the Red Cross.

The role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, played by Judy Garland, was originally intended for her. She was unable to appear in the film when a trade between Fox and MGM fell through. She 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.

In 1940, Temple left Fox. 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 and Fort Apache. She retired from motion pictures in 1949. In the 1950s and 1960s, she made a brief return to show business with two television 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.
Screen Actors Guild (SAG) announced on September 12, 2005, that she was to receive the Guild’s most prestigious honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award. SAG President Melissa 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.”

Family and career as Shirley Temple Black

At the age of 17, Temple was married first 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. Earlier that year she had met and fallen in love with California businessman Charles Alden Black (1919-2005) and they were married on December 16, 1950 and she took his name. Together, they had two children: Charles Alden Black Jr. born April 29, 1952 and Lori Black born on April 9, 1954. They remained married until his death from myelodysplastic syndrome at age 86 on August 4, 2005.
Black subsequently became involved in Republican Party politics, unsuccessfully entering a Congressional race in 1967 on a pro-war platform. She went on to hold several diplomatic posts, serving as America’s delegate to many international conferences and summits. She was appointed American 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 US embassies and consulates. She was ambassador to Czechoslovakia (1989-92) and witnessed the Velvet Revolution, about which she commented, “That was the best job I ever had.” In 1987 she was created the first Honorary Foreign Service Officer in US history by then US Secretary of State, George Schultz.
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.
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 US-China Relations, the United Nations Association, and the US 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. Recently, she has teamed with Legend Films to release colorized versions of some of her early black and white films. These new versions have been released on DVD.

Source: Wikipedia

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