TODAY’S Google Doodle celebrates the extraordinary life of Shirley Temple. The American actor, singer, dancer and diplomat helped millions of Americans through the hardships of the Great Depression. Who was Shirley Temple? Shirley Jane Temple was born on April 23, 1928, in Santa Monica, California. She began dance classes at just three years old and […]
TODAY’S Google Doodle celebrates the extraordinary life of Shirley Temple.
The American actor, singer, dancer and diplomat helped millions of Americans through the hardships of the Great Depression.
Shirley Jane Temple was born on April 23, 1928, in Santa Monica, California.
She began dance classes at just three years old and quickly shot to fame as an actress in the 1930s.
At the age of six, Temple landed a role in the 1934 musical Stand Up And Cheer before starring in several more films that year.
She soon became Hollywood’s ultimate child star and received an Academy Award at just six years old.
Her most famous films were The Little Colonel, The Littlest Rebel and Bright Eyes, where she performed her popular rendition of On The Good Ship Lollipop.
Temple continued to star in films throughout her teenage years but retired from the industry at the age of 22.
She was so popular that President Roosevelt credited her with helping to keep public morale up during the Depression.
In 1958, Temple narrated Shirley Temple’s Storybook, a children’s TV series which adapted family-friendly stories.
Temple turned her back on the entertainment industry altogether to begin a career in politics.
She was appointed as a representative of the US to the United Nations in 1969.
She also represented her nation in 1972 at the UN Conference on the Human Environment.
In 1976 she became the first woman Chief of Protocol at the White House.
Temple was later appointed an Honorary Foreign Service Officer in 1988.
In 2006, the Screen Actors Guild presented Temple with its Lifetime Achievement Award, the organisation’s highest honour.
Shirley Temple married Army Air Corps sergeant John Agar in 1945 at the age of 17.
Agar became an actor and the couple made two films together; Fort Apache and Adventure in Baltimore.
On January 30, 1948, Temple gave birth to a baby girl named Linda Susan.
Temple divorced Agar in 1949 and was awarded custody of their daughter.
In 1950, Temple married Charles Alden Black, a World War II Navy intelligence officer.
The family moved to Washington DC where Temple gave birth to a son, Charles Alden Black Jr before returning to California in 1953.
In 1954, Temple gave birth to her third child Lori.
Her daughter went on to become a bassist for the rock band the Melvins.
Temple and her husband were married for 54 years until Black’s death in 2005.
Temple died at the age of 85 on February 10, 2014.
Her cause of death was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
She is buried at Alta Mesa Memorial Park.
On June 8, 2015, the Santa Monica History Museum opened Love, Shirley Temple.
The special exhibit was a celebration of her life and featured a collection of her rare memorabilia.
