Shirley Temple: The legacy of the child star who gave America hope

A light at the end of the tunnel - President Franklin D. Roosevelt also stated: "When the spirit of the people is lower than at any other time during this Depression, 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."

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Hollywood's number one - From 1935 to 1938 (when she was between seven and 10 years old), Shirley Temple was America's number one box-office draw.

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Biggest littlest star - At under 10 years of age, she was a bigger star than Hollywood's great actors, including Clark Gable, Bing Crosby, Robert Taylor, Gary Cooper, and Joan Crawford.

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International fame - Shirley Temple achieved international recognition in 1934 with 'Bright Eyes,' which was developed especially for her.

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One of America's richest people - At 10 years old (in 1938), the year 'Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm' was released, her income was the seventh-highest in America. She was behind six industrialists.

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20th Century Fox's salvation - Her fame saved the film studio from bankruptcy.

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'Little Miss Marker' (1934) -

By the time of this film's release, Shirley Temple was already the symbol of family entertainment in America.

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'Be Optimistic' - In 'Little Miss Broadway' (1938), she sang the song 'Be Optimistic,' which perfectly captured her message to the American people.

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Biggest hit songs -

In 'Bright Eyes' (1934), Shirley Temple sings 'On the Good Ship Lollipop,' which is about a child dreaming of a candy shop.

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Biggest hit songs - Another of her big hits is 'Animal Crackers in My Soup' from 'Curly Top' (1935), which she sings in an orphanage.

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History in the making - Shirley Temple appeared in two 1935 films—'The Little Colonel' and 'The Littlest Rebel'—alongside Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, at a time when interracial pairing in Hollywood was unheard of.

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Talent meets professionalism - Director Allan Dwan, who worked with Shirley Temple in 'Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm' and 'Heidi,' said she was "just absolutely marvellous, greatest in the world. You'd just tell her once and she'd remember the rest of her life. Whatever it was she was supposed to do, she'd do it."

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No one like her - Since the 1930s, America has produced great child stars, but none that have achieved so much success. Even today, Shirley Temple remains the most successful child star the country has even seen.

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Infamous review and lawsuit -

But not all critics loved her. In a review of 'Wee Willie Winkie' (1937) in the London weekly magazine 'Night and Day,' Graham Greene wrote: "infancy with her is a disguise, her appeal is more secret and more adult... her neat and well-developed rump twisted in the tap dance: her eyes had a sidelong searching coquetry... watch the way she measures a man with agile studio eyes, with dimpled depravity."

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Infamous review and lawsuit - Graham's implication that Shirley Temple acted in a sexual manner prompted 20th Century Fox to successfully file a lawsuit for libel.

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Infamous review and lawsuit - The judge assigned to the case sided with the studio and Temple, contending, "This libel is simply a gross outrage."

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Myth and rumors -

The suspicions arose from the fact that Temple never lost her teeth. The rumors prompted the Vatican to send Father Silvio Massante to investigate whether she was indeed a child.

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Myth and rumors - A star as big as Temple was bound to attract conspiracy theories. Rumors circulated that she was not a child, but a 30-year-old little person.

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False teeth - But the truth is, her baby teeth were falling out. She was just covering the gaps with false teeth.

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Hair - People also often pulled at her hair, in attempts to prove that her curls were just a wig. In her 1988 autobiography, Temple said she wish she could have worn a wig because maintaining her famous curls were hard work and often painful.

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End of acting career - Many believe Temple's career was over by the time she was 12, but that's simply not true. She starred in several successful films as a teenager and young adult.

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Retirement from acting - As Shirley Temple grew into a young woman, she transitioned into more mature roles, like the two 1944 films 'You Went Away' and 'I'll Be Seeing You.'

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First marriage -

In 1943, Temple (then 15) met John Agar, an Army Air Corps sergeant. He became an actor and starred alongside Temple in 'Fort Apache' (1948) and 'Adventure in Baltimore' (1949).

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The Agar's -

They married two years after they met and had one daughter. But in 1949, their marriage ended and Temple decided to retire from acting.

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Second marriage - In 1950, the same year her divorce to Agar was finalized, she met Charles Black, a wealthy businessman who had never seen any of her films. The two married that same year.

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Politics and social work - After raising three kids, she returned to the public eye, this time as Shirley Temple Black—the politician. She was active in the Republican Party in California and unsuccessfully ran for the US House of Representatives, before becoming US Ambassador to Ghana (1974-76) and White House Chief of Protocol (1976-77) under President Gerald Ford.

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Diplomacy -

Under President Ronald Reagan, with whom she was good friends after having costarred with him in 'That Hagen Girl' (1947), she served as foreign affairs officer with the state department.

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Diplomacy -

Under President George H. W. Bush she served as ambassador to then-Czechoslovakia.

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Cancer diagnosis and death -

Following her breast cancer diagnosis in 1972, Temple decided to undergo a mastectomy and announce it in the media, becoming one of the first public figures to speak openly about breast cancer.

On February 10, 2014, 85-year-old Temple died at her home in Woodside, California, inspiring a downpour of tributes across the country and the world.

Sources: (Biography) (The Hollywood Reporter) (Los Angeles Times) (The Independent)

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Getty Images

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Hollywood's number one - From 1935 to 1938 (when she was between seven and 10 years old), Shirley Temple was America's number one box-office draw.

2 / 30 Fotos

Biggest littlest star - At under 10 years of age, she was a bigger star than Hollywood's great actors, including Clark Gable, Bing Crosby, Robert Taylor, Gary Cooper, and Joan Crawford.

3 / 30 Fotos

International fame - Shirley Temple achieved international recognition in 1934 with 'Bright Eyes,' which was developed especially for her.

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One of America's richest people - At 10 years old (in 1938), the year 'Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm' was released, her income was the seventh-highest in America. She was behind six industrialists.

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20th Century Fox's salvation - Her fame saved the film studio from bankruptcy.

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'Little Miss Marker' (1934) -

By the time of this film's release, Shirley Temple was already the symbol of family entertainment in America.

Getty Images

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'Be Optimistic' - In 'Little Miss Broadway' (1938), she sang the song 'Be Optimistic,' which perfectly captured her message to the American people.

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Biggest hit songs -

In 'Bright Eyes' (1934), Shirley Temple sings 'On the Good Ship Lollipop,' which is about a child dreaming of a candy shop.

Getty Images

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Biggest hit songs - Another of her big hits is 'Animal Crackers in My Soup' from 'Curly Top' (1935), which she sings in an orphanage.

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Infamous review and lawsuit -

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Infamous review and lawsuit - Graham's implication that Shirley Temple acted in a sexual manner prompted 20th Century Fox to successfully file a lawsuit for libel.

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Infamous review and lawsuit - The judge assigned to the case sided with the studio and Temple, contending, "This libel is simply a gross outrage."

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Myth and rumors -

The suspicions arose from the fact that Temple never lost her teeth. The rumors prompted the Vatican to send Father Silvio Massante to investigate whether she was indeed a child.

Getty Images

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Myth and rumors - A star as big as Temple was bound to attract conspiracy theories. Rumors circulated that she was not a child, but a 30-year-old little person.

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False teeth - But the truth is, her baby teeth were falling out. She was just covering the gaps with false teeth.

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End of acting career - Many believe Temple's career was over by the time she was 12, but that's simply not true. She starred in several successful films as a teenager and young adult.

21 / 30 Fotos

Retirement from acting - As Shirley Temple grew into a young woman, she transitioned into more mature roles, like the two 1944 films 'You Went Away' and 'I'll Be Seeing You.'

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First marriage -

In 1943, Temple (then 15) met John Agar, an Army Air Corps sergeant. He became an actor and starred alongside Temple in 'Fort Apache' (1948) and 'Adventure in Baltimore' (1949).

Getty Images

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The Agar's -

They married two years after they met and had one daughter. But in 1949, their marriage ended and Temple decided to retire from acting.

Getty Images

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Second marriage - In 1950, the same year her divorce to Agar was finalized, she met Charles Black, a wealthy businessman who had never seen any of her films. The two married that same year.

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Diplomacy -

Under President Ronald Reagan, with whom she was good friends after having costarred with him in 'That Hagen Girl' (1947), she served as foreign affairs officer with the state department.

Getty Images

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Diplomacy -

Under President George H. W. Bush she served as ambassador to then-Czechoslovakia.

Getty Images

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Cancer diagnosis and death -

Following her breast cancer diagnosis in 1972, Temple decided to undergo a mastectomy and announce it in the media, becoming one of the first public figures to speak openly about breast cancer.

On February 10, 2014, 85-year-old Temple died at her home in Woodside, California, inspiring a downpour of tributes across the country and the world.

Sources: (Biography) (The Hollywood Reporter) (Los Angeles Times) (The Independent)

Getty Images

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Shirley Temple: The legacy of the child star who gave America hope

The iconic actress was born on April 23, 1928

28/05/24 | StarsInsider

CELEBRITY Child actors

When the Great Depression hit Americans the hardest, Shirley Temple stepped up to lift the burden, even if just for a few fleeting hours. The dimpled, curly-haired child danced, acted, and sang in an effort to give America the hope it needed during one of the darkest times in its history. As President Franklin D. Roosevelt himself said in 1935, "As long as our country has Shirley Temple, our country will be all right."

America made it out of the Depression, and Shirley Temple returned to, yet again, serve her country, this time as a politician and diplomat.

Click through this gallery to celebrate her life and legacy.