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On February 10, 2014, Shirley Temple Black, who as a child in the 1930s became one of Hollywood’s most successful stars, dies at her Woodside, California, home at age 85. The plucky, curly-haired performer sang, danced and acted in dozens of films by the time she was a teen; as an adult, she gave up making movies and served as a U.S. diplomat.

Born on April 23, 1928, in Santa Monica, California, Temple began taking dance lessons when she was three. In 1932, she was discovered by an agent and cast in a series of short films called Baby Burlesks. Her career took off in 1934, when she appeared in the film Stand Up and Cheer then went on to star in such movies as Little Miss Marker (1934), in which she played a girl left with a bookie as an IOU for her father’s bet on a horse; Bright Eyes (1934), which featured her signature song "On the Good Ship Lollipop"; The Little Colonel (1935), the first of four films she made with African American entertainer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson; and Curly Top (1935), which included another one of her hit songs, “Animal Crackers in My Soup.” With America in the midst of the Great Depression, Temple’s sunny optimism lifted the spirits of movie audiences and helped make her the nation’s top box-office draw during the second half of the 1930s. (President Franklin Roosevelt once proclaimed, “As long as our country has Shirley Temple, we will be all right.”) Among Temple’s other films credits from this era are Heidi (1937), Wee Willie Winkie (1937) and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938).

Temple’s cinematic career cooled when she entered her teens although she continued to work. The actress married at age 17 in 1945, only to divorce in 1949, a year after giving birth to her first child. In December 1950, she wed businessman Charles Black, and that same month announced her retirement from movie making.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Temple, who had two children with he

Entertainment & Public Service

(1928 – 2014)

California Connection

• Los Angeles area native and lifelong California resident

Achievements

Biography current as of induction in 2023

Shirley Temple Black was an actress, singer, dancer, businesswoman and public servant. As a child, she was Hollywood’s number one box-office draw. As an adult, she was a distinguished diplomat who served under four U.S. presidents. She remains an enduring icon whose golden ringlets and magnetic personality still charm audiences around the world. 

Temple began her film career at age three in 1932. Two years later, she appeared in “Bright Eyes,” a feature film written especially for her, achieving international fame and earning a special Juvenile Academy Award. Hits such as “The Little Colonel,” “Curly Top” and “Heidi” followed year after year during the 1930s, while merchandise featuring her wholesome image found its way into homes across the nation. Temple’s ability to radiate sheer joy and hope through song, dance, comedy and drama lifted the spirits of her fellow Americans during the depths of the Great Depression. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed, “as long as our country has Shirley Temple, we will be all right.”

With over 40 major motion pictures to her credit, Temple retired from film in 1950 at age 22 and married Charles Black. She concentrated on raising their three young children before returning to acting, eventually starring in 50 primetime television productions.

A lifelong ambassador of goodwill, Temple Black began a diplomatic career in 1969, when she was appointed to represent the United States at the 24 United Nations General Assembly. Over the next two decades, she became the first woman to serve as U.S. ambassador to Ghana, the first woman U.S. Chief of Protocol and the first woman U.S. ambassador to then-Czechoslovakia. She worked energetically to address significant national a

This article is about Shirley Temple's theatrical films. For her television show, see Shirley Temple's Storybook.

Shirley Temple (1928–2014) was an American child actress, dancer, and singer who began her film career in 1931, and continued successfully through 1949. When Educational Pictures director Charles Lamont scouted Meglan Dancing School for prospective talent, three-year-old student Temple hid behind the piano. Lamont spotted her and immediately decided she was the one he was looking for. Starting at $10 a day, she was eventually under contract for $50 per film. The production company generated its Baby Burlesks one-reeler film short satires of Hollywood films in 1931–1933, produced by Jack Hays and directed by Lamont. Temple made eight Baby Burlesks films, and 10 other short films, before being signed to star in feature-length motion pictures.

The role that launched her feature film career was a short song-and-dance sequence in the 1934 movie Stand Up and Cheer! for Fox Film, with James Dunn as her father. Her performance impressed studio executives so much that they immediately cast the duo in a follow-up film, Baby Take a Bow, with Temple again playing Dunn's daughter. Following the release of that film, Temple's parents negotiated two 7-year Fox contracts, one for Shirley as the performer, and the other for her mother as her guardian. Her parents had stipulations inserted to protect their daughter's privacy, while Fox retained control of all her public appearances. The bulk of the financial recompense went into revocable trusts. Later that same year, the film Bright Eyes was written as a starring vehicle for Temple, teaming her once again with Dunn. In this film, Temple sang the song most identified with her: "On the Good Ship Lollipop".

In addition to Dunn, Temple danced in her films with some of the most famous and accomplished entertainers of her era: Buddy Ebsen