|
 Temple Black, who lured millions to the movies in the 1930s,
"peacefully passed away" at her Woodside, Calif., home from
natural causes at 10:57 p.m. local time (0157 ET), surrounded by
her family and caregivers, the statement said on Tuesday.
"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 of
fifty-five years," the statement said.
As actress Shirley Temple, she was precocious, bouncy and
adorable with a head of curly hair, tap-dancing through songs
like "On The Good Ship Lollipop." As Ambassador Shirley Temple
Black, she was soft-spoken and earnest in postings in
Czechoslovakia and Ghana, out to disprove concerns that her
previous career made her a diplomatic lightweight.
"I have no trouble being taken seriously as a woman and a
diplomat here," Black said after her appointment as U.S.
ambassador to Ghana in 1974. "My only problems have been with
Americans who, in the beginning, refused to believe I had grown
up since my movies."
Black, born April 23, 1928, started her entertainment career in
the early 1930s and was famous by age 6. She became a national
institution and her raging popularity spawned look-alike dolls,
dresses and dozens of other Shirley Temple novelties as she
became one of the first stars to enjoy the fruits of the growing
marketing mentality.
Shirley was 3 when her mother put her in dance school, where a
talent scout spotted her and got her in "Baby Burlesk," a series
of short movies with child actors spoofing adult movies.
Movie studio executives took notice. In 1934 she appeared in the
film "Stand Up and Cheer!", and her song and dance number in
"Baby Take a Bow" stole the show. Other movies in that year
included "Little Miss Marker" and "Bright Eyes" — which featured
her signature song "On the Good Ship Lollipop" — and in 1935 she
received a special Oscar for her "outstanding contribution to
screen entertainment."
She made some 40 feature movies, including "The Little Colonel,"
"Poor Little Rich Girl," "Heidi" and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook
Farm," in 10 years, starring with big-name actors like Randolph
Scott, Lionel Barrymore and Jimmy Durante.
Shirley was a superstar before the term was invented. She said
she was about 8 when adoring crowds shouting their love for her
made her realize she was famous.
"I wondered why," she recalled. "I asked my mother and she said,
'Because your films make them happy.'"
She was such a money-maker that her mother — who would always
tell her "Sparkle, Shirley!" before she appeared before an
audience — and studio officials shaved a year off her age to
maintain her child image.
Her child career came to an end at age 12. She tried a few roles
as a teenager — including opposite future president Ronald
Reagan in "That Hagen Girl" — but retired from the screen in
1949 at age 21.
The Screen Actors Guild gave her its 2005 Life Achievement
Award, and in her acceptance speech posted on the group's
website, she said: "I have one piece of advice for those of you
who want to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award: start
early!"
[to top of second column] |
POLITICS AND DIPLOMACY
Temple was only 17 in 1945 when she married for the first time to
John Agar, who would eventually appear with her in two movies. Their
five-year marriage produced a daughter.
In 1950 she wed Charles Black in a marriage that lasted until his
death in 2005. She and Black had two children.
Black's interest in politics was sparked in the early '50s when her
husband was called back into the Navy to work in Washington.
She did volunteer work for the Republican Party while attempting to
make a comeback with two short-lived TV series, "Shirley Temple's
Storybook" in 1959 and "The Shirley Temple Theater" a year later.
Seven years after that she ran unsuccessfully for Congress in
California but stayed in politics, helping raise more than $2
million for Richard Nixon's re-election campaign.
She was later named to the United States' team to the United Nations
and found that the her childhood popularity was an asset in her new
career.
"Having been a film star can be very helpful on an
international basis," Black once said. "Many people consider me an
old friend."
Sometimes the public found it hard to accept her in diplomatic
roles. But in 1989 she pointed out her 20 years in public service
were more than the 19 she spent in Hollywood.
In 1974, Ford appointed Black ambassador to Ghana and two years
later made her chief of protocol. For the next decade she trained
newly appointment ambassadors at the request of the State
Department.
In 1989, President George H.W. Bush made Black
ambassador to Prague — a sensitive Eastern European post normally
reserved for career diplomats. Black had been in Prague in 1968,
representing a group fighting multiple sclerosis at a conference,
when Soviet-bloc tanks entered to crush an era of liberalization
known as the "Prague Spring."
President Gustav Husak did not seem daunted by the prospect of a
U.S. ambassador who had witnessed the invasion. He told her that he
had been a fan of "Shirleyka."
In 1972, Black was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a
mastectomy. She publicly discussed her surgery to educate women
about the disease.
Black is survived by her children, Susan, Charlie Jr., and Lori, her
granddaughter Teresa and her great-granddaughters Lily and Emma, the
family statement said. It said private funeral arrangements were
pending.
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson; editing
by Bill Trott and Sonya Hepinstall)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
