1932–1965 (as actress) 1967–1992 (as public servant)
Shirley Temple Black (bornShirley Jane Temple; April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) was an American actress, singer, dancer, politician, and diplomat, who was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938. Later, she was namedUnited States Ambassador to Ghana andCzechoslovakia, and also served asChief of Protocol of the United States.
Temple began her film career in 1931 when she was three years old and became well known for her performance inBright Eyes, released in 1934. She won a specialJuvenile Academy Award in February 1935 for her outstanding contribution as a juvenile performer in motion pictures during 1934 and continued to appear in popular films through the remainder of the 1930s, although her subsequent films became less popular as she grew older.[1] She appeared in her last film,A Kiss for Corliss, in 1949.[2][3]
Temple joined the Junior League of Palo Alto, CA in 1959 and shortly thereafter began a new chapter of public service, perhaps using a combination of her stardom and her leadership training to advocate for important causes.[4]
Temple's mother encouraged her to develop her singing, dancing, and acting talents.[13][14][15] At about this time, her mother began styling Temple's hair inringlets.[16]
While at the dance school, Temple was spotted byCharles Lamont, who was a casting director forEducational Pictures. She hid behind a piano while he was in the studio. Lamont liked Temple and invited her to audition. He signed her to a contract in 1932. Educational Pictures launched itsBaby Burlesks,[17][18][19][20] 10-minute comedy shorts satirizing recent films and events, using preschool children in every role. In 1933, Temple appeared inGlad Rags to Riches, a parody of theMae West featureShe Done Him Wrong, with Temple as a saloon singer. That same year, she appeared inKid 'in' Africa as a child imperiled in the jungle and inRunt Page, a pastiche of the previous year'sThe Front Page. The younger players in the cast recited their lines phonetically.
Temple became the breakout star of this series, and Educational promoted her to 20-minute comedies in theFrolics of Youth series withFrank Coghlan Jr. Temple played Mary Lou Rogers, the baby sister in a contemporary suburban family.[21] Temple and her child costars modeled for breakfast cereals and other products to fund production costs.[22][23] She was lent to Tower Productions for a small role in the studio's first feature film,The Red-Haired Alibi (1932),[24][25] and in 1933 toUniversal,Paramount andWarner Bros. Pictures for various parts,[26][27] including an uncredited role inTo the Last Man (1933), starringRandolph Scott andEsther Ralston.
After viewing one of Temple'sFrolics of Youth films,Fox Film Corporation songwriterJay Gorney saw her dancing in the theater lobby. Recognizing her from the screen, Gorney arranged ascreen test for Temple for the filmStand Up and Cheer! (1934). Temple auditioned on December 7, 1933, and won the part. She was signed to a $150-per-week contract that was guaranteed for two weeks by Fox. The role was a breakthrough performance for Temple. Her charm was evident to Fox executives, and she was ushered into corporate offices almost immediately after finishing "Baby, Take a Bow", a song-and-dance number that she performed withJames Dunn.
In almost all of these films, she played the role of emotional healer, mending rifts between erstwhile sweethearts, estranged family members, traditional and modern ways, and warring armies. Characteristically lacking one or both parents, she constituted new families of those most worthy to love and protect her. Producers delighted in contrasting her diminutive stature, sparkling eyes, dimpled smile, and 56 blond curls by casting her opposite strapping leading men, such asGary Cooper,John Boles,Victor McLaglen, andRandolph Scott. Yet her favorite costar was the great African American tap dancerBill "Bojangles" Robinson, with whom she appeared in four films, beginning withThe Little Colonel (1935), in which they performed the famous staircase dance.[28]
Biographer Anne Edwards wrote about the tone and tenor of Temple's films:
This was mid-Depression, and schemes proliferated for the care of the needy and the regeneration of the fallen. But they all required endless paperwork and demeaning, hours-long queues, at the end of which an exhausted, nettled social worker dealt with each person as a faceless number. Shirley offered a natural solution: to open one's heart.[29]
PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt praised her performances, saying, "It is a splendid thing that for just 15 cents, an American can go to a movie and look at the smiling face of a baby and forget his troubles."[30]
On December 21, 1933, Temple's contract was extended to one year at the same $150 per week (equivalent to $3,644 in 2024) with a seven-year option, and her mother Gertrude was hired at $25 per week (equivalent to $607 in 2024) as her hairdresser and personal coach.[31] Released in May 1934,Stand Up and Cheer! became Shirley's breakthrough film.[32] She performed in a short skit in the film alongside popular Fox starJames Dunn, singing andtap dancing. Fox executives rushed her into another film with Dunn,Baby Take a Bow (named after their song inStand Up and Cheer!). Temple's third film, also with Dunn, wasBright Eyes (1934), a movie written specifically for her.[33]
After the success of her first three films, Temple's parents realized that she was not being paid sufficiently. Her image also began to appear on numerous commercial products without her legal authorization and without compensation. To regain control over the use of her image and to negotiate with Fox, Temple's parents hired lawyer Lloyd Wright to represent them. On July 18, 1934, Temple's contractual salary was raised to $1,000 per week (equivalent to $23,505 in 2024), and her mother's salary was raised to $250 per week (equivalent to $5,876 in 2024), with an additional $15,000 (equivalent to $352,575 in 2024) bonus for each finished film.[34] Cease-and-desist letters were sent to many companies and the authorized corporate licenses began to be issued.[35]
Temple's quota of films in each calendar year was increased from three to four in the contract that her parents signed in July 1934.Now and Forever starringGary Cooper andCarole Lombard (with Temple billed third with her name above the title beneath Cooper's and Lombard's),The Little Colonel,Our Little Girl,Curly Top (with the signature song "Animal Crackers in My Soup") andThe Littlest Rebel were released after the contract was signed.Curly Top was Temple's last film before the merger between 20th Century Pictures and the Fox Film Corporation.[41]
Temple's salary was $2,500 per week (equivalent to $57,336 in 2024) by the end of 1935.[42] Elaborate sets were built for the production at the famedIverson Movie Ranch inChatsworth, where a rock feature at the heavily filmed location ranch was eventually named Shirley Temple Rock.[43]
Heidi was the only other Temple film released in 1937.[44] Midway through shooting of the movie, the dream sequence was added to the script. Temple herself reportedly was behind the dream sequence and she had enthusiastically pushed for it, but in her autobiography, she vehemently denied this. Her contract gave neither her parents nor her any creative control over her movies. She saw this as Zanuck's refusal to make any serious attempt at building upon the success of her dramatic role inWee Willie Winkie.[45]
One of the many examples of how Temple was permeating popular culture at the time is the references to her in the 1937 filmStand-In; newly minted film studio honcho Atterbury Dodd (played byLeslie Howard) has never heard of Temple, much to the shock and disbelief of former child star Lester Plum (played byJoan Blondell), who describes herself as "the Shirley Temple of my day", and performs "On the Good Ship Lollipop" for him.
In 1939, she was the subject of theSalvador Dalí paintingShirley Temple, The Youngest, Most Sacred Monster of the Cinema in Her Time, and she was animated withDonald Duck inThe Autograph Hound.[47]In 1940, Lester Cowan, an independent film producer, bought the screen rights toF. Scott Fitzgerald'sBabylon Revisited for $80. Fitzgerald thought his screenwriting days were over, and with some hesitation, accepted Cowan's offer to write the screenplay titled "Cosmopolitan" based on the short story. After finishing the screenplay, Fitzgerald was told by Cowan that he would not do the film unless Temple starred in the lead role of the youngster Honoria. Fitzgerald objected, saying that at age 12, the actress was too worldly for the part and would detract from the aura of innocence otherwise framed by Honoria's character. After meeting Temple in July, Fitzgerald changed his mind, and tried to persuade her mother to let her star in the film. However, her mother demurred. In any case, the Cowan project was shelved by the producer. Fitzgerald was later credited with the use of the original story forThe Last Time I Saw Paris starringElizabeth Taylor.[48]
As her contract with 20th Century-Fox was coming to a close, Temple's mother applied her for entrance into theWestlake School for Girls in September 1939.[49] There, Temple would enroll as aseventh-grader. Temple noted that she had difficulty adapting to a school environment after having spent much of her youth with adults and private tutors. However, her classmateJune Lockhart described her as having "integrated herself right away" and seeming "delighted to be there". Temple frequently attended school dances and extracurricular activities, and according to Lockhart, "students did not treat her differently despite her successful film career."[50][51] Temple graduated from the school in May 1945.[52][53]
Temple signed withMGM after leaving 20th Century-Fox. However, upon meeting withArthur Freed for a preliminary interview, the MGM producer exposed his genitals to her. When this elicited nervous giggles in response, Freed threw her out and ended their contract before any films were produced.[54] The next idea was teaming her with Garland and Rooney for the musicalBabes on Broadway. Fearing that either of those two could easily upstage Temple, MGM replaced her withVirginia Weidler. As a result, her only film for MGM was the relatively unsuccessful filmKathleen, released in 1941.Miss Annie Rooney followed forUnited Artists in 1942, but was unsuccessful.The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer starringCary Grant andFort Apache starringJohn Wayne andHenry Fonda were two of her few hit films in the 1940s.[55] Her then-husbandJohn Agar also appeared inFort Apache. She and future U.S. presidentRonald Reagan were both inThat Hagen Girl (1947). She did not formally announce her retirement from full-length films until 1950.[56][57]
Temple made her radio debut with aradio drama adaptation promoting the then-upcoming filmThe Blue Bird on Christmas Eve, 1939. During that radio appearance, a woman arose from her seat and brandished ahandgun, pointing it directly at Temple. She froze just long enough for police to stop her. It was later discovered that the woman's daughter had died on the day she mistakenly believed Temple was born, and blamed Temple for stealing her daughter's soul. The woman did not know that Temple was born in 1928, not 1929.[58][59]
Temple briefly had her own radio series onCBS.Junior Miss debuted March 4, 1942, in which she played the title role. The series was based on stories bySally Benson. Sponsored byProcter & Gamble,Junior Miss was directed by Gordon Hughes, withDavid Rose as musical director.[60] The series ended on August 26, 1942.[61]
From 1958 until 1961, Temple was the hostess, narrator, and an occasional actress on an anthology series of fairy tale adaptations calledShirley Temple's Storybook. During 1958 the hour-long program was seen as a series of specials onABC. Starting in 1959 the series began airing every third Monday night, alternating withCheyenne. In 1960 the series moved toNBC, where it was broadcast in color under the title ofThe Shirley Temple Show until September 10, 1961.[62]
In 2001 Temple served as a consultant on anABC-TV film production of her autobiography,Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story.[63][64] Directed by Australian directorNadia Tass and filmed by her husbandDavid Parker, the film stars Ashley Rose Orr as Temple, Emily Anne Hart as teen Shirley,Connie Britton as Gertrude Temple,Colin Friels as George Temple, andHinton Battle as Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. It was filmed inPort Melbourne, Australia.[65]
Temple leaving the White House offices with her mother and bodyguard John Griffith, 1938
John Kasson states:
She was also the most popular celebrity to endorse merchandise for children and adults, rivaled only by Mickey Mouse. She transformed children's fashions, popularizing a toddler look for girls up to the age of 12, and by the mid-1930s, Ideal Novelty and Toy Company's line of Shirley Temple dolls accounted for almost a third of all dolls sold in the country.[28]
Successful Shirley Temple items included a line of girls' dresses and many other items.[66]
Alongside licensed merchandise camecounterfeit items bearing Temple's likeness to capitalize on her fame, from dolls, clothing, and other accessories to even cigars with her face printed on the label.[67] Temple lamented in her memoirs that it "made no economic sense" to pursue litigation against those who made unlicensed goods under her name; a successful lawsuit was filed byIdeal Toy Company against a certain Lenora Doll Company, which manufactured and sold Shirley Temple dolls without authorization, with Temple herself cited as a co-plaintiff befitting her celebrity status.[68]
At the height of her popularity, Temple was the subject of many speculations and rumors, with several being propagated by the Fox press department. Fox publicized her as a natural talent with no formal acting or dance training. As a way of explaining how she knew stylized buck-and-wing dancing, she was enrolled for two weeks in the Elisa Ryan School of Dancing.[69]
False claims circulated that Temple was not a child, but a 30-year-old dwarf, due in part to her stocky body type. The rumor was so prevalent, especially in Europe, that theVatican dispatched Father Silvio Massante to investigate whether she was indeed a child. The fact that she never seemed to miss any teeth led some people to conclude that she had all her adult teeth. Temple was actually losing herprimary teeth regularly through her days with Fox—for example, during the sidewalk ceremony in front of Grauman's Theatre, where she took off her shoes and placed her bare feet in the concrete, taking attention away from her face. When acting, she wore dental plates and caps to hide the gaps in her teeth.[70] Another rumor said her teeth had been filed to make them appear like baby teeth.[71]
A rumor about Temple'strademark hair was that she wore a wig. On multiple occasions, fans yanked her hair to test the rumor. She later said she wished all she had to do was wear a wig, bemoaning the nightly process she had to endure in the setting of her curls as tedious and grueling, with weekly vinegar rinses that stung her eyes.[72]
Rumors spread that her hair color was not naturally blonde. During the making ofRebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, news spread that she was going to do extended scenes without her trademark curls. During production, she also caught a cold, which caused her to miss a couple of days. As a result, a false report originated in Britain that all of her hair had been cut off.[71]
Temple became active in theCalifornia Republican Party. In 1967, she ran unsuccessfully in aspecial election inCalifornia's 11th congressional district after eight-term RepublicanJ. Arthur Younger died ofleukemia.[73][74] She ran in the open primary as a conservative Republican and came in second with 34,521 votes (22.44%), behind Republican law school professorPete McCloskey, who placed first in the primary with 52,882 votes (34.37%) and advanced to the general election with Democrat Roy A. Archibald, who finished fourth with 15,069 votes (9.79%), but advanced as the highest-placed Democratic candidate. In the general election, McCloskey was elected with 63,850 votes (57.2%) to Archibald's 43,759 votes (39.2%). Temple received 3,938 votes (3.53%) as an independent write-in.[75][76]
Temple (far left) with First LadyPat Nixon, and Chief Nana Osae Djan II, in Ghana, 1972
Temple was extensively involved with theCommonwealth Club of California, a public-affairs forum headquartered in San Francisco. She spoke at many meetings throughout the years, and was president for a period in 1984.[77][78]
In 1976, Temple was considered apotential running mate to Gerald Ford inthat year's presidential election. While staying inKansas City for theRepublican National Convention, Temple and her husband were given a room with a White House telephone in it. Temple recalled that she speculated to her husband that the phone had been installed as Ford was about to ask her to be his running mate at the convention; however, the phone was disconnected.[84]Bob Dole was instead chosen as the Vice Presidential nominee.
Temple had hoped afterRonald Reagan's victory in the1980 presidential election that she would be given a cabinet position or another ambassadorship. Reagan did send Temple as his representative toParis as part ofAmerican inaugural celebrations abroad; however, she was not given any new posting during the Reagan administration. WriterAnne Edwards suggested that this was because Temple had supported Reagan's rival,George H. W. Bush, in the1980 Republican primaries. When rumors circulated that Reagan was planning to reappoint Temple as chief of protocol afterLenore Annenberg's resignation, Temple remarked that she didn't "believe in looking back".[85]
She served as theUnited States Ambassador to Czechoslovakia (August 23, 1989 – July 12, 1992), having been appointed by PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush,[86] and was the first and only woman in this job. Temple bore witness to two crucial moments in the history of Czechoslovakia's fight against communism. She was in Prague in August 1968, as a representative of the International Federation ofMultiple Sclerosis Societies, and was going to meet with Czechoslovakian party leaderAlexander Dubček on the very day that Soviet-backed forces invaded the country. Dubček fell out of favor with the Soviets after a series of reforms, known as thePrague Spring. Temple, who was stranded at a hotel as the tanks rolled in, sought refuge on the roof of the hotel. She later reported that it was from there she saw an unarmed woman on the street gunned down by Soviet forces, the sight of which stayed with her for the rest of her life.[87]
Later, after she became ambassador to Czechoslovakia, she was present during theVelvet Revolution, which brought about the end of communism in Czechoslovakia.[88] Temple openly sympathized with anti-communist dissidents, and assisted their efforts.[88] She was ambassador when the United States established formal diplomatic relations with the newly elected government led byVáclav Havel. She took the unusual step of personally accompanying Havel on his first official visit to Washington, traveling on the same plane.[79]
Shirley Temple with her daughter Linda Susan (1948)
In 1943, 15-year-old Temple met 22-year-oldJohn Agar, whom she married two years later in 1945, at age 17.[89][90][91] She gave birth to Linda Susan Agar in 1948.[89][92][93] Agar was reportedly an alcoholic and had extramarital affairs. Temple divorced Agar in 1950 on the grounds of mental cruelty.[94]
In 1950, in Hawaii, Temple metCharles Alden Black at a cocktail party.[95] Temple was married to Black from 1950 until his death on August 4, 2005.[96] They had a son, Charles Alden Black Jr., and a daughter,Lori, who became a bassist for the rock band theMelvins.
At age 44 in 1972, Temple was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the time, cancer was not typically discussed openly, and Temple's public disclosure was a significant milestone in improvingbreast cancer awareness and reducing stigma around the disease.[97][98]
On March 14, 1935, Shirley left her footprints and handprints in the wet cement at the forecourt ofGrauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. She was theGrand Marshal of the New Year's DayRose Parade inPasadena, California, three times in 1939, 1989, and 1999. On February 8, 1960, she received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame.
On June 9, 2021, Temple was featured on that day'sGoogle Doodle in celebration of the opening anniversary of "Love, Shirley Temple” a special exhibit featuring a collection of her rare memorabilia at Santa Monica History Museum.[113]
On October 30, 2025, the Temple family estate announced that veteran producer Marty Tudor acquired the film, television and stage rights to produce works based on Shirley's life and career. Also included in the acquisition were the rights to two unpublished autobiographies by Temple which are to be published posthumously.[114]
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"Tempest Over Temple: Shirley sips liquor and the W.C.T.U. protests".Life. Vol. 21, no. 12. September 16, 1946. p. 140.
Thomas, Andy; Scheftel, Jeff (1996).Shirley Temple: The Biggest Little Star. Biography. A&E Television Networks.ISBN978-0-7670-8495-6.
Windeler, Robert (1992) [1978].The Films of Shirley Temple. Carol Publishing Group.ISBN978-0-8065-0725-5.
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Kasson, John F.The Little Girl Who Fought the Great Depression: Shirley Temple and 1930s America (2014)ExcerptArchived March 16, 2016, at theWayback Machine
Minott, Rodney G.The Sinking of the Lollipop: Shirley Temple vs. Pete McCloskey (1968).
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