Posted on 04/23/2013 6:22:06 AM PDT by Borges
Today, Shirley Temple will celebrate a very big birthday — her 85th.
That's hard to imagine, even for those of us who discovered her movies decades after her fame had peaked. Her name instantly calls to mind a luminously adorable child star with bright blue eyes, ringlet-curled blond hair and charming dimples.
Once the biggest celebrity in the world, Temple was the top box office star for the years 1935, 1936, 1937 and 1938 — a beam of sunshine for care-weary Depression-era moviegoers — and a true phenomenon.
Today, there's no one quite like her. The closest America has to a pint-size pop-culture phenom is Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson, the 7-year-old star of the TLC "reality" series "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" — whose show offers up stereotypically-redneck-family-as-entertainment for jaded television viewers.
In a show-business career that spanned 30 years — from 1931 to 1961 — Temple starred in 14 short films and dozens of feature films, and was later host of the TV show "Shirley Temple's Storybook" (1958-61). She went on to become a U.S. representative to the United Nations and U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Ghana and to Czechoslovakia.
She also survived breast cancer; diagnosed in 1972, she was one of the first celebrities to go public with the diagnosis, in the hope of raising awareness. On her official website, Temple says that as she looks back on her life, what she is most proud of are her three children, one granddaughter and two great-granddaughters.
It's impossible to predict what the future will bring young Alana (though, frankly, it is hard to imagine her ever serving as U.S. ambassador to any country with whom we'd like to maintain good relations). But when you compare Honey Boo Boo's present-day success with Shirley Temple's amazing childhood story, it drives home how different our country — and the entertainment industry — is today.
Two different eras, two different child stars
Shirley Temple
* Hometown: Santa Monica, Calif.
* Family: Shirley was the youngest of the three children of Gertrude, a homemaker, and George Francis Temple, a banker and a businessman.
* Her discovery: In 1931, the 3-year-old was studying tap dance in Los Angeles when two producers from the Educational Film Corp. cast Shirley in a series of one-reel films. Next, the Fox Film Corp. signed her. In its 1934 movie "Stand Up and Cheer!" Shirley performed "Baby Take a Bow" with James Dunn — and a pint-size star was born.
* Special talents: Not only could Shirley dance and act, but she could sing, too. Her trademark song was "On the Good Ship Lollipop," which she first sang in the 1934 film "Bright Eyes."
* Motherly "help": Gertrude Temple, also under contract to Fox to do Shirley's hair and help her memorize her lines, always exhorted her daughter to "Sparkle, Shirley, sparkle."
* Her signature line: "Oh, my goodness."
* Signs that she'd infiltrated pop culture: Shirley inspired the most collectible celebrity doll ever made, as well as a non-alcoholic cocktail that is still served in restaurants today. At age 6, she also became the first recipient of the juvenile Academy Award.
* Memorable criticism: The British novelist and critic Graham Greene called "Captain January," Shirley's 1936 film, "a little depraved, with an appeal interestingly decadent," according to TCM's website. The following year, when Greene wrote an "even more sexualized review" of Shirley's "Wee Willie Winkie," TCM says, Fox sued Greene and his publisher for libel — and won.
Alana Thompson
* Hometown: McIntyre, Ga.
Family: She’s the daughter of June Shannon, self-described "Coupon Queen," and David Michael "Sugar Bear" Thompson, who has said on his Facebook page, "I work in the chalk mines and love it."
* Her discovery: After she appeared as a 6-year-old on the TLC series "Toddlers & Tiaras," about contestants in child beauty pageants, TLC spun her and her family off into their own show, "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo."* Special talents: She loves to grab the area around her navel and squeeze it so that it looks like her stomach is "talking."
* Motherly "help": Mama June gets her daughter hopped-up for performing onstage by giving her "go-go juice," a concoction of Red Bull and Mountain Dew.
* Signature line: "I want to win money. … A dolla make me holla, honey boo boo."
* Sign that she’d infiltrated pop culture: In October 2012, Comedy Central’s "South Park" parodied Honey Boo Boo and her family.
* Memorable criticism: The Hollywood Reporter’s Tim Goodman, calling the show "horrifying," wrote: " ‘Here Comes Honey Boo Boo’ is a car crash, and everybody rubber-necks at a car crash, right? It’s human nature. Yes, except that if you play that card, you also have to realize that human nature comes with the capacity to draw a line, to hold fast against the dehumanization and incremental tearing down of the social fabric, even if this never-ending onslaught of reality television suggests that’s a losing effort."
What an absolutely beautiful woman . . . always considered her one of our most beautiful Hollywood stars. I’m glad she’s had a long long life . . . well deserved.
Great headline and a stunning contrast that clearly illustrates just how far we’ve fallen as a society.
I still enjoy her movies. They bring memories of a moral and innocent time. I prefer the older movies over the trash they put out today.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHIRLEY!!!!! Thank you and God bless.
“car crash” description is correct. I watched Honey Boo Boo once out of curiosity and finished it because I couldn’t believe how down right stupid it was and could hardly wait to see if it got any stupider, which it did. Then I realized that made me stupid for watching so I never watched it again. (Although I’m tempted)
Nice lady...
I look at those old movies where men wore a suit and tie every day and women wore dresses and there is no comparison to today’s craptastic culture where morons walk around with their pants half off and girls wear “whore chic”
Cute little girl
Beautiful young woman
Attractive older woman.
Dignified old woman.
AND ALWAYS WITH CLASS.
Hell, I would not mind an obit like that.
Well, if I were a woman.
She was also an excellent ambassador, serving in the Czech republic from 1989-92 and helping with the transition from Communism to freedom.
I meet Mrs. Black at a fund raiser years ago, she is absolutely as gracious and classy as you would think her to be.
Didn’t she get her start in something called “Baby Burlesque”? Perhaps the cultural fundamentals haven’t changed quite as much as we’d like to think, they’ve just lost some of their fashion sense and decorum.
FYI: Turner Classic Movies is showing Ambassador Black’s later movies, post adolescence (e.g., “Fort Apache,” etc.) until 6 pm today.
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Don’t forget the “Heidi Bowl”!
My favorite Shirley Temple films:
As a child - “Bright Eyes”
As a teenager - “The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer” (great comedy with Cary Grant) and “Since You Went Away” (1944, very serious film about a mom and two daughters whose husband/father went to war and is MIA.
I’m sure there are other great ones, but these come to mind immediately.
She was U.S. Ambassador Shirley Temple Black in Czechoslovakia around the time the Berlin wall fell and those eastern European countries threw off their oppressive governments.
You really have to say that in over a half century of child stars, there’s never really been anyone who’s been Shirley’s equal. She’s a unique talent and we’re unlikely to ever see someone like her again.
Perhaps she’s not regarded as a “great actress”, but Shirley was a capable professional actress, dancer and singer which very few adult actresses, no matter what their age or era, could accomplish.
Today, there’s no one quite like her. (Shirely Temple)..
Nobody exactly like her.. BUT there is Emily Bear, Jackie Evancho, Anna Graceman and Akiana Kramerik... Umi Garrett.. Connie Talbot.. Anastasia Petrik.. Bindi Irwin.. and others..
Example; https://vimeo.com/64465293
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