What Happened to Shirley Temple? Career and Life Details

Thrust into the spotlight at a young age, Shirley Temple performed like she had been in front of the camera for years. At just 3 years old, she became a bonafide star, thanks to her mom, Gertrude Temple, who recognized her talent very early on. Shirley remains one of the most celebrated and respected actresses of all time, even after her death in 2014.

Shirley, born in 1928, began taking dance classes and practicing her singing as a toddler. Gertrude encouraged Shirley to showcase her skills, bringing her to auditions and helping her score her first roles in Educational Pictures’ short films when she was 3. The pair would run lines before bed each night to make sure the young star was always prepared.

“I was allowed to be a baby for about two years,” Shirley said in her book, Shirley Temple: American Princess, written by biographer Anne Edwards. “So I had a couple of years as a lazy baby. I thought every child worked because I was born into it.”

At just 5 years old, the California native signed a contract with Fox Film Corporation. The studio merged with Twentieth Century Pictures in 1935, with Shirley leading the roster of talent that gave people hope during a difficult time in U.S. history. It was only just the beginning of a lifetime of success from acting, to singing, to modeling and later, politics.

“Mrs. Temple told my mother that she started training her when she was still in her crib. Her mother would say, ‘Sparkle, Shirley,’ and she would sparkle!” Marilyn Granas, Shirley’s childhood friend told Closer in January 2016. “She was extremely bright and very, very talented.”

In her 1988 autobiography, Child Star, Shirley revealed that not all sides of being a young actress were glamorous.

“Being a starlet was difficult, and I was a starlet from 3 and a half to 5 years of age,” she wrote. “When any of us misbehaved, we were sent one by one into the black box to cool off. [I was] in the dark with the door closed. I got a lot of earaches, styes, a lot of problems from it. The lesson was time is money. And it’s work, not play.”

Keep scrolling to learn more about Shirley’s life before, during and after finding fame.

Early Life and Image

In 1934, Shirley had a year full of starring roles that helped her become known as America’s sweetheart. The signature ringlets in her hair and adorable smile led audiences to fall in love with her right from the start. One thing that became evident was that Shirley’s future was bright, especially after stealing scenes in Stand Up and Cheer!, Baby, Take a Bow and Now and Forever.

In most of her earlier films, Shirley starred alongside James Dunn. The vaudeville performer was able to find success in Hollywood thanks to his musical collaborations with Shirley. It was in the film Bright Eyes that the young talent performed “On the Good Ship Lollipop,” a tune that she became synonymous with all throughout her childhood.

Breakout Roles

In the next few years following her rise as an iconic child star, Shirley was referred to as “Little Miss Miracle” by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She became the epitome of a box office phenomenon in 1935 with the release of the films The Little Colonel, Our Little Girl, Curly Top. That year, she earned the Academy Juvenile Award at the 7th Annual Academy Awards ceremony for her incredible work.

In 1939, Shirley starred in The Little Princess, her first-ever movie that was filmed in Technicolor. It also happened to be the last of her successful films as a child actress. Her contract with Fox came to an end in 1940 after a tremendous run. The Dimples star began attending school in Los Angeles.

Retirement From Acting

Shirley did not step away from the spotlight completely in her teen years. She tried several times to make a comeback in films like Miss Annie Rooney in 1942 and Since You Went Away in 1944. Her last few major film roles came in the late ‘40s with The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer and Fort Apache. In 1950, at the age of 22, Shirley announced she was retiring from acting.

Marriage and Motherhood

In her teen years, Shirley crossed paths with actor John Agar. The pair were married in 1945 and welcomed one child during their marriage, daughter Linda Agar, in 1948. Their marriage ended in 1950. Later that year, the film maven married her second husband, Charles Alden Black.

With Charles, Shirley welcomed son Charles Alden Black Jr. in 1952. They became parents once more when they welcomed daughter Lori Black in 1954. The couple were married for more than 50 years up until his death in 2005 at the age of 86 from a bone marrow disorder.

New Career Path

A few years after stepping away from films, the mom of three began hosting the children’s television series Shirley Temple’s Storybook in 1958. The show lasted for three years on NBC before Shirley turned to a new career path: politics. In 1967, the acting legend ran for Congress in California. Two years later, she became a representative for the U.S. at the United Nations.

Legacy

It’s no surprise that Shirley is still widely regarded as one of the most popular child stars in the history of cinema. Throughout her incredible career, she earned the Kennedy Center Honors, a Screen Actor’s Guild Lifetime Achievement Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her children remembered her during an interview with Closer in May 2018.

“She was devoted and generous, and she could be a little stern if we didn’t behave,” Linda said. “But she was also a lot of fun. Very inventive and imaginative. She was all about her children and her husband.”

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