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A Star Is Born
Hulton Archive/Getty
02of 15Stand Up ActEverettThe star’s big-screen breakthrough came in 1934’sStand Up and Cheer!, one of a series of musicals meant to gladden the nation in the wake of the Great Depression. The film, which costarred Madge Evans (pictured) and James Dunn, was the first to showcase Temple’s singing and dancing talents.
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Stand Up Act
Everett
The star’s big-screen breakthrough came in 1934’sStand Up and Cheer!, one of a series of musicals meant to gladden the nation in the wake of the Great Depression. The film, which costarred Madge Evans (pictured) and James Dunn, was the first to showcase Temple’s singing and dancing talents.
03of 15Mother Knows BestImagno/GettyDespite rumors of her mother’s aggressive managing, Templetold PEOPLEin 1988 nothing was farther from the truth. “She did not push me into anything. I loved what I did,” the actress said of mother Gertrude. “I remember cruel mothers who would pinch their children to make them cry in a scene, but my mother encircled me with affection.”
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Mother Knows Best
Imagno/Getty
Despite rumors of her mother’s aggressive managing, Templetold PEOPLEin 1988 nothing was farther from the truth. “She did not push me into anything. I loved what I did,” the actress said of mother Gertrude. “I remember cruel mothers who would pinch their children to make them cry in a scene, but my mother encircled me with affection.”
04of 15Bright FutureEverettCostarring opposite fellow child actress Jane Withers, Temple’s popularity reached new heights with 1934’sBright Eyes, in which shefamously sang"On the Good Ship Lollipop." The actress starred in seven films that year, includingLittle Miss Marker.
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Bright Future
Costarring opposite fellow child actress Jane Withers, Temple’s popularity reached new heights with 1934’sBright Eyes, in which shefamously sang"On the Good Ship Lollipop." The actress starred in seven films that year, includingLittle Miss Marker.
05of 15Trophy LifeGettyOne year later, the Academy rewarded 6-year-old Temple with an honorary Oscar. By then, the star wasmaking $1,000 a weekand received on average 16,000 letters a month. Her birthday saw fans around the world sending 167,000 presents her way, all of which were donated to charity. “She is a legacy of a different time in motion pictures. She caught the imagination of the entire country in a way that no one had before,” Martin Landau said in 1998 when the two were honored at the Academy Awards.
05of 15
Trophy Life
Getty
One year later, the Academy rewarded 6-year-old Temple with an honorary Oscar. By then, the star wasmaking $1,000 a weekand received on average 16,000 letters a month. Her birthday saw fans around the world sending 167,000 presents her way, all of which were donated to charity. “She is a legacy of a different time in motion pictures. She caught the imagination of the entire country in a way that no one had before,” Martin Landau said in 1998 when the two were honored at the Academy Awards.
06of 15Breaking BarriersRedferns/GettyBeginning with 1935’sThe Little Colonel, Temple and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson formed an extraordinary partnership, marking possibly the first time a white actress was seen holding hands with a Black actor onscreen. The duo, seen here in 1935’sThe Littlest Rebel, tap-danced their way through two more films, 1938’sRebecca of Sunnybrook FarmandJust Around the Corner.
06of 15
Breaking Barriers
Redferns/Getty
Beginning with 1935’sThe Little Colonel, Temple and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson formed an extraordinary partnership, marking possibly the first time a white actress was seen holding hands with a Black actor onscreen. The duo, seen here in 1935’sThe Littlest Rebel, tap-danced their way through two more films, 1938’sRebecca of Sunnybrook FarmandJust Around the Corner.
07of 15
Patriot Act
Peter Stackpole//Time Life Pictures/Getty
08of 15
Coming of Age
Planet News Archive/SSPL/Getty
09of 15
Here Comes the Bride
Frank Scherschel//Time Life Pictures/Gett
10of 15Finding Love AgainHulton Archive/GettyFour months after a recuperative trip to Hawaii with her family, she met a man who had never seen a Shirley Temple movie. “It really was love across a crowded room,” Temple said of Charles Black, who courted her for 12 days before proposing on the 13th. She married Black in 1950, and they had two children, Lori and Charles. Their marriage lasted until his death in 2005 at age 86.
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Finding Love Again
Four months after a recuperative trip to Hawaii with her family, she met a man who had never seen a Shirley Temple movie. “It really was love across a crowded room,” Temple said of Charles Black, who courted her for 12 days before proposing on the 13th. She married Black in 1950, and they had two children, Lori and Charles. Their marriage lasted until his death in 2005 at age 86.
11of 15Behind the ScenesHerb Ball/NBC/GettyAlthough she came to fame for her on-screen charm - tap-dancing included - Temple said that her greatest roles in life were as wife, mother (of three) and grandmother. “There’s nothing like real love. Nothing,” she said in 2006 when the Screen Actors Guild honored her career achievements.
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Behind the Scenes
Herb Ball/NBC/Getty
Although she came to fame for her on-screen charm - tap-dancing included - Temple said that her greatest roles in life were as wife, mother (of three) and grandmother. “There’s nothing like real love. Nothing,” she said in 2006 when the Screen Actors Guild honored her career achievements.
12of 15America’s SweetheartWesley/Keystone/GettyTemple may have been away from the cameras, but she didn’t abandon the spotlight. Segueing into a career in politics, Richard Nixon appointed her a member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations General Assembly two years after her unsuccessful 1967 bid for Congress. Throughout the ’70s, she was U.S. ambassador to Ghana and later U.S. chief of protocol before serving as an ambassador to Czechoslovakia during the first President Bush’s administration.
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America’s Sweetheart
Wesley/Keystone/Getty
Temple may have been away from the cameras, but she didn’t abandon the spotlight. Segueing into a career in politics, Richard Nixon appointed her a member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations General Assembly two years after her unsuccessful 1967 bid for Congress. Throughout the ’70s, she was U.S. ambassador to Ghana and later U.S. chief of protocol before serving as an ambassador to Czechoslovakia during the first President Bush’s administration.
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Overcoming Cancer
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14of 15The Iron Curtain ClosesGreg Gibson/APJust months after arriving in Prague in mid-1989 as an ambassador, communist rule was overthrown in Czechoslovakia as the Iron Curtain collapsed across Eastern Europe. “My main job [initially] was human rights, trying to keep people like future President Véclav Havel out of jail,” she said in a 1999 Associated Press interview. Within months, she was accompanying Havel, the former rebellious playwright, when he came to Washington as his country’s new president.
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The Iron Curtain Closes
Greg Gibson/AP
Just months after arriving in Prague in mid-1989 as an ambassador, communist rule was overthrown in Czechoslovakia as the Iron Curtain collapsed across Eastern Europe. “My main job [initially] was human rights, trying to keep people like future President Véclav Havel out of jail,” she said in a 1999 Associated Press interview. Within months, she was accompanying Havel, the former rebellious playwright, when he came to Washington as his country’s new president.
15of 15The LegacyAPTemple diedin her Woodside, California, home at 85 on Monday, Feb. 10, 2014, but she’s forever etched in Hollywood’s memory as the glowing girl, America’s darling, whose head of curls and tap shoes lifted the spirits of Depression-era moviegoers every time she sang, danced, sobbed and smiled. With 23 motion pictures to her name, she was, for a time, the nation’s top box-office draw, raising a bar that child stars today have yet to come near.
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The Legacy
AP
Temple diedin her Woodside, California, home at 85 on Monday, Feb. 10, 2014, but she’s forever etched in Hollywood’s memory as the glowing girl, America’s darling, whose head of curls and tap shoes lifted the spirits of Depression-era moviegoers every time she sang, danced, sobbed and smiled. With 23 motion pictures to her name, she was, for a time, the nation’s top box-office draw, raising a bar that child stars today have yet to come near.
source: people.com
