History Creator / ShirleyTemple

Shirley Temple (April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) is arguably the most famous child actress in film history. She was the top box office draw for four straight years, 1935-38, a record no other child star has come close to.

Temple's career trailed off as she approached adulthood, partly because she wasn't offered any good roles, and possibly because audiences [[SheIsAllGrownUp weren't too comfortable]] with Shirley "Dimples" Temple being replaced with a very foxy young lady. She retired from show business in 1949 at age 21. However, from 1958 to 1961, she was the host and narrator for an NBC children's anthology of fairy tales called ''Shirley Temple's Storybook'', and would occasionally play parts in episodes. Her children also played parts in some episodes.

For some reason, characters based on her tend to be {{Spoiled Brat}}s, despite Shirley not really being prone to misbehaving in films or real life. She was, however, chided by her mother for being "brattish" in 1938 when she [[BratsWirhSlingshots hit Eleanor Roosevelt with a slingshot.]]

For some reason, characters based on her tend to be {{Spoiled Brat}}s, despite Shirley not really being prone to misbehaving in films or real life. She was, however, chided by her mother for being "brattish" in 1938 when she hit Eleanor Roosevelt with a slingshot.

Temple lent her name to a popular non-alcoholic cocktail, usually served to children, made with ginger ale[[note]]or lemon-lime soda or lemonade or orange juice or any combination thereof[[/note]] and a splash of grenadine syrup to give it the characteristic pink color, garnished with a maraschino cherry and sometimes oranges or other citrus fruits. The drink was traditionally held to have been invented for the express purpose of being served to her during her peak years (i.e. when she was a minor). Being a drink popular with children it is very sweet, and in her adult years Temple (having been served them as her DrinkOrder by bartenders the world over) professed not to be a fan. [[NeverHeardThatOneBefore Of being served her namesake drink]] ''or'' of the "saccharine sweet, icky" taste. (That the drink named for her had the exact same qualities as her movies seems especially appropriate.)

* PublicDomain: The Little Princess, due to Fox failing to renew the copyright. As a result, it can be seen for free on the internet. All of her other movies still have their copyrights.

Temple's career trailed off as she approached adulthood, partly because she wasn't offered any good roles, and possibly because audiences [[SheIsAllGrownUp weren't too comfortable]] with Shirley "Dimples" Temple being replaced with a very foxy young lady. She retired from show business at age 21. After leaving the stage, Temple entered politics, serving terms as chief of protocol and the U.S. Ambassador to both Ghana and Czechoslovakia.

A triple threat at age 10, she was most often paired with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, one of the few times that a black man got a free pass during the days of UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode (which didn't allow interracial pairings). You'd be hard-pressed to find a more winning picture of {{values dissonance}} than these two. Temple and Robinson became close friends and were considered something of a DreamTeam in their day, yet the on-screen relationship was [[UncleTomfoolery clearly not an equal one]]. Dynamic duo or capitalist tools? Your mileage may very. Poor Shirley also had a memorable blackface scene in the ''The Littlest Rebel'', a film which manages to out-cringe even Al "My Mammy in Alabammy" Jolson, one of her contemporaries.

Temple died at the age of 85 in February 2014. She was among the last of the stars from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood to pass on.

->''"I've been blessed with three wonderful careers: motion pictures and television, wife, mother and grandmother...and diplomatic services for the United States government."

Temple died at the age of 85 in February 2014.

* HoleInFlag: Her ambassadorship to Czechoslovakia coincided with the Velvet Revolution, when the country peacefully transitioned from communism to democracy. In fact, she was the second-to-last U.S. ambassador to Czechoslovakia before it split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Didn't know that, did you?

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* TheRedStapler: Temple set a lot of trends for girls, notably the hairstyle.
** And the first name "Shirley", which was originally a boys' name (among others, the name is given to one of Anne's sons in ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables''). To this day, Shirley is a time capsule name dated to the peak of Temple's popularity that makes it very difficult for a woman to [[http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager#prefix=shirley&ms=false&exact=false lie about her age]].

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* RegalRinglets

[[quoteright:318:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shirley-temple.jpg]]

Shirley Temple (April 23, 1928 -- February 10, 2014) is arguably the most famous child actress in film history. She was the top box office draw for four straight years, 1935-38, a record no other child star has come close to.

* IfItTastesBadItMustBeGoodForYou: In ''Poor Little Rich Girl'', Temple's character, Barbara, is forced to eat spinach, and says something along the lines of this. Barbara even performs a song on the radio based around this.

* {{Blackface}}: At one point in ''The Littlest Rebel'', Shirley's character dons blackface to disguise herself as a slave. In ''Dimples'', Shirley herself doesn't wear blackface, but her character participates in a ShowWithinAShow based on ''Literature/UncleTomsCabin'' with white actors in blackface playing the black characters (Shirley's character is playing Little Eva, naturally).

* TheDanza: In four of her early films.[[note]] Including ''Bright Eyes'', the first movie written specifically with her in mind.[[/note]]

* GoshDarnItToHeck: "You mean ol' pumpkin!" She should have offered some ointment for that burn.

* StrawmanPolitical: A lot of people hate her for her {{Blackface}} scene in ''Film/TheLittlestRebel'' even though she was seven at the time of filming and seven year olds, especially in that era, can only really do what adults tell them to do. There was a massive flare of {{Website/Tumblr}} hatedom at the time of her death because of her partaking in blackface.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: She was considered for the role of Dorothy in ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' before the part was given to Creator/JudyGarland. Temple was age-appropriate, while Garland was a good six years older than the Dorothy of Baum's novel.
** The reason Garland was chosen over Temple was due to the fact that, back in those days, creative talent had to sign long-term contracts with specific film studios that usually forbade them from taking work from elsewhere (penalties for moonlighting were ''harsh''). ''Oz'' was an MGM film, but Temple was signed to 20th Century Fox, who refused to release her. Also, there was the little issue of ''Oz'' being a musical and Shirley's poor singing ability.

A triple threat at age 10, she was most often paired with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, one of the few times that a black man got a free pass during the days of UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode (which didn't allow interracial pairings). You would be hard-pressed to find a more winning picture of {{values dissonance}} than these two. Temple and Robinson became close friends and were considered something of a DreamTeam in their day, yet the on-screen relationship was [[UncleTomfoolery clearly not an equal one]]. Dynamic duo or capitalist tools? Your mileage may very. Poor Shirley also had a memorable blackface scene in the ''The Littlest Rebel'', a film which manages to out-cringe even Al "My Mammy in Alabammy" Jolson, one of her contemporaries.

Temple's career trailed off as she approached adulthood, partly because she wasn't offered any good roles, and possibly because audiences [[SheIsAllGrownUp weren't too comfortable]] with Shirley Temple being replaced with a very foxy young lady. She retired from show business at age 21. After leaving the stage, Temple entered politics, serving terms as chief of protocol and the U.S. Ambassador to both Ghana and Czechoslovakia.

* GoshDarnItToHeck: "You mean ol' pumpkin!" The sickest burn ever uttered in cinema.