SHIRLEY TEMPLE BIOGRAPHY & FILMORGAPHY:
Shirley Jane Temple was born on April 23, 1928 in Santa Monica, California. She was the youngest child and only daughter of George and Gertrude Temple. She had two older brothers, Her brothers, Jack and Sonny.
At the age of 3, she was taking tap dancing lessons at Melgin's dance studio. A film producer, Jack Hays came to the studio to find the next star for his short films called, "Baby Burlesk", he knew right away that Shirley was the one.
Shirley did a few more comedies including "Dora's Dunking Doughnuts", "Merrily Yours", "The Kid's Last Fight" and "Pardon My Pups". At age six she was featured in "Stand Up and Cheer" (1934). She was known for her talented singing and dancing ability along with her blond curly hair and cute lisp when she spoke. The Shirley Temple doll came along soon after the success of "Stand Up and Cheer". Ideal Novelty and Toy Co. gained exclusive rights to manufacture the doll using her name. Temple became a celebrity in 1934, when she starred in four films: "Now and Forever", "Little Miss Marker", "Baby, Take a Bow", and "Bright Eyes", costarring one of her favorite leading men, James Dunn, and introducing her signature hit, "On the Good Ship Lollipop". Fox needed a star. In the first years of the Depression, the studio was in serious financial trouble and Shirley Temple was just what they needed.
Fox Film Corporation was her studio for all but her first two pictures. In the 1930's some other films she starred in were, "The Little Colonel", "Curly Top" and "The Littlest Rebel", all in 1935. The year of 1936 she worked on, "The Poor Little Rich Girl", "Dimples" and "Stowaway". Shirley was well on her way to stardom and for the next three years worked on, "Wee Willie Winkie" and "Heidi" and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" (1937) followed by "Little Miss Broadway" (1938) and "The Little Princess" and "Susannah of the Mounties" (1939).
Temple was the biggest box-office attraction in Hollywood, and Fox became a major film studio, due to the significantly large gross revenues from her films. In 1940, a deal to loan Shirley out to MGM to star in "The Wizard of Oz" fell through due to the death of Jean Harlow, so Fox studios decide after "The Wizard of Oz" fell through, to make their own fairytale starring Shirley. Released in 1940, "The Blue Bird" was based on a children's fairytale, but it did not have the appeal that "The Wizard of Oz" did.
Temple continued to work as an actress into her teenage years. She starred in such films as, "Miss Annie Rooney" (1942), "I'll Be Seeing You" (1944), "Since You Went Away" (1944), "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer" (1947) and "Fort Apache" (1948) starring John Wayne, John Agar, Henry Fonda, Pedro Armendariz, Victor McLaglen and Irene Rich. However, her popularity had faded and these films were not as successful. She had married John Agar in 1945, however their union only lasted five years before they divorced. The couple had one daughter, Linda. In 1949, Shirley Temple retired from her acting career at the age of nineteen. Then in 1950, she married Charles A. Black. Shirley and Charles had two children: Charles, Jr., and Lori.
Although she tried to revive her career in the late 1950's, Shirley Temple Black wasn’t able to make a comeback. Both of her television series—"Shirley Temple's Storybook", (1958) and the "Shirley Temple Show" (1960) failed to capture enough of an audience. She decided it was time to retire for good and pursue other interests. She remained married and devoted to her husband Charles until his death in 2005.
In 1958, Shirley Temple came back to all her adoring fans. She became the host of a children's theatre show called "Shirley Temple's Storybook", later named "The Shirley Temple Theatre".
As a child Shirley Temple starred in over 40 major motion pictures and fifty television productions. She received an Oscar Award in 1935 and unlike many childhood actors/actresses, Shirley had no difficulty emerging back into a long and successful career with the United Nations and the State Department. In the mid-1970's, she served as the U.S. ambassador to the African nation of Ghana. She later became the U.S. Ambassador to Czechoslovakia from 1989 to 1992. On January 29, 2006, Shirley was honored with a Screen Actor's Guild Lifetime Achievement award.
Shirley currently resides in Woodside, CA and has three children and one granddaughter, mother, and grandmother. Her hobbies include golf, gardening, fishing and cooking.
Filmography
1961 The Shirley Temple Show
1958 Shirley Temple's Storybook
1949 A Kiss for Corliss
1949 The Story of Seabiscuit
1948 Mr. Belvedere Goes to College
1948 Adventure in Baltimore
1947 Fort Apache
1947 That Hagen Girl
1947 The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
1946 Honeymoon
1945 Kiss and Tell
1944 I'll Be Seeing You
1943 Since You Went Away
1942 Miss Annie Rooney
1941 Kathleen
1940 Young People
1939 The Blue Bird
1939 Susannah of the Mounties
1939 The Little Princess
1939 Just Around the Corner
1938 Little Miss Broadway
1938 Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
1937 Heidi
1937 Wee Willie Winkie
1936 Stowaway
1936 Dimples
1936 Captain January
1936 The Poor Little Rich Girl
1935 The Littlest Rebel
1935 Curly Top
1935 Our Little Girl
1934 The Little Colonel
1934 Bright Eyes
1934 Now and Forever
1934 Baby, Take a Bow
1934 Now I'll Tell
1934 Little Miss Marker
1934 Change of Heart
1934 Stand Up and Cheer!
1933 Mandalay
1933 Carolina
1933 Pardon My Pups
1933 Managed Money
1933 As the Earth Turns
1933 To the Last Man
1933 Dora's Dunking Doughnuts
1933 Out All Night
1933 Merrily Yours
1933 What's to Do?
1933 The Red-Haired Alibi
1932 Glad Rags to Riches
1932 Kid in Africa
1932 Kid in Hollywood
1932 The Kid's Last Fight
1932 The Pie Covered Wagon
1932 Polly Tix in Washington
1932 War Babies
1931 Runt Page
