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Shirley Temple

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For the cocktail named after this person, see Shirley Temple cocktail.
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple in Glad Rags to Riches
Born
Shirley Jane Temple
Other namesShirley Temple Black
Years active1932–1961
Spouse(s)John Agar (1945–1950)
Charles Black (1950–2005)
Websitehttp://www.shirleytemple.com

Shirley Jane Temple (born April 23, 1928) is an iconic American child actress of the 1930s. She also starred in films as a young adult in the 1940s and 1950s. She later became a United States Ambassador and diplomat. She is retired from public life. [1]

Early life

Temple began dance classes at Meglin's Dance School in Hollywood in 1931, at the age of 3. Her film career began when Charles Lamont, a casting director from Educational Pictures, visited her class. Although Temple hid behind the 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 1932 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. 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 films at other studios. She is said to have auditioned for a lead role in Hal Roach's Our Gang comedies (later known as The Little Rascals) in the early 1930s; 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 that 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 that she ever auditioned for Our Gang at all.[2] However, Temple had some connection with Our Gang in that Temple's carpool friend, David Holt, had a small role in the 1933 Little Rascals film Forgotten Babies.

Actress for Fox

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 block-buster Bright Eyes, produced by Sol M. Wurtzel. This was the film that saved Fox from near bankruptcy in 1934 at the height of the Depression era. It was also 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."[3]

In 16 of the 20 films Temple made for Fox, she played an orphan character, one or both of whose biological parents were dead. This was part of the formula for Temple films, which encouraged the adults in the audience to take on the role of her parent.[4]

Temple 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. 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 (which was actually her thirteenth) birthday.[5]

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.

Temple 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, and the South was replete with racism, his scenes holding hands with Temple were edited out in many cities in the South.

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, however, she was unable to appear in the film when a trade between Fox and MGM fell through. However, Rags, who played Temple's beloved dog 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

Aside from the films, there were many Shirley Temple products 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 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.

Private school

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 with Cary Grant, and Fort Apache with John Wayne. She retired from motion pictures in 1949, reportedly because the public could not accept her appearing in adult roles. It is more likely she was motivated to retire because she wanted to devote herself to raising a family and was unhappy with changes in the film industry.

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.

Controversy

Salvador Dalí's painting Shirley Temple, The Youngest, Most Sacred Monster of the Cinema in Her Time, was controversial. It depicted Temple's head on the deep-red-colored body of a heavy-breasted lioness with long white claws.[6] British author Graham Greene, reviewing a Temple film, commented that although Temple was "marketed as an innocent kid, the performer had a 'more secret and more adult appeal'" and that "for her male audience, 'the safety curtain of story and dialogue drops between their intelligence and their desire'".[6]

Racism in Temple's films

Some modern film critics argue that many of Temple's films are flawed by the racist depiction of African-Americans that was common in the 1930s. For example, Andre Sennwald of The New York Times wrote that "The stereotypical treatment of black characters in The Littlest Rebel is more offensive than usual, with "happy darkies" nervously pondering the prospect of being freed from slavery and shivering in their boots when the Yankees arrive."[7] Bill Gibron, member of the Online Film Critics Society, wrote that: "The racism present in The Littlest Rebel, The Little Colonel and Dimples is enough to warrant a clear critical caveat." However Gibron, echoing most film critics who continue to see value in Temple's work despite the racism that is present in some of it, also wrote: "Thankfully, the talent at the center of these troubling takes is still worthwhile for some, anyway".[8]

Political and diplomatic career

Shirley Temple Black became involved in Republican Party politics, unsuccessfully entering a Congressional race in 1967 on a platform that supported the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War; she had run against Pete McCloskey, who was famous for his opposition to the war—rare in a Republican and rarer in an ex-Marine. She went on to hold several diplomatic posts, serving as the U.S. delegate to many international conferences and summits. She was appointed a delegate to the United Nations by President Richard M. Nixon in 1969. 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 (1968 and 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 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.

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 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.[9]

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 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.

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.[10]

Family

Her father was George Francis Temple (1888–1980). Her mother was Gertrude Amelia Krieger (1893–1977). She has two brothers, Jack (b. 1915), and George Jr. (b. 1919). Her father was a businessman and a banker in Santa Monica, California. Her mother loved dancing and this directed Shirley towards performing. Gertrude was a constant presence on the lot during Temple's childhood acting years, and helped Shirley learn her lines, and controlled her wardrobe. Shirley's famous hair style, known as the Shirley Temple Curls, was also under the control of Gertrude, who ensured that there were exactly 52 ringlets in her hair for each take.[11]

At the age of 17, 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, Theresa Falaschi (b. 1980), Susan's daughter.

Filmography

Features

Short subjects

  • Merrily Yours (1932)
  • Kid's Last Stand (1932)
  • The Kid's Last Fight (1932)
  • Glad Rags to Riches (1932)
  • Runt Page (1932)
  • War Babies (1932)
  • The Pie-Covered Wagon (1932)
  • New Deal Rhythm (1933)
  • Kid in Hollywood (1933)
  • Polly Tix in Washington (1933)
  • Dora's Dunking Doughnuts (1933)
  • Kid in Africa (1933)
  • What's to Do? (1933)
  • Pardon My Pups (1934)
  • Managed Money (1934)
  • The Hollywood Gad-About (1934)
  • Our Girl Shirley (1942)
  • American Creed (1946)

MDW

References in popular culture

  • On The Jacksons Variety Show, Janet Jackson did a skit with brother Randy to "On the Good Ship Lollipop".
  • 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.
  • 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".

References

  1. ^ Shirley Temple Q&A "I have been kind of not doing a lot right now."
  2. ^ Maltin, Leonard, and Richard W Bann (1977, rev. 1992). The Little Rascals: The Life & Times of Our Gang. New York: Crown Publishing/Three Rivers Press. ISBN
  3. ^ http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/index.cfm?fuseaction=showIndividual&entitY_id=3814&source_type=A
  4. ^ see the video A&E [[Biography (A&E)|]] - Shirley Temple
  5. ^ "Thirteen". Retrieved 2007-07-27.
  6. ^ a b Most sacred monsters Mark Lawson, The Guardian, 1 June 2007 (accessed 1 June 2007)
  7. ^ http://movies2.nytimes.com/movie/29703/The-Littlest-Rebel/
  8. ^ http://www.popmatters.com/film/features/060519-shirleytemple.shtml
  9. ^ http://www.acscsn.org/Talk_Shows_and_Stories/Celebrity_Interviews/Celebrity_Barbara_Barrie_Colon.html
  10. ^ Shirley Temple Black Honored with 2005 Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, at the Awards official website; last accessed August 12, 2006.
  11. ^ Statements by biographer Anne Edwards in the video A&E Biography - Shirley Temple

External links

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Template:S-awards
Preceded by
None
 Academy Juvenile Award
1934 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award
2005 		Succeeded by
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