Shirley+Temple

**Introduction** “I stopped believing in Santa Clause when I was six, mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked me for my autograph” (Black). Is what the legend Shirley Temple Black once said when she was asked how her fame changed the way she saw the world as a child. “Shirley was the biggest star in the depression” (Jones). She was a multi talented little girl with the ability to sing, tap-dance and act. Everyone around her feel in love with her from the moment they would meet her due and grace. Shirley was very responsible for all of her accomplishments not only as an actor but for her government duties as an ambassador for Ghana (Payne).She had such an amazing personality and such determination in what she did that that was enough to just sweep everybody off their feet (Brumfield). She had a remarkable journey in the time that she was here and no one will ever outlive the legend that is Shirley Temple (Jones).

Shirley Temple Black was born on April 23, 1928 (Jones) and died on February 10, 2014(Payne). Shirley was a precocious and determined little girl in the 1930’s sang and tap-danced her height of Hollywood’s stardom and worldwide fame that no other child has reached (Harmetz). I can already imagine the smiles on people’s faces when they would meet her in person. Shirley was Hollywood’s biggest box-office draw every year (Scarfone). I sometimes find myself watching her movies and every single time I am in awe of the talents that’s such a young child can posses. When I watch Shirley on TV she always seems so real and into the character that she is portraying that I sometimes forget that she was just a child. Her career began in 1934 when she was picked to play James Dunn’s daughter in the Fox fantasy “Stand Up and Cheer” one of the many films made during the Depression (Harmetz). Shirley Temple made eight movies in 1934 and moved from potential to full star in Febuary, when Fox lent her to Paramount for “Little Miss Marker”, based on a Damon Runyon story (Harmetz).
 * Personal background**

Shirley Temple decide that after so much time being a child star she needed a break, she went away for a while from all her studio sets to have a very good and peaceful life (Jones). While she was away she married a man named Agar that has nothing to do with Hollywood, but then eventually divorced him (Jones). It took a while for Shirley to return to the public but when she did she became involved in causes, raising money for the first breast cancer victims (Jones). She then decided to become an active Republican (Jones). She ran unsuccessfully for congress in 1967 and in 1974 served as Richard Nixon’s ambassador for Ghana (Payne). Then H.W. Bush appointed her ambassador of Czechoslovakia where she served admits the collapse of the Soviet Union (Payne). Even as an ambassador of two great places in the world of course she would always be known as ShirleyTemple the great child actor (Payne). I would have never imaged Shirley Temple in politics. With all the success that Shirley was having at such a young age she had to relieve her stress and problems in some way and that is why she began to be a smoker. She became a self-confessed chain smoker by the age of 17 (Payne). Seeing Shirley Temple in pictures or on TV I would never had imagined her to be a smoker. Shirley Temple’s family says that she died from natural causes of old age but on her death certificate it says that she dies from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (Payne). It is well known that Shirley was a chained smoker all through her teens but later she tried to keep the habit a secret fearing her goody goody might me tarnished (Payne). In an interview it was describes how Shirley would wait until all the cameras were off so she could take out her cigarettes and smoke. I wonder if Shirley Temple would still be alive today if she didn’t smoke.

Shirley Temple was known to be the sweetest girl you could have ever met in your entire life because she would make you fall in love with her with her wit and grace. Although she started her career at such a young age she was very responsible and took it very seriously. Shirley grew to learn how to be a cheerful young child even with all the ups and downs she was growing up with, while being the biggest child star that ever did live (Jones). Shirley was not the one to let anyone around her be unhappy so she would always try to lift people up and earn their hearts. Not only was she capable of being very mature about how to handle her emotions and be positive about everything she was also very responsible with the adults in her life and when she would be around them it was almost as if she were an adult as well (Brumfield). I cannot imagine such a young child having to be so responsible at such a young age because I sure know that even as an adult some people cannot take on much of a responsibility. Due to the great way she handled everything she hardly fit the stereo type of a washed-up child star (Scarfone).
 * Personality Traits**

Shirley was not just a child full of joy and love; she was also known to be very intelligent (Jones). I think being very young and being able to memorize lines does proof that she was intelligent because I know for me as a tenneager in high school having to memorize lines for something is hard at times. Some people said that it was spooky how intelligent she was at such a young age. As she grew older her intelligence also helped her in many ways for example it helped her run as an ambassador for chekoslovakia and Ghana (Jones). Many say she was a “hawk” when it came to business and her responsibilities (Scarfone).

With all the fame and fortune that Shirley had she was still very humble and unselfish. She would always put other people’s problems and feelings first before her own (Payne). I love knowing that she was such a giving person no matter who you were. She was a very compassionate person for the people in need and was also very worried about others. Although Shirley did many things she still managed to be discrete and keep her personal life private (Payne). These are the many qualities that the great Shirley Temple had that I believe everyone needs. Shirley Temple was such as indomitable person that was unbelievably amazing. She stood up for what she wanted and for what she believed was right (Jones)

Shirley Temple may have had many accomplishments in her life with her success but she also had many obstacles. Shirley had beautiful hair that was always in perfect curls. Although it was very pretty this became a problem because everyday before bed her mother would have to carefully set her hair to 56 perfect curls. She also couldn’t go swimming one time when the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt asked her if she wanted to. This was quiet a responsibility for such a young child but she knew that it was a huge part of her image (Trex). I would never have the patience and dedication to do that to my hair every night before I would go to sleep.

Another obstacle that Shirley had was that did not get the part of Dorothy Gale in the __Wizard of Oz.__ At this time Shirley was getting older and she was losing her fans. They were all used to the little curly haired girl and when she went to discuss this with the producer, he told her that she needed to lose the baby fat but after that Shirley decided that she no longer wanted to take the part. She was not the one to let people tell her what she had and couldn’t do with her appearance once she was getting older and could give her own opinion. As she got older her fans became middle-aged and clergymen admirers. (Jones).

Shirley Temple Black had many obstacles but the biggest one she ever had was that no matter how well she did as an adult of course there was never getting over being “Shirley Temple”. Even as an ambassador she was still know for her past (Jones). I wouldn’t want to live my entire life being known for my past and not for what I have accomplished in present time. Due to so many people loving her they decided that they wanted to name a drink after her. I assume she was flattered but according to many people that interviewed her on this topic she did not want someone to be having a drink named after her. She was protective of her name and she decided she would take it to court so that they would not use it for the drink. This might have been one of the smaller obstacles that Shirley had but the biggest one over all was that she did not outlive her legend-it outlived her ( Jones).

Shirley Temple was the biggest star of the depression. Once Shirley was an adult she involved herself in causes raising money for sclerosis and emerging as one of the fist breast cancer victims to talk publicity about the need for awareness and treatment in the 70’s(Jones). In 1972 Shirley successfully battled breast cancer (Brumfield).After her win against her breast cancer Shirley became active in republican politics. She ran unsuccessfully for congress in 1967 and in 1974 she served as Richard Nixon’s ambassador to Ghana. Then later on George H. W. Bush appointed her ambassador to Czechoslovakia, where she served amidst the collapse to the Soviet Union (Jones). She was the first women to serve as US chief of protocol in the Department of state (Brumfield).
 * Historical Significance**

Temple’s foray into electoral politics didn’t go so smoothly. In 1967 she ran for the House of Representatives as a Republican candidate in California but lost out to longtime Congress Pete McCloskey by about 19,000 votes. Shirley no longer had that child look that everyone knew her for and those that did know her said that she was more of a hawk when she was involved in the Vietnam War (Trex). Shirley Temple was a person of many capabilities and made many remarkable achievements as her life went on. So in 2006 she received the Screen Actors Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award for having ‘lived the most remarkable life, as the brilliant performer the world came to know when she was just a child to the dedicated public servant who has served her country both at home and abroad for 30 years’(Payne). I look up to Shirley Temple because she did not just want to always be known for a child actor but also as someone important in politics that was strong and dedicated to her work.



References

Black, Shirley Temple. //Child Star//. Mcgraw-Hill, 1988. Print. **SE#6**

Brumfield, Ben and Jo Shelly. "Famed Former Child Actress Shirley Temple Dies". //CNN.// 11 Feb. 2014. //Cable News Network//. Web. 20 Nov. 2014. **SE#4**

Harmetz, Ajean. "Shirley Temple Black, Hollywood's Biggest Little Stare Dies at 85." //The New York Times.// 11 Feb. 2014. //The New York Times.// Web. 10 Sept. 2013. **SE#1**

Jones Malcolm. "Shirley Temple Survived Being the Biggest Child Star of All Time With Wit and Grace." //The Daily Beast.// 11. Feb. 2014. //Newsweek/Daily Beast//. Web.14 Oct. 2014. **SE#2**

Trex, Ethan. "5 Things You Didn't Know About Shirley Temple." //Mental_Floss //. 16 April 2010. //Mental Floss. //Web. 1 Oct. 2014 ** SE#5 **

Payne, Will. "EXCLUSIVE: "Shirley Temple Revealed to Be a Secret Smoker and Actually Died from Lung Disease...but her Family Covered it up to Protect Her Goody Goody Image." //Daily Mail News//. 3 March 2104//. Dailymail.// Web.16 Oct.2014//.// **SE#3**