Categories: Movies

Interesting Facts About Shirley Temple

Shirley Jane Temple was born on April 23, 1929, in Santa Monica, California. She thought her real birth year to be 1928, until she was 13 years old. Her mother was Gertrude Amelia Krieger and her father George Francis Temple was a businessman and banker. Her parents are now both deceased, her mother in 1977, and her father in 1980. She also had two brothers Jack and George Jr. Her brothers are also now deceased, Jack passed away in 1985, and George in 1996.

Marriages

She and John Agar married in 1945. Had one child named Susan Agar. The couple divorced in 1950. Susan is now a librarian. Susan also has a daughter named Teresa Falaschi Caltabiano, born in 1980.

She and Charles Alden Black married in 1950, and stayed married until his death in 2005. Together they had two children. Charles Alden Black Jr. was born in 1952, and Lori Black was born in 1954. Charles died in 2005, from a myelodysplastic syndrome, which is a bone marrow disease. He lived to be 86.

Temple also has one great-granddaughter named Lily Jane Caltabiano, born in 2007.

Film Career

Temple was just three years old when she began her studies in dance at Meglin’s Dance School in Los Angeles. It was in those classes that her film career began, as she was then noticed by Charles Lamont. Lamont was a casting director for Educational Pictures. She signed a contract with the company after he discovered her. She worked with the company from 1931-1934, in two short features.

Temple’s career began when she was just 5 years old. She could act, tap dance, and could memorize lines. Opportunities in her career put her working with legends like John Wayne, Cary Grant, Henry Fonda, Buddy Ebsen, Lionel Barrymore, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Gary Copper, and more others.

Her earliest films included The Little Colonel, The Littlest Rebel, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and Just Around the Corner. Her first series was Baby Burlesks. She was able to get many bit player roles and walk on roles at this time. The second series that Educational put her in was Frolics of Youth. Temple appeared in Stand Up and Cheer! and was then signed to Fox Film Corporation. This Corporation would later become 20th Century Fox, after its merge with 20th Century Pictures. Later she would be again paired with her co star James Dunn (from Stand Up), for several films.

Shirley Temple was to become Fox’s most lucrative player. Her break through role in Bright Eyes, was the film that saved Fox from bankruptcy, this was during the very height of the Great Depression. It was in her next film that she sang Animal Crackers in My Soup. That film was Curly Top. Her films brought hope to an otherwise dark time in history and she was highly regarded. Some of her films seemed to stir much controversy as well.

She went on to work for other studios in 1940, while she attended classes at Westlake School for Girls. Her succesful films from that era include The Bachelor, Since You Went Away, Bobby-Soxer, and Fort Apache. These are the roles where she co-starred with Cary Grant in Bobby Soxer and John Wayne in Fort Apache.

She starred in many other films and appearances before starting her diplomatic career.

Diplomatic Career

She has held many diplomatic posts and served as the United States Delegate to many international conferences and summits. She was even appointed as a delegate to the United Nations in 1969. She was then a United States Ambassador to Ghana, became the first female Chief of Protocol of the US, then became in charge of all State Department ceremonies. Her work is extensive, even including having been United States Ambassador to Czechoslovakia. She witnessed the Velvet Revolution, and was later deemed the first Honorary Foreign Service Officer in United States history.

Temple also has served on the board of directors at large enterprises, including The Walt Disney Company, Brancal Tri-State, Del Monte, and Fireman’s Fund Insurance.

Temple has been extremely devoted to many causes, her dedication is highly admirable. Her talent seemingly endless.

Shirley Temple now lives in Woodside, California.

Resources:

Wikipedia