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11 Feb 2014

Hollywood icon Shirley Temple dies, aged 85

Shirley Temple, once the world’s most famous child star, who appeared in a string of hit films during Hollywood’s golden era, has died at the age of 85.

The actress died at her home in Woodside, California, on Monday evening from natural causes, her family said.

“She was surrounded by her family and caregivers,” a statement said. “We salute her for a life of remarkable achievements as an actor, as a diplomat, and… our beloved mother, grandmother [and] great-grandmother.”

Temple, known locally as Mrs Black, began acting at the age of three in 1931, and made her first break at the age of five when she won an audition to star the film Stand Up and Cheer.

With her trademark dimples and curly blonde hair, she was signed up by Fox Film Corporation for a year at $150 a week.

Above: Temple in 1939 (Getty) 'Bright Eyes'

Above: Temple in 1939 (Getty)

‘Bright Eyes’

She later went on to star in numerous films during the Great Depression, including Bright Eyes, singing one of her most famous songs, On the Good Ship Lollipop, and Curly Top, earning plaudits from the President Franklin D Roosevelt, who said: “As long as our country has Shirley Temple we will be all right.”

Her early film career saw her knock Clark Gable off his perch as the world’s number one box office star, and Fox, which had faced bankruptcy, was brought back into the fold owing to the success of its six-year-old asset.

While she appeared in numerous films as a teenager, these enjoyed limited success. At the age of 17, she married her first husband, the actor John Agar, who was the much older brother of a classmate, but divorced when she was 21.

Ambassador

She married again in 1950 to the California businessman Charles Alden Black, and the couple had a son, Charles Jr, and a daughter, Lori.

In her later life, she took on roles such as the United States Ambassador to Ghana, and in 1976 she became America’s first female Chief of Protocol at the White House.

Temple is survived by her three children, a granddaughter and two great granddaughters.