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Shirley Temple

 
Biography: Shirley Temple Black

Shirley Temple Black (born 1928) was an American who devoted her career first to films and then to public service. The United States ambassador to Czechoslovakia from 1989 till 1992, she was still remembered by millions of fans for her success as a child movie star in the 1930s.

Shirley Temple was born in Santa Monica, California, on April 23, 1928. She was the youngest of three children. Her father was a bank teller. As a child Shirley Temple began to take dance steps almost as soon as she began to walk, and her mother took her to dancing school when she was about three and a half years old. She also took her daughter on endless rounds of visits to agents, hoping to secure a show business career. Persistence paid off. Little Shirley obtained a contract at a small film studio and one of the great careers in film history began.

Her first contract was with Educational Pictures Inc., for whom she worked in 1932 and 1933. She appeared in a serial entitled Baby Burlesks, followed by a two-reeler, Frolics of Youth, that would lead to her being contracted by the Fox Film Corporation at a salary of $150 per week. The first full-length feature that she appeared in for Fox was 1934's Carolina. It was another Fox release of that year that made her a star: Stand Up and Cheer. Although she only appeared in a subsidiary role, she made a big hit in this picture by singing and dancing "Baby Take a Bow." She appeared in eight other full-length films (not to mention her ongoing work in serials and short subjects) that year, including Little Miss Marker and Bright Eyes. The first of these is especially notable because it was her first starring role. The culmination of 1934 was the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences award of a special miniature Oscar to her "in grateful recognition of her outstanding contribution to screen entertainment during the year, 1934." One cannot help but assume that the industry-dominated academy was most impressed by her status as the number one box office draw of the year, but her special Oscar was unique in that it represented the first and only time that an Oscar has been awarded on the basis of a poll of the film-going public.

Film Star of the 1930s

Through the rest of the decade Shirley Temple's star soared. And it was not only her delectable dimples and 56 corkscrew curls that would keep her at the top of the box office listings. She was a spectacularly talented child, able to sing and dance with style and genuine feeling. Gifted with perfect pitch, she was a legendary quick study who learned her lines and dance routines much faster than her older and more experienced co-stars. She would make 15 films in the next six years, becoming one of the most popular stars of the Great Depression years and making over $30 million for the newly organized Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. The company's chief executive, Darryl Zanuck, arranged for a staff of 19 writers to exclusively develop film projects for her. Studio wags described her character, which evolved through such films as The Little Colonel (1935), Captain January (1936), Wee Willie Winkie (1937), Heidi (1937), and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938), as "Little Miss Fix-It" whose cuteness and precocious presence of mind helped grown-ups through real-life difficulties. And as her popularity rose, so did her salary - to $10,000 per week.

But unfortunately little of the built-up popularity would be hers to claim by the time she was an adult. As she reports in her autobiography, her father's questionable management of her funds, coupled with both of her parents' healthy regard for their own interests, enabled only a fraction of the immense fortune that she earned to accrue to Shirley herself. By 1940 she had appeared in 43 feature films and shorts and an entire industry had sprung up whose products celebrated the glories of Shirley Temple: dolls, dresses, coloring books, and other sundry merchandise. She also earned enormous sums by commercially endorsing all sorts of products. These endeavors brought in an even larger amount of money than her studio salary. She got more fan mail than Greta Garbo and her picture was taken more frequently than President Franklin D. Roosevelt's. Shirley Temple will always be a symbol of the nation's longing for good times and good cheer during the severe economic woes of the Great Depression.

By the decade's end she was no longer quite a child, and when The Blue Bird (1940) proved unpopular at the box office and the next film that she starred in fared poorly as well, Twentieth Century-Fox devised a means of getting rid of the "property" that had saved the fledgling studio from bankruptcy. She would try to maintain her acting career through the 1940s but never again would she come even close to the stardom of her childhood. Film audiences would simply not allow the adorable girl who had sung "On the Good Ship Lolly Pop" and "Animal Crackers (in My Soup)" to grow up.

There had never been a child star so talented as she. Actress, singer, and dancer - Shirley Temple was a unique performer. The "industry" that rose up to promote her did not exist to support her stardom so much as it was a reflection of it. Moreover, Shirley Temple's true greatness as a screen idol has survived to the present day as her films are revived on television and re-released on videocassettes. New generations of fans have grown up marveling at her talent wholly apart from any studio hype or pressurized product tie-ins marketed to bedazzle them. Her matchless and enduring talent has proven to be enchantment enough.

It is arguable that nothing could have been done to preserve the lustre of her magic. Yet her ongoing struggles as an adult would prove her to be as heroic in her own life as she had ever been on the screen. A difficult first marriage to actor John Agar caused her to mature quickly. Almost immediately thereafter came the realization that her parents had been looking out for their own best interests rather than hers.

As she had done in so many of her films, she rallied. After marrying the successful California businessman Charles Black in 1950, with whom she raised her children (Linda from her first marriage and Charles and Lori from her second), she embarked on a career in television. The success of her two children's series enabled her to pursue her commitment to children's issues with vigor. In 1961 she cofounded the National Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies.

Her concern over domestic social ills caused her to realize that life as a private citizen could not satisfy her desire to make the world a better place. She ran for Congress in 1967 and was defeated. This was only the beginning of her involvement in public service. In 1969 she was appointed to serve as a representative to the United Nations. Her exemplary work at the UN led to a second career for Shirley Temple Black. In 1972 she was appointed representative to the UN Conference on the Human Environment and also served as a delegate on the Joint Committee for the USSR-USA Environmental Treaty. The next year she served as a US commissioner for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Black overcame a great challenge in 1972 when she successfully battled breast cancer. When she publicly disclosed that she had a mastectomy, she gave courage to millions of women. Two years later she was appointed ambassador to Ghana, where she was warmly received by the people of that nation. Upon completion of her tour of duty in Africa, President Ford made her the US chief of protocol. In all of her various diplomatic functions, Black's intelligence, spirit, and zeal contributed greatly to her country's prestige and furthered its world position. Democratic President Carter paid tribute to her tact and flawless taste when he chose her (Black had been a lifelong Republican) to make the arrangements for his inauguration and inaugural ball in 1977.

But the triumphs of her adult life no more ruffled her poise and grace than her earlier tribulations. Her marriage and family life with Charles Black was as rewarding to her as her career as a diplomat was distinguished. Indeed, by 1981 she was such an established pillar of the public service community that she became one of the founding members of the American Academy of Diplomacy. In 1988 she was appointed Honorary Foreign Service Officer of the United States, the only person with that rank. She went on to serve as the US ambassador to Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992. Such honors are ultimately the true measure of her career's meaning. Latter-day film industry recognition such as the Life Achievement Award of the American Center of Films for Children or the full-sized Oscar that she was given in 1985 were echoes of a past that, while still resonant for "Shirley Temple," were not quite relevant for Shirley Temple Black. According to Black, her more than 25 years of social service have been just as enjoyable as her years in Hollywood.

Black is working on a book about her diplomatic career, which, she told Susan Bandrapalli in a 1996 Christian Science Monitor interview, she expects to take quite some time to complete. Her first book, A Child's Story took eight years to write. Black also stated that she was concerned about the lack of civility in the world today and said, "People should show more kindness and understanding."

The title of a recent biography (American Princess) does not do her justice. Through her lifetime of service in the arts and public life, Black has exemplified the spirit of self-sacrifice and persistent striving that Americans have aspired to for generations. She is truly an American heroine.

Further Reading

Shirley Temple Black wrote a candid and tasteful autobiography, Child Star (1988), detailing her years in Hollywood. Anne Edward's American Princess, published the same year, is an adequately researched, if slightly sensationalized, treatment of her life. Jeanine Basinger has written a study of her films, Shirley Temple (1975), which comments briefly on her life but is mostly concerned with sketching her film career. Another satisfactory examination of her movies is The Films of Shirley Temple by Robert Windeler. Black's career as a diplomat and as an environmental and children's rights activist keeps her in the headlines of magazines and newspapers, and nostalgia for her days of childhood stardom will no doubt keep her name in the columns of other journals as well. See Christian Science Monitor (April 25, 1996), People Weekly (November 28, 1988).

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Shirley Temple.
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Shirley Temple. (credit: Brown Brothers)
(born April 23, 1928, Santa Monica, Calif., U.S.) U.S. child actress. She was selected from her dancing class for a screen test and made her debut at age four. She won notice in Stand Up and Cheer (1934) and was featured in Little Miss Marker (1934) and Bright Eyes (1934), in which she sang "On the Good Ship Lollipop." A precocious performer known for her dimples and golden curls, she became the country's most popular female star and Hollywood's top box office attraction in the Great Depression era. She received a special Academy Award in 1934. Her later films include The Little Colonel (1935), Wee Willie Winkie (1937), and The Little Princess (1939). As an adult she served as a U.S. delegate to the UN General Assembly (1969 – 70) and as U.S. ambassador to Ghana (1974 – 76) and Czechoslovakia (1989 – 92).

For more information on Shirley Temple, visit Britannica.com.

Fairy Tale Companion: Shirley Temple
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Temple, Shirley (1928– ), child star from the 1930s and 1940s whose 50‐odd films contain numerous fairy‐tale elements. Watched over by her mother (fairy godmother) Gertrude Amelia Temple (née Krieger), Shirley began her film career with The Runt Page (1931). Subsequently, New Deal Rhythm (1933), Stand Up and Cheer (1934), Bright Eyes (1934), Wee Willie Winkie (1937), and other films cast their spells over Depression audiences who watched enchanted as Shirley, usually playing an abandoned child, magically overcame whatever personal and political problems confronted her and her friends. Shirley's films invariably ended with good triumphing over evil, wealth over poverty, marriage over divorce, a booming economy over a depressed economy—classic fairy‐tale endings. Unsurprisingly, Shirley Temple describes herself as a ‘tiny commodity’, a ‘potential gold mine for Fox’ in the fairy tale that is American capitalism. Lone, outspoken critics like Graham Greene, critical of Temple's flirtatious acting, were silenced in the courts.

A successful film career capped by an Oscar in 1935 was followed by a successful TV and political career. She served as narrator for two TV series, ‘Shirley Temple Storybook’ (1958) and ‘Shirley Temple Theatre’ (1961), which both included numerous fairy‐tale adaptations of the classics, also made into books. In politics she held different elected positions, and in 1987 she was made Honorary Foreign Service Officer.

Bibliography

  • Black, Shirley Temple, Child Star (1988).
  • Greene, Graham, “‘Wee Willie Winkie. Review’”, in John Russell Taylor (ed.), Graham Greene on Film: Collected Film Criticism, 1935–1940 (1972).

— Ian Wojcik‐Andrews

Quotes By: Shirley Temple Black
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Quotes:

"Good luck needs no explanation."

"I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph."

Artist: Shirley Temple
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Similar Artists:

Followers:

Monica Mancini, Liz Callaway, Thomas Hampson, Laurie Beechman

Performed Songs By:

Lew Pollack, Sidney Mitchell, Ted Koehler, Ray Henderson, Mack Gordon, Irving Caesar
  • Active: '30s, '40s, '50s, '60s
  • Genres: Vocal Music
  • Instrument: Vocals
  • Representative Albums: "Bambi," "On the Good Ship Lollipop," "Oh My Goodness"
  • Representative Songs: "On the Good Ship Lollipop," "Animal Crackers in My Soup," "But Definitely"

Biography

No other child star in the history of popular entertainment enjoyed so much fame and renown as Shirley Temple -- by the tender age of six, she was already among the biggest celebrities in the world. Born April 23, 1928 in Santa Monica, California, she began taking dance classes at three, which led to her discovery by Hollywood in 1932; initially, she was tapped for a new series of children's films called "Baby Burlesks," parodies of adult features of the era designed to capitalize on the massive success of Hal Roach's Our Gang shorts. Temple soon enjoyed a number of bit parts in minor features before her breakthrough performance singing "Baby Take a Bow" in the 1934 musical Stand Up and Cheer poised her on the brink of stardom; while her skills as a singer and dancer were already remarkable, her gifts as an actress were ultimately her greatest drawing card, and she connected with audiences on a deeply emotional level rivaled only by a handful of the era's biggest adult performers.

In 1934 alone, Temple made nine features, most notably Little Miss Marker and Bright Eyes, the latter launching her hit song "On the Good Ship Lollipop"; as a result of her success that year -- just her first as a feature actress -- she was even given a special miniature Academy Award. Through it all, Temple remained so poised that rumors swirled that she was not even really a child at all, but a dwarf. As the Depression raged on, her films emerged as compulsory escapist fare for audiences of all ages, and soon she was making upwards of $300,000 annually, with a vast array of dolls, coloring books, clothes and other products bearing her likeness. As the 1930s wore on, Temple's star continued to ascend; each of her films was more profitable than the one which preceded it, and included such hits as 1935's The Littlest Rebel, 1936's Poor Little Rich Girl, and 1937's Heidi. Her pictures also generated a number of hit songs, among them "Animal Crackers in My Soup," "When I Grow Up," "Curly Top" and "Swing Me an Old-Fashioned Love Song."

In 1938, Temple was the year's top box-office draw; however, while a few more hits followed, including 1939's The Little Princess, as the 1940s dawned her popularity began to dwindle -- like so many child stars before and after her, her wide audience appeal simply faded as she entered her teens. Temple continued appearing on screen for the remainder of the decade, each time to diminishing returns; she eventually retired from screen acting at the age of 21. In 1958, she attempted to mount a comeback in television, hosting the short-lived series The Shirley Temple Storybook; 1960's Shirley Temple Show fared no better. After marrying businessman Charles Black, Temple concentrated on family life, also working extensively for charitable concerns; in the late 1960s she entered politics, unsuccessfully campaigning for Congress. In 1968, however, she was appointed as a U.S. representative to the United Nations, and from 1974 to 1976 was the U.S. ambassador to Ghana. In 1988, Temple published her autobiography, Child Star; a year later she was named ambassador to Czechoslovakia. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Actor: Shirley Temple
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  • Born: Apr 23, 1928 in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '30s-'40s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
  • Career Highlights: Fort Apache, Since You Went Away, Wee Willie Winkie
  • First Major Screen Credit: The Kid's Last Fight (1933)

Biography

The jury is still out as to whether or not curly haired Shirley Temple was the most talented child star in movie history; there is little doubt, however, that she was the most consistently popular. The daughter of non-professionals, she started taking singing and dancing classes at the age of three, and the following year began accompanying her mother on the movie audition circuit. Hired by the two-reel comedy firm of Educational Pictures in 1933, she starred in an imitation Our Gang series called the Baby Burlesks, performing astonishingly accurate impressions of Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich; she was also featured in the films of Educational's other stars, including Andy Clyde and Frank Coghlan Jr. In 1934 she was signed by Fox Pictures, a studio then teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. After a handful of minor roles she created a sensation by stopping the show with her rendition of "Baby Take a Bow" in Fox's Stand Up and Cheer. She was promptly promoted to her own starring features, literally saving Fox (and its successor 20th Century Fox) from receivership, and earned a special Oscar in 1934 "in grateful recognition to her outstanding contribution to screen entertainment." With such tailor-made vehicles as Bright Eyes (1934), Curly Top (1935), The Little Colonel (1935), Dimples (1936), and Heidi (1937), Temple was not only America's number one box-office attraction, but a merchandising cash cow, inspiring an unending cascade of Shirley Temple dolls, toys, and coloring books. She also prompted other studios to develop potential Shirley Temples of their own, such as Sybil Jason and Edith Fellows (ironically, the only juvenile actress to come close to Temple's popularity was 20th Century Fox's own Jane Withers, who got her start playing a pint-sized villain in Temples' Bright Eyes). Though the Fox publicity mill was careful to foster the myth that Temple was just a "typical" child with a "normal" life, her parents carefully screened her friends and painstakingly predetermined every move she made in public. Surprisingly, she remained an unspoiled and most cooperative coworker, though not a few veteran character actors were known to blow their stacks when little Temple, possessed of a photographic memory, corrected their line readings. By 1940, Temple had outgrown her popularity, as indicated by the failure of her last Fox releases The Blue Bird and Young People. The following year, MGM, who'd originally wanted Temple to play Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, cast her in Kathleen, another box-office disappointment which ended her MGM association almost before it began. Under the auspices of producers Edward Small and David O. Selznick, Temple enjoyed modest success as a teenaged actress in such productions as 1942's Miss Annie Rooney (in which Dickie Moore gave her first screen kiss) and 1944's Since You Went Away. Still, the public preferred to remember the Shirley Temple that was, reacting with horror when she played sexually savvy characters in Kiss and Tell (1945) and That Hagen Girl (1947). Perhaps the best of her post-child star roles was spunky army brat Philadelphia Thursday in John Ford's Fort Apache (1947), in which she co-starred with her first husband, actor John Agar (the union broke up after four years when Agar began to resent being labeled "Mr. Shirley Temple"). She returned to 20th Century Fox for her last film, Mr. Belvedere Goes to College (1949), in which played second fiddle to star Clifton Webb. Retiring on her trust fund in 1950, she wed a second time to business executive Charles Black, a marriage that would endure for several decades and produce a number of children. In 1958 she made a comeback as host of The Shirley Temple Storybook, a well-received series of children's TV specials. Her final show business assignment was the weekly 1960 anthology The Shirley Temple Show, which though not a success enabled her to play a variety of character roles -- including a toothless old witch in an hour-long adaptation of Babes in Toyland! The staunchly Republican Temple went into an entirely different field of endeavor when she entered politics in the mid-'60s. The bitter taste of an unsuccessful congressional bid was dissipated in 1968 when she was appointed U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She went on to serve as U.S. ambassador to Ghana (1974-1976) and Czechoslovakia (1989), and during the Ford and Carter years kept busy as the U.S. Chief of Protocol. In the 1980s, she went public with information about her mastectomy, providing hope and inspiration for other victims of breast cancer. Still one of the most beloved figures in the world, Temple seemingly went to great pains to dispel her goody two-shoes image in her candid 1988 autobiography Child Star, in which she cast a frequently jaundiced eye on her lifelong celebrity status, revealing among other things that several well-known Hollywood moguls had tried and failed to force their manhood upon her once she was of legal age (and even before!). No question about it: Shirley Temple has come a long way from the Good Ship Lollipop. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Wikipedia: Shirley Temple
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Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple
in The Little Princess (1939)
Born Shirley Temple
April 23, 1928 (1928-04-23) (age 81)
Santa Monica, California
United States
Other name(s) Shirley Jane Temple[note 1]
Shirley Temple Black
Occupation Actress (1931–1965)
Public servant (1967–present)
Spouse(s) John Agar
(1945–1950, divorce)
Charles Alden Black
(1950–2005, his death)

Shirley Temple (born April 23, 1928 in Santa Monica, California) is an American actress and public servant. She began her acting career in 1932 with one-reelers and skyrocketed to superstardom in 1934 with the feature film, Bright Eyes. Thereafter, she starred in twenty-four films for Twentieth Century-Fox and became top box-office draw in a Motion Picture Herald poll four years in a row, from 1935 to 1938.[1][2]

In 1945, Temple married Army Air Force sergeant John Agar, divorced him in 1949, and received custody of their daughter Linda Susan. In 1950, she married United States Navy Silver Star recipient Charles Alden Black and retired from the film industry. In the early 1950s, she had two children with Black: Charles Alden Jr., and Lori Alden.

In 1958, she ventured into television with Shirley Temple's Storybook, a live-action fairy tale anthology series. She ran unsuccessfully for United States Congress in 1967, and received appointments as United States Ambassador to Ghana in 1974 and to Czechoslovakia in 1989. In 1988, she published her autobiography, Child Star.

Temple has received many awards and honors including an Academy Award, Kennedy Center Honors, and a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.

Contents

Birth and early years

Temple as a baby, c1928

Weighing six pounds eight ounces, Shirley Temple was born without complications at 9:00 p.m. on Monday April 23, 1928, at the Santa Monica Hospital in Santa Monica, California[3] to George Francis Temple (May 1888, Fairview, Pennsylvania – September 30, 1980 Woodside, California),[4] a bank clerk of Dutch, German, and English descent,[5] and Gertrude Amelia Krieger (July 15, 1893, Chicago, Illinois – January 1, 1977, Woodside, California), a housewife.[6] At the time of their daughter's birth, the Temples were the parents of two sons, thirteen-year-old John "Jack" Stanley and nine-year-old George "Sonny" Francis Jr..[7]

At eight months, Temple was standing in her crib swaying to the popular music her mother played on the phonograph,[3] and, at thirteen months, began walking and keeping time with her feet to music on the radio. Mother and daughter read storybooks together and enacted the characters.[8] Early in 1931, convinced her three-year-old daughter had exceptional talent,[3] Mrs. Temple enrolled the youngster in Meglin's Dance School in Los Angeles, California for twice weekly dance lessons.[9][10]

About this time, executives at Educational Pictures, a Poverty Row studio, planned a series of one-reelers called Baby Burlesks to compete with the popular Our Gang comedy shorts.[note 2] Charles Lamont (May 5, 1895 – September 12, 1993), a film director with Educational, conducted a talent search among the children at the Meglin School, found Temple hiding behind a piano, and encouraged her to audition for the series. She did, and was signed to a two-year contract in January 1932.[11][12][13]

Film career

First films

Temple and co-star Georgie Smith in Runt Page (1932), Temple's first film appearance

The Baby Burlesks were eight 10-11 minute films that satirized contemporary motion pictures, celebrities, and politics.[14] The casts were composed entirely of preschoolers who wore adult costumes on top and diapers fastened with enormous safety pins on the bottom.[15] Temple made her screen debut in April 1932 with Runt Page, a spoof of the play, The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur.[note 3] In Glad Rags to Riches, Temple performed her first on-screen tap dance and sang her first film song, "She's Only a Bird in a Gilded Cage".[13]

Temple appeared in all eight films in the series, and graduated to a series of Educational two-reelers called Frolics of Youth in which she portrayed Mary Lou Rogers, a youngster in a contemporary suburban family.[16] She was paid $15 a day or $50 a picture.[17] In order to underwrite film production costs at Educational, Temple and her juvenile co-stars were peddled as models for chewing gum, breakfast cereal, cigar, and candy bar promotional gimmicks and photographs.[18][19]

Bright Eyes (1934) was a film designed specifically for Temple's talents and skyrocketed the child actress to superstardom.

While under contract for Educational, Temple was loaned-out to other studios. Her first appearance in a feature film was a barely visible role in The Red-Haired Alibi for Tower Productions, Inc. in 1932.[20][21] In 1933, she made several short films for Educational, and, again, was loaned-out for bit parts in feature films at Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and Warner Bros..[22][23]

In February 1934, she signed a contract with Fox Films after Educational declared bankruptcy in September 1933.[24][25] She appeared in bit parts for Fox and was loaned-out for a two-reeler and two feature films at Paramount and a feature film for Warner Bros.-First National.[26]

In April 1934, Fox's Stand Up and Cheer! became Temple's breakthrough film. Her performance was refreshing in comparison with her drab cinematic surroundings and the lackluster performances of her adult costars. Fox was aware of her charisma while the film was in production and began promoting Temple well before the film's release. She was billed third, preparing critics and filmgoers to give her their undivided attention. Within months, Temple came to represent wholesome family entertainment.[27] Stand Up and Cheer! brought her critical acclaim and truck-loads of fan mail.[28] Her salary was raised to US$1,250 a week, and her mother's to $150 as coach and hairdresser.[29] In June, Temple garnered more critical and popular acclaim for her performance in Paramount's Little Miss Marker.[30][31]

She finished 1934 with the December 28 release of Bright Eyes—the first feature film crafted specifically for her talents and the first in which her name was raised above the title.[32][33] In the film's one musical number, she introduced what would become her signature song, On the Good Ship Lollipop. The song was an instant hit and sold 500,000 sheet music copies. The film (more than any other Temple film up to that time) demonstrated her ability to portray a fully dimensional character and established a formula for future roles of a lovable, parentless waif mellowing a gruff older man.[34]

In February 1935, Temple received a special miniature Oscar statuette in recognition of her contributions to film entertainment in 1934.[35][36][37][note 4] A month later, she added her foot and hand prints to the forecourt at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.[38]

Twentieth Century-Fox

Temple and Zanuck, (1935?)

In 1934, Fox Films was in dire financial straits and merged with producer Darryl F. Zanuck's Twentieth Century Pictures to become Twentieth Century-Fox, and thereafter, studio head Zanuck (one of the best story minds in the film industry at the time)[39] focused his attention and resources upon cultivating Temple's superstar status. After four successful films – Stand Up and Cheer!, Little Miss Marker, Baby Take a Bow, and Bright Eyes – the public adored her.[40][note 5] The studio's top priority became developing projects, vehicles, and stories for Temple, and, to that end, the "Shirley Temple Story Development" team of nineteen writers was put to work creating eleven original stories and adapting the classics.[41]

The nation was in the midst of the Great Depression, and, though bureaucratic schemes for relieving impoverished and suffering Americans abounded, most treated the great unwashed masses as nothing more than faceless numbers. Temple's films would propose a simple natural solution to the Great Depression's woes—open one's heart and give of oneself. Temple's goodness, innocence, and charm would melt the hearts of cold authority figures like military officers, corporation heads, and orphanage matrons and touch the lives of the grumpy, the wizened, the rich, the bratty, the miserly, and the criminal with positive results. In doing so, she was presenting them with the opportunity to give of themselves.[41]

Temple and Eleanor Roosevelt, (July 1938)

Adult audiences (unable to resolve the difficulties presented them in everyday Depression era life) could enter a child's fantasy world in a Temple film to see all problems brought to satisfying closures by film's end. Temple films were seen as generating hope and optimism, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "It is a splendid thing that for just a fifteen cents an American can go to a movie and look at the smiling face of a baby and forget his troubles."[42][note 6]

Most Temple films were cheaply-made ($200,000 or $300,000 per picture) comedy-dramas with songs and dances added, sentimental and melodramatic situations aplenty, and little in the way of production values. Her film titles are a clue to the way she was marketed – Curly Top and Dimples, and her "little" pictures such as The Little Colonel and The Littlest Rebel. Temple often played a fixer-upper, a precocious Cupid, or the good fairy in these films, reuniting her estranged parents or smoothing out the wrinkles in the romances of young couples. She was very often motherless, sometimes fatherless, and sometimes an orphan confined to a dreary asylum.[43] Elements of the traditional fairy tale were incorporated in her films: wholesome goodness triumphed over meanness and evil, for example, or wealth over poverty, marriage over divorce, or a booming economy over a depressed one.[44] As Temple matured into a pre-adolescent, the formula was altered slightly to encourage her naturalness, naïveté, and tomboyishness to come forth and shine while her infant innocence that had served her well at six but was inappropriate for her tweens was toned down.[43]

Temple and her parents, c1935

At Zanuck's request, Temple's parents agreed to four films a year from their daughter (rather than the three they wished), and the child star's contract was reworked with bonuses to sweeten the deal. A succession of films followed: The Little Colonel, Our Little Girl, Curly Top, and The Littlest Rebel in 1935. Curly Top and The Littlest Rebel were named to Variety's list of top box office draws for 1935[45] In 1936, Captain January, Poor Little Rich Girl, Dimples,[note 7] and Stowaway were released.

Based on Temple's many successes, Zanuck decided to increase budgets and production values for her films. In 1937, John Ford was hired to direct the sepia-toned Wee Willie Winkie (Temple's own favorite film) and a top-drawer cast was secured that included Victor McLaglen, C. Aubrey Smith, and Cesar Romero.[46][47] The film was a critical and commercial hit,[47] but British film critic Graham Greene muddied the waters in October 1937 when he wrote in a British magazine that Temple was a "complete totsy" and accused her of being too nubile for a nine-year-old:

Her admirers – middle-aged men and clergymen – respond to her dubious coquetry, to the sight of her well-shaped and desirable little body, packed with enormous vitality, only because the safety curtain of story and dialogue drops between their intelligence and their desire.[48]

Temple and Twentieth Century-Fox sued for libel and won. The settlement remained in trust for Temple in England until she turned twenty-one, at which time it was used to build a youth center in England.[49][50]

The only other Temple film released in 1937 was Heidi, a story suited to her maturing personality.[51] Her blond hair had darkened to ash blond and the ringlets brushed back into soft curls. Her theatrical instincts had sharpened and she suggested the Dutch song and dance dream sequence and its placement.[52] After minor disagreements with the other children in the scene about the dance steps, director Allan Dwan had badges made with 'Shirley Temple Police' inscribed upon them. Every child was issued one after swearing allegiance and obedience to Temple.[53]

In 1938, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Little Miss Broadway, and Just Around the Corner were released with the latter two being among Temple's least interesting films. Both were critical duds with Corner the first Temple film to founder at the box office.[54] The following year, Zanuck secured the rights to the children's novel, A Little Princess, believing the book would be an ideal vehicle for Temple. He budgeted the film at $1.5 million (twice the amount of Corner) and chose it to be her first Technicolor feature. The Little Princess was a 1939 critical and commercial success with Temple's acting at its peak. Convinced Temple would make the transition from child star to teenage actress, [55] Zanuck declined a substantial offer from MGM to star Temple as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and cast her instead in the banal Susannah of the Mounties, her last money-maker for Twentieth Century-Fox.[56][57] The film dropped Temple from number one box-office favorite in 1938 to number thirteen in 1939.[58]

In 1940, Temple starred in two consecutive flops at Twentieth Century-Fox (The Blue Bird and Young People). Times had changed with the advent of World War II. The breezy, flippant escapist films of the 1930s had given place to serious fare reflecting the anxiety and trepidation Americans felt as they were drawn into a cataclysmic war. A fairy tale film about a selfish girl could not have been more inappropriate,[59] and Zanuck preferred to disassociate himself and the studio from a child star whose career was clearly finished.[60] Temple's parents were furious but bought up the remainder of her contract in 1940 and sent her at the age of twelve to Westlake School for Girls, an exclusive and pricey country day school in Los Angeles.[61] At the studio, Temple's bungalow was renovated, all traces of her tenure expunged, and the building reassigned as an office complex.[60]

Temple-related merchandise and endorsements

There were many Temple-inspired products manufactured and released during the 1930s. Ideal Toy and Novelty Company in New York City negotiated a license for dolls with the company's first doll wearing the polka-dot dress from Stand Up and Cheer!. Shirley Temple dolls realized $45 million in sales before 1941.[62]

A mug, a pitcher, and a cereal bowl in cobalt blue with a decal of Temple were given away as a premium with Wheaties. Successful Temple items included a line of girls' dresses and accessories, soap, dishes, cutout books, sheet music, mirrors, paper tablets, and numerous other items. Before 1935 ended, Temple's income from licensed merchandise royalties would exceed $100,000, doubling her income from her movies. In 1936, her income would top $200,000 from royalties. She endorsed Postal Telegraph, Sperry Drifted Snow Flour, the Grunow Teledial radio, Quaker Puffed Wheat,[62] General Electric, and Packard automobiles.[34]

Last films and retirement

Within a year of her departure from Twentieth Century-Fox,[note 8] Louis B. Mayer of MGM signed Temple for her comeback. Plans were made to team her with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney for the Andy Hardy series, but her comeback film became Kathleen (1941), a story about an unhappy teenager, her rich Dad, and her female psychologist. The film flopped and her MGM contract was canceled after mutual consent. Miss Annie Rooney (1942, United Artists) followed, but it bombed.[note 9] The actress retired for almost two years from films, throwing herself into school life and activities.[63]

In 1944, David O. Selznick signed Temple to a personal four-year contract. She appeared in two wartime hits for him: Since You Went Away and I'll Be Seeing You. Selznick however became involved with Jennifer Jones and lost interest in developing Temple's career. She was loaned-out to other studios with Kiss and Tell (1945, Columbia Pictures), The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947, RKO), and Fort Apache (1948, RKO) being the few hits among a string of duds.[64]

Although her 1947-9 films did not lose money, most had a cheap "B" look about them and her performances were colorless and apathetic.[65] Selznick suggested she move to Italy with her daughter, study the culture, gain maturity as an actress, and even change her name.[66][65] He made it clear she had been detrimentally typecast in Hollywood and her career was in very perilous straits.[65] After auditioning (and being rejected) in August 1950 for the role of Peter Pan on the Broadway stage,[67] Temple took stock, admitted her recent movies had been poor fare, and announced her official retirement from films on December 16, 1950—the same day she married Black.[68][65]

Marriages and children

Temple, Agar, and their daughter Linda Susan, c1948

In 1943, Temple met John George Agar (January 31, 1921, Chicago, Illinois – April 7, 2002 Burbank, California), an Army Air Force sergeant, physical training instructor, and scion of a Chicago meat-packing family.[69][70] Two years later on September 19, 1945 at 8:59 p.m., they were married before Pastor Willsie Martin and five hundred guests in a twelve-minute, double-ring Episcopalian ceremony at Wilshire Methodist Church.[25][71][72] Two and a half years later on January 30, 1948, Temple gave birth to a daughter, Linda Susan.[73][25][74]

Agar entered the acting profession and the couple made two films together: Fort Apache (1948, RKO) and Adventure in Baltimore (1949, RKO).[74] In time, Agar tired of being 'Mr. Shirley Temple', and began drinking.[75][74] Temple divorced Agar on the grounds of mental cruelty December 5, 1949,[34][74] and, in the process, received custody of their daughter and the restoration of her maiden name.[76][77][74]

Temple and her second husband Charles Alden Black, c1950

While vacationing in Hawaii in January 1950, Temple met thirty-year-old WWII Naval hero and Assistant to the President of Hawaiian Pineapple, Charles Alden Black (March 6, 1919, Oakland, California – August 4, 2005, Woodside, California).[78][79][note 10] Following a romance that lasted almost a year, Temple wed Black in his parents' Del Monte, California home on December 16, 1950 at 4:30 p.m. before Superior Court Judge Henry G. Jorgensen and a small assembly of family and friends.[25][80][79] The family relocated to Washington, D.C. when Black was recalled to the Navy at the outbreak of the Korean War.[81] Temple Black gave birth by Caesarean section to a son, Charles Alden Black, Jr., at the Bethesda Naval Hospital on April 28, 1952.[25][82][83]

Following war's end and Black's discharge from the Navy, the family returned to California in May 1953. Black managed television station KABC-TV in Los Angeles, and Temple Black became a homemaker. Their daughter Lori was born at the Santa Monica Hospital on April 9, 1954.[25] In September 1954, Black became director of business operations for the Stanford University Research Institute and the family moved to Atherton, California.[84]

Television

Temple Black and her children Lori Alden, Charles Alden, Jr., and Linda Susan appeared together in "Mother Goose", the final episode of Shirley Temple's Storybook, (December 1958)

Temple returned to show biz in January 1958 with a one-season television anthology series of live-action fairy tale adaptations called Shirley Temple's Storybook.[85] Before a background of draperies and chandeliers, Temple opened each episode dressed in a Don Loper ballgown (a different one for each show and none costing less than $600) singing "Dreams Are Made for Children" by David Mack and Jerry Livingston. She narrated the episodes in a childish singsong voice and acted in three of them.[86][87] All three of Temple's children made their acting debuts on the show in "Mother Goose". None chose to pursue acting careers later in life.[88][89][note 11]

Claire Bloom and Charlton Heston appeared in the first episode as Beauty and the Beast. Other celebrities through the run of the series included Elsa Lanchester, Rod McKuen, Joel Grey, and E. G. Marshall.[90] The show was a great success with one critic declaring Temple could, if she wished, "steal Christmas from Tiny Tim".[89] Following its January to December 1958 season, the show was reworked, retitled Shirley Temple Theater, and returned to television in September 1960 for one season.[91]

Motivated by the popularity of the show, Temple persuaded the Ideal Toy Company to release a new version of the Shirley Temple doll,[note 12] made a deal with a clothing manufacturer to issue a version of the Baby Take a Bow polka-dot dress, and arranged with Random House to publish three anthologies of fairy tales under her name.[89]

In other television, Temple made guest appearances on The Red Skelton Show, Sing Along with Mitch, The Dinah Shore Show, and The Mike Douglas Show.[92] In January 1965, she portrayed a social worker fighting for the rights of others in a sitcom pilot called Go Fight City Hall. The pilot was never released.[93] In 1999, she hosted the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars awards show on CBS, and, in 2001, served as a consultant on an ABC-TV production of her autobiography called Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story.

Life after Hollywood

Following her venture into television, Temple Black became active in the Republican Party in California, where, in 1967, she ran unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives on a platform supporting America's involvement in the Vietnam War.[94][95]

Shirley Temple Black, United States Ambassador to Czechoslovakia (1990)

In the autumn of 1972, Temple Black was diagnosed with breast cancer. The tumor was malignant and removed, and a modified radical mastectomy performed. Following the operation, she announced it to the world via radio, television, and a February 1973 article for the magazine McCall's. In doing so, she became one of the first prominent women to speak openly about breast cancer.[96]

Temple Black was appointed Representative to the 24th General Assembly of the United Nations by President Richard M. Nixon (1969–70),[97][98] and was appointed United States Ambassador to Ghana (December 6, 1974 – July 13, 1976) by President Gerald R. Ford.[99] She was appointed first female Chief of Protocol of the United States (July 1, 1976 – January 21, 1977), and was in charge of arrangements for President Jimmy Carter's inauguration and inaugural ball.[99][100] She was appointed by President George H. W. Bush as United States Ambassador to Czechoslovakia (August 23, 1989 – July 12, 1992).[34]

Temple Black has served on numerous boards of directors of large enterprises and organizations including The Walt Disney Company, Del Monte, the Bank of America, the Bank of California, BANCAL Tri-State, Fireman's Fund Insurance, the United States Commission for UNESCO, the United Nations Association, and the National Wildlife Federation.[101]

Awards and honors

Image: Temple Black and the SAG Award, 2005

Temple is the recipient of many awards and honors including a special Academy Award,[25] the Life Achievement Award from the American Center of Films for Children,[99] the National Board of Review Career Achievement Award,[102] Kennedy Center Honors,[103] and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.[104] In 2002, a life-size bronze statue of the child Temple was erected on the Fox lot.[105]

Filmography

References

Notes
  1. ^ While Temple occasionally used Jane as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Temple's birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood; her birth year was advanced from 1928 to 1929. She admitted her real age when she was twenty-one (Edwards 23n,43n).
  2. ^ Temple had auditioned and been rejected for the Our Gang shorts.
  3. ^ Temple described the Baby Burlesks as "a cynical exploitation of our childish innocence" and noted the films were sometimes racist or sexist (Black 14).
  4. ^ Temple was presented with a full-sized Oscar in 1985 (Edwards 357).
  5. ^ In keeping with her star status, Winfield Sheehan of Fox Films had built Temple a four-room bungalow at the studio with a garden, a picket fence, a tree with a swing, and a rabbit pen before his resignation. The living room wall was painted with a mural depicting Temple as a fairy tale princess wearing a golden star on her head. She was assigned a bodyguard, John Griffith, a childhood friend of Zanuck's (Edwards 77). At the end of 1935, Frances "Klammie" Klampt became Temple's tutor at the studio(Edwards 78)
  6. ^ Temple and her parents traveled to Washington, D.C. late in 1935 to meet President Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor. The presidential couple invited the Temple family to a cook-out at Hyde Park. Eleanor was bending over an outdoor grill when Temple hit her smartly in the rear with a pebble from the slingshot she carried everywhere in a little lace purse (Edwards 81).
  7. ^ In Dimples, Temple was upstaged for the first in her film career by Frank Morgan who played Professor Appleby with such zest as to render Temple almost the amateur (Windeler 175).
  8. ^ In 1941, Temple worked radio with four shows for Lux soap and a four-part Shirley Temple Time for Elgin. Of radio she said, "It's adorable. I get a big thrill out of it, and I want to do as much radio work as I can." (Windeler 43)
  9. ^ Temple received her much ballyhooed first on-screen kiss in the film (from Dickie Moore, on the cheek) (Edwards 136).
  10. ^ Black had been awarded the United States Navy Silver Star and had been cited twice for valor. Handsome, conservative, and patrician, Black was reputedly one of the richest young men in California, being the son of James B. Black, the president and later chairman of the largest private utility company in the world, Pacific Gas and Electric (Windeler 72).
  11. ^ During a rehearsal for "Mother Goose", a stagehand said 'shit' and Temple had him fired, explaining to the stunned cast that the show was for children – although no children were present during the rehearsal (Windeler 256).
  12. ^ Her personal appearance to promote and autograph the dolls at Macy's New York store became a near riot (Edwards 233).
Footnotes
  1. ^ Balio 227
  2. ^ Windeler 26
  3. ^ a b c Edwards 23
  4. ^ Edwards 17,350
  5. ^ Edwards 15,17
  6. ^ Edwards 15,344
  7. ^ Edwards 19
  8. ^ Edwards 24
  9. ^ Edwards 29-30
  10. ^ Windeler 17
  11. ^ Black 14
  12. ^ Edwards 31-4
  13. ^ a b Windeler 111
  14. ^ Black 13
  15. ^ Edwards 34-5
  16. ^ Windeler 115,122
  17. ^ Windeler 113
  18. ^ Black 15
  19. ^ Edwards 36
  20. ^ Black 28
  21. ^ Edwards 37,366
  22. ^ Edwards 267-9
  23. ^ Windeler 122
  24. ^ Black 31
  25. ^ a b c d e f g Edwards 355
  26. ^ Edwards 370-4
  27. ^ Barrios 421
  28. ^ Windeler 19
  29. ^ Windeler 135
  30. ^ Edwards 62
  31. ^ Windeler 122,127
  32. ^ Edwards 67
  33. ^ Windeler 143
  34. ^ a b c d Thomas;Scheftel
  35. ^ Black 98-101
  36. ^ Edwards 80
  37. ^ Windeler 27-8
  38. ^ Black 72
  39. ^ Edwards 73-4
  40. ^ Edwards 74-5
  41. ^ a b Edwards 75
  42. ^ Edwards 75-6
  43. ^ a b Balio 227-8
  44. ^ Zipes 518
  45. ^ Balio 228
  46. ^ Edwards 104-5
  47. ^ a b Windeler 183
  48. ^ Edwards 105,363
  49. ^ Edwards 106
  50. ^ Windeler 35
  51. ^ Efwards 106
  52. ^ Edwards 107
  53. ^ Edwards 111
  54. ^ Edwards 120-1
  55. ^ Edwards 122-3
  56. ^ Edwards 123
  57. ^ Windeler 207
  58. ^ Edwards 124
  59. ^ Edwards 124-5
  60. ^ a b Edwards 128
  61. ^ Windeler 38
  62. ^ a b Black 85-6
  63. ^ Windeler 43-5
  64. ^ Windeler 49,51-2
  65. ^ a b c d Windeler 71
  66. ^ Edwards 206
  67. ^ Edwards 209
  68. ^ Black 479-81
  69. ^ Edwards 147
  70. ^ Windeler 53
  71. ^ Edwards 169
  72. ^ Windeler 54
  73. ^ Black 419-21
  74. ^ a b c d e Windeler 68
  75. ^ Edwards 199-200
  76. ^ Black 449
  77. ^ Edwards 199
  78. ^ Edwards 207
  79. ^ a b Windeler 72
  80. ^ Edwards 211
  81. ^ Edwards 215
  82. ^ Edwards 217
  83. ^ Windeler 72-3
  84. ^ Windeler 74
  85. ^ Edwards 231,393
  86. ^ Edwards 231
  87. ^ Windeler 255
  88. ^ Windeler 255-6
  89. ^ a b c Edwards 233
  90. ^ Windeler 254-6
  91. ^ Edwards 235,393
  92. ^ Edwards 393
  93. ^ Edwards 235-6,393
  94. ^ Edwards 243ff
  95. ^ Windeler 80ff
  96. ^ Windeler 96-7
  97. ^ Edwards 356
  98. ^ Windeler 85
  99. ^ a b c Edwards 357
  100. ^ Windeler 105
  101. ^ Edwards 318,356-7
  102. ^ "Shirley Temple Black". The National Board of Review. http://www.nbrmp.org/search/?search=Shirley%20Temple. Retrieved 2009-10-29. 
  103. ^ "History of Past Honorees". The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/specialevents/honors/history.cfm#yr1998. Retrieved 2009-10-28. 
  104. ^ "Shirley Temple Black: 2005 Life Achievement Recipient". Screen Actors Guild. http://www.sagawards.org/previous-life-achievement-recipients/2005. Retrieved 2009-10-30. 
  105. ^ "The Shirley Temple Monument". Nijart. http://www.nijart.com/ShirleyTemplemonument.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-27. 
Works cited
  • Balio, Tino (1995) [1993]. Grand Design: Hollywood as a Modern Business Enterprise, 1930-1939. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-20334-8. 
  • Barrios, Richard (1995). A Song in the Dark: the Birth of the Musical Film. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-508810-7. 
  • Black, Shirley Temple (1989) [1988]. Child Star: an Autobiography. Warner Books, Inc.. ISBN 0-446-35792-8. 
  • Edwards, Anne (1988). Shirley Temple: American Princess. William Morrow and Company, Inc.. 
  • Thomas, Andy; Scheftel, Jeff (1996), Shirley Temple: the Biggest Little Star, Biography, A&E Television Networks, ISBN 0-7670-8495-0 
  • Windeler, Robert (1992) [1978]. The Films of Shirley Temple. Carol Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8065-0725-X. 
  • Zipes, Jack (ed.) (2000). The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-965-36357-0. 
Bibliography
  • Basinger, Jeanine (1993), A Woman's View: How Hollywood Spoke to Women, 1930-1960, Wesleyan University Press, pp. 262ff  The author expounds upon father figures in Temple films.
  • Thomson, Rosemarie Garland (ed.) (1996), Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body, New York University Press, pp. 185-203, ISBN 0-8147-8217-5  In the essay, "Cuteness and Commodity Aesthetics: Tom Thumb and Shirley Temple", author Lori Merish examines the cult of cuteness in America.

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