America’s most well-known child star Shirley Temple passed away last night at the age of 85 at her home in California. The iconic Depression-era actress was loved by many and today we honor her memory with a few facts you may or may not know. My prayers are with her family.
10 Facts About Shirley Temple: A Legend 1928 – 2014
“We salute her for a life of remarkable achievements as an actor, as a diplomat, and most importantly as our beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and adored wife for fifty-five years of the late and much missed Charles Alden Black,” – Shirley Temple’s family statement
- Shirley Temple was America’s most popular from 1935 to 1938, a record no other child star has broken
- It is said that Shirley’s mother did her iconic pin curl hairstyle for each movie, with exactly 56 curls
- She starred in over 40 movies and 18 short films
- Shirley Temple retired from the film industry at age 22
- The actress married John Agar, a Army Air Corps private in 1945 who also starred in the movies “Fort Apache” and “Adventure in Baltimore” with her. They had a daughter Susan however divorced in 1949
- She married Charles Black in 1950, and had two children, Lori and Charles. Their marriage lasted until his death in 2005.
- One retired, she turned to television, hosting and acting in the “Shirley Temple’s Storybook” and “The Shirley Temple Show”
- She underwent a successful surgery for breast cancer in 1972
- Later in life she became active in politics, most notably as ambassador to Czechoslovakia during the fall of communism in the late 80s
- Her autobiography “Child Star” was a best-seller after its 1988 release
