Shirley Temple
Those curls! That smile! America's first child star tap-dances her way to fame.
Born April 23, 1928, in Santa Monica, Shirley Jane Temple has her mom to thank for nurturing her success. Always on the set, the late Gertrude Temple helped young Shirley with her lines, managed her wardrobe and even carefully coifed her hair with exactly 52 bouncy tresses for every take. It was after enrolling at Meglin's Dance School in L.A. that Shirley caught the attention of Charles Lamont, who cast the precocious three-year-old in a couple short subject films for Educational Pictures. According to some, Shirley also auditioned for Hal Roach's Little Rascals around this time, but Temple's autobiography denies this claim.
Emerging in Stand Up and Cheer! (1934), Shirley soon inked a deal with Fox Pictures, becoming an overnight sensation with Bright Eyes (1934). In singing On the Good Ship Lollipop, she found a Depression-era audience eager for optimism and hope-and rescued Fox from near bankruptcy. Her popularity was such that the Juvenile Performer Academy Award was established in 1935; she became the first (and is, so far, the youngest ever) to receive it. Shirley continued to captivate moviegoers with her singing and dancing skills in The Little Colonel (1935) alongside famed dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, who often developed the choreography for her films. Curly Top (1935) followed in short order and, by the time Poor Little Rich Girl (1936) came out, she was earning $15,000 a week. A further sign of her growing lucrative value, merchandisers sought to capitalize on her image by selling dolls dressed in costumes from her movies, as well as a line of dresses, hair bows, bracelets and handkerchiefs. At the same time, many of the songs she sang in her movies became popular radio hits.
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Dimples (1936) continued a streak of movies in which Shirley's character had at least one missing or deceased parent; studio bosses theorized this would garner sympathy from the audience, encouraging them to "adopt" her. That same year, Stowaway teamed her with Arthur Teacher, who often appeared in her pictures as a kindly butler. After Heidi (1937), her box-office charm was so great, she was considered for the role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz-but the deal with MGM fell through. Eventually, her babyhood-already extended with an altered birth certificate-ended and, following the release of Young People (1940), Fox let her go. Working steadily, she juggled classes at Westlake School for Girls with films such as Since You Went Away (1944), The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947) with Cary Grant and Fort Apache (1948) with John Wayne.
Retiring from film in 1949, Temple would later be appointed U.S. Representative to the U.N. General Assembly in 1969, ambassador to Ghana (1974-1976), White House Chief of Protocol (1976-1977) and ambassador to Czechoslovakia (1989-1992). As time allowed, she also served on the board of directors for several enterprises, including Disney. Awarded the SAG Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005, this breast cancer survivor is still as bright 'n' bubbly as the drink named for her-and Critics' Choice Video is still the place to find all her hits! |
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