How many movies did shirley temple make as a child

55 Photos of Shirley Temple's Life Through the Years

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1930: A Star Is Born

Shirley Temple was born in 1928 in Santa Monica, California. The youngest of three children, her mother was a housewife, while her father worked as a banker.

RELATED: The Most Popular Child Star the Year You Were Born

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1930: Young Talent

It was her mother, Gertrude Temple, who recognized Shirley's talent for entertainment. She enrolled Shirley in dance classes at the age of 3 and a half years old.

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1932: Her Big Break

At just 4 years old, Shirley was cast in a series of low budget films called "Baby Burlesks." The actress later shared stories of mistreatment on the set of these movies in her memoir, Child Star: An Autobiography.

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1933: A Cute Friendship

Even at a young age, Shirley's charisma and ability to share the stage with anyone was clear as day. She's seen here hitching a ride from fellow child star, Baby LeRoy.

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1934: A Studio Contract

Shirley's exposure in the "Baby Burlesks" led to her being discovered by 20th Century Fox. At 5 years old, the young actress signed a seven-year contract with the studio.

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1934: The Original Family Manager

After Shirley signed her studio contract, her father, George Francis Temple, took over as her talent manager. George represented his daughter's interests to the studio, served as a middle man, and fought for pay increases throughout her career.

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1934: Her First Big Film

Fox wasted no time in capitalizing on Shirley's adorable demeanor. By the end of 1934, she'd starred in seven major pictures, including Bright Eyes. Here, Shirley is seen with her adult costars in Little Miss Marker, Dorothy Dell, Charles Bickford and Adolphe Menjou.

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1935: Little Miss Miracle

While the country was in the depths of the Great Depression, President Roosevelt referred to the child star as Little Miss Miracle and credited her with boosting the country's morale. By 1935, Shirley was the biggest film star in America. That year she released some of her most beloved films, including Curly Top to The Littlest Rebel, and worked with some of the biggest names in the business.

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1935: Hollywood Playmates

Shirley's childhood in the 1930s consisted of vacationing at Charlie Chaplin's Palm Springs home and playing with his two sons, Charles Jr. and Sydney Chaplin.

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1935: Shirley's Four-Legged Pal

The child star had another iconic friend: Buck the St. Bernard, a Hollywood pup who starred in classics like 1935's Call of the Wild. Just a year after Shirley signed her big 20th Century Fox deal, Buck had a big break of his own — becoming the first dog to ink a five-year contract.

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1935: Costars on Set

While starring in one of her most-known feature films, Curly Top, Shirley was photographed on set with her costar, Jane Darwell.

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1935: An Honorary Award

In 1935, a 7-year-old Shirley received an honorary colonel title from the American Legion. The A-list tot wore her best military wear for the ceremony.

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1935: An Academy Award

Shirley attended the 7th Annual Academy Awards as both a presenter and a recipient. The Academy created the Academy Juvenile Award specifically for the 7-year-old, who was given the award for "her outstanding contribution to screen entertainment during the year 1934." She also presented Claudette Colbert with her award for Best Actress for It Happened One Night.

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1937: A Star Birthday

On the eve of her 9th birthday, the film star was photographed in her family home blowing out the candles on her birthday cake.

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1938: Another Big Hit

One of Shirley's most well-known movies, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, was released in 1938 and was — no surprise — a box office hit.

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1939: Hollywood's Biggest Star

In 1936, Fox resigned Shirley for another seven-year contract, bumping her pay up to $50,000 per film — an unheard of amount at that time. Here, she's seen arriving at the premiere of her 1939 film, The Little Princess, with her parents.

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1939: At the Academy Awards

The Academy Award winner was invited to present an award to Walt Disney for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Here, the actress chats with the visionary filmmaker and his unique Oscar, which boasted seven mini statues to represent the seven dwarfs.

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1940: Milkshake Break

Shirley shares a laugh with Deanna Durbin, while visiting her friend on set of the musical comedy Spring Parade, in which Deanna played the lead role.

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1942: Becoming a Teenager

In 1940, 20th Century Fox decided not to renew Shirley's contract. The actress was now a teenager and was walking the fine line between child and adult movie star. At the age of 14, she began attending school in Los Angeles and worked on films, like Miss Annie Rooney, sporadically.

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1944: Her First Adult Role

Since You Went Away is widely recognized as Shirley's break away from her child star roles. Seen here in a scene with her costar, Jennifer Jones (left), the movie depicts American home life during World War II.

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1944: Helping the War Effort

In an effort to keep the spirits of soldiers up, Shirley arrived in New York in 1944 and visited Pennsylvania Station to greet fans in the service.

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1944: Her Sky-High Achievement

Because of her commitment to helping the war effort, a US Army C-54 Skymaster transport plane was named in her honor in 1944. Here, she poses with the aircraft at the Douglas plant in Santa Monica.

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1945: Getting Engaged

In 1945, Shirley announced her engagement to Sergeant Jack Agar. The couple met when the actress was 15 years old, but waited until she turned 17 to announce their impending nuptials.

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1945: Her Wedding Day

More than 500 guests joined the couple at the Wilshire Methodist Church in Los Angeles when they said "I do" on September 9, 1945. A reception at Shirley's home followed, before they departed on their honeymoon.

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1945: A Grown Up Shirley

Now a married woman, Shirley continued to take on more adult roles. She appeared in Kiss and Tell in 1945.

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1946: Dancing Again

Shirley broke out her dance moves that helped sky rocket her to fame as a young child once again in Honeymoon.

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1947: A Big Role

Shirley landed a starring role in The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer alongside Carey Grant. The movie gained critical acclaim and audiences began adjusting to seeing the star as an adult on screen, which helped cement the next phase of her career.

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1948: An Even Bigger Role

In 1948, Shirley was in Fort Apache, which she starred in alongside her husband, John Agar. It became one of her most well-known movies of her adult career.

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1948: Having a Baby

At the age of 20, Shirley welcomed her first child with John. Linda Susan Agar was born on January 30, 1948.

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1949: Working on a Classic

In 1949, Shirley starred in The Story of Seabiscuit. The movie went on to become one of the biggest films of the decade and helped establish her film career as an adult actor.

Little Miss Fix-It: The Remarkable Life of Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple knew she was a rarity: a child megastar who later lived a happy, fulfilled adult life. As she told her biographer Anne Edwards—author of the highly entertaining Shirley Temple: American Princess—“I think people are surprised I did not become ‘Baby Jane.’”

Throughout her long life (1928-2014), Temple would boast many accomplishments. She was America’s top box office draw in the 1930s, the youngest person ever to receive an Oscar (albeit a noncompetitive one), a mother of three, a delegate to the United Nations, a candidate for California’s 11th Congressional District, an environmental activist, the first female chief of protocol of the U.S. (an officer overseeing the diplomatic corps), and a two-time ambassador. She was also, in the words of one observer quoted by Edwards, “smart as paint, tough-minded, and highly professional, with the devilish charm of a cunning Lucifer-child asking to stay up till nine. ”

Sparkle, Shirley, Sparkle

Shirley’s mother, Gertrude—grand, imposing, and business savvy—decided to capitalize on her daughter’s perfect pitch and dancing ability when she was still a toddler. “I was allowed to be a baby for about two years,” Temple recalled, per Edwards. “So I had a couple of years as a lazy baby. I thought every child worked, because I was born into it.”

Working right alongside her was Gertrude, who served as her acting coach and fierce protector. “When Shirley was in bed, Gertrude would read any lines she had to say the next day. Shirley would repeat them ‘word for word five or six times,’” Edwards writes. “She might say, ‘You’re supposed to feel very happy when you say this line, Presh’…or ‘You’re supposed to be eating a thick sandwich while you’re saying these lines,’ and Shirley would practice this bit of action.”

Her mother was also right off camera as Temple shot her scenes, calling out, “sparkle, Shirley, sparkle,” before the camera rolled. Gertrude and her husband, George, a banker, made sure Shirley was cloistered from other child actors. She also ensured that any young thespians who might upstage her daughter had their parts substantially cut. These imperious actions won her few friends in Hollywood. But actor Slim Summerville was one of the few who dared to openly slight Gertrude, when he quipped, “so you’re the goose that laid the golden egg.”

Baby Genius

With a tested IQ of 155, Temple was a remarkably quick learner. “Tap dancer Bill Robinson…taught her a soft-shoe number, a waltz clog, and three tap routines. She learned them without looking at him, by listening to his feet,” Time magazine marveled in a 1936 cover story. This precociousness meant that with the exception of Gertrude, Shirley was virtually unafraid of adults (she called studio executive Darryl Zanuck “Uncle Pipsqueak”) and happy to correct them. Frequent costar Robert Young recalled to Edwards one incident on the set of the 1934 film Carolina, when Temple dared cue the legendary actor Lionel Barrymore:

I was standing behind Shirley…and Lionel (who was on drugs, painkillers and things—’cause he was in a great deal of intense pain) got stuck, couldn’t remember his lines. Shirley, in that sweet, wonderful, innocent naivete of a child, told Mr. Barrymore what his line was—‘Mr. Barrymore, you’re supposed to say so-and-so here’—having no idea of what impact that would have on him. Well, he let out a roar like a singed cat, and people came running. I grabbed her by the arm, because I thought surely if he ever got his hands on her, he’d crush her head or choke her to death.

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Perfection was demanded of her fellow child actors well. On the set of Heidi (1937), Temple spent so much time reteaching and correcting the other children that director Allan Dwan gave her a badge labeled “CHIEF.”

Buy Shirley Temple: American Princess on Amazon or Bookshop.

“I had a bunch of little badges made with ‘SHIRLEY TEMPLE POLICE’ stamped on them. Every kid who came on the set had to wear a badge and join the force and swear allegiance to Shirley,” Dwan told Edwards. “If I had to leave the set, I’d tell her, ‘Shirley, now you take charge of things,’ and she did. She strutted around giving orders, like ‘I want you to take that set down and put up a castle.’ The grip would pretend to carry out her instructions, satisfying her, going along with the game.”

America’s Sweetheart

Adults placed a heavy load on Temple’s tiny shoulders. Credited with helping save Fox from bankruptcy during the Depression, her box office appeal was also the catalyst for its merger with Twentieth Century Pictures in 1935. “They didn’t buy the Fox studio,” Fox executive Winfield Sheehan said. “They bought Shirley Temple.” President Franklin D. Roosevelt even recognized her importance to America’s morale, stating, “As long as our country has Shirley Temple, we will be all right.”

Although she worked six days a week to crank out the content Americans so desperately needed, Temple still found time to be a (somewhat) normal kid. Writer Diana Serra Cary, a former child star known as Baby Peggy, recalled meeting Temple in her studio bungalow. “There was a daybed with a white phone beside it,” Cary recalled. “Pretending she was her mother (which I am sure fooled no one!) she ordered ice cream sent in from the Chez Paris,” the studio commissary.

Temple got into even more mischief when her family was invited to a cookout with the president and first lady at their Hyde Park home. According to Edwards, as staunch Republicans, her parents were initially wary of accepting the Democrats’ invitation. They eventually gave in and were won over by the charming Roosevelts, with Temple perhaps getting a bit too comfortable.

“Mrs. Roosevelt was bending over an outdoor grill cooking some hamburgers for us,” Temple remembered, according to Edwards. “I was in my little dress with the puffed sleeves and white shoes and had this very feminine lace purse—which contained the slingshot I always carried with me. When I saw Mrs. Roosevelt bending over, I couldn’t resist. I hit her with a pebble from my slingshot. She jumped quite smartly, and the Secret Service men assigned to her were extremely upset for a while. But no one saw me do it except my mother, and she didn’t blow the whistle on me until we got back to the hotel. Then she let me have it in the same area I’d attacked the first lady.”

Despite her assault of the first lady, Temple would later claim Eleanor as one of her childhood heroes: “I think she influenced me, got me interested in human rights and human dignity for all people.”

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The Star and the Secretary of State

After a short marriage at the age of 17 to actor John Agar, Temple wed San Francisco blue blood Charles Alden Black in 1950. At a press conference to announce the marriage, she declared that after 19 years, she was quitting movies. “That’s long enough. My only contract is to Mr. Black,” Temple quipped, according to Edwards. She then gave her husband a hug, and the press a knowing wink. “And it’s exclusive.”

The couple would forge an enormously successful marriage, which lasted until Black’s death in 2005. “Her whole life has been spent in various types of public service, either by entertaining people or by serving them. I think she’s some sort of deity…and I support her in everything she does,” Black said, per Edwards. He was especially proud of Temple’s entry into politics in the 1960s, leading wags to dub him “the consort.”

But Temple would soon find the world of politics and diplomacy just as tough as the movie business. Temple’s toughest critic would be legendary Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. According to Edwards, after Gerald Ford named Temple ambassador to Ghana in 1974, Kissinger quipped he had always wanted to “get movie stars into a position where they had to come when I called them, and now that I’ve solved the problem, I’m married.”

Temple only offered a wry smile. She claimed her childhood had more than prepared her for a life in diplomacy. “On a publicity tour, a mayor had accidentally slammed a car door on three of her fingers,” Edwards writes. “The door was immediately opened, and Gertrude whispered, ‘Don’t cry!’ … It was an early [diplomatic] lesson. ”

Her tenure as ambassador to Ghana would be cut short due to a snafu with Kissinger. In 1976, she insisted he come to Accra, the capital of Ghana, while on an African tour. But at the last minute, the Ghanaians insisted a mere secretary of state could not meet with their ruler, Ignatius Acheampong. Kissinger refused to meet with a government lackey, and the Ghanaians, in a huff, rescinded their invitation. Shortly after, Temple was summoned to meet an ill-tempered Kissinger in Liberia. She was soon recalled from Ghana and given the job as chief of protocol in D.C. to soften the blow.

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But Temple was still subject to Kissinger’s control at her new job. “I don’t think she liked working under Henry,” one staffer told Edwards. “She liked people to be straightforward with her and she would reply in that same manner.” Although Temple would eventually win Kissinger’s praise—she was, according to him, “very intelligent, very tough-minded, very disciplined”—it’s doubtful she much cared.

“I’m durable,” Temple told a reporter when discussing Kissinger’s toughness. “I don’t damage easily.”

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Shirley vs. the Red Menace

In 1989, President George Bush named Temple ambassador to Czechoslovakia. It was a particularly sensitive post to a Communist country just as Communism was crumbling all over Eastern Europe.

Temple was well suited to it. She had been to Czechoslovakia in August of 1968 to meet with the country’s reforming leader, Alexander Dubček, on behalf of the International Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies, of which she was cofounder. The country was in the midst of the Prague Spring, with citizens protesting for freedom from the strict repression of the USSR.

Asleep in her hotel room in Prague, Temple was “was soon awakened by a hammering at her door,” Edwards writes. “Outside, there was ‘the shriek of a low-flying jet plane…distant shouts in the street and a rattle of gunfire.’ A member of the hotel staff had come to warn her of the invasion. ‘Tanks and troops are entering Prague!’ he shouted.”

The Russians had arrived to crush the uprisings. Temple was trapped in the hotel. “From my high perch—and careful not to be seen—I managed to look out through a slit in the railing. A woman on the street was unmercifully gunned down as she ran for shelter—an image I have never rid myself of,” she recalled, per Edwards.

Temple and other Americans were eventually rescued by a driver from the American embassy. They joined a convoy of dozens of cars fleeing to the safety of the West German border. “Shirley returned home the next morning…to San Francisco, where her family and nearly a hundred newsmen met her,” Edwards writes. “Then she…held up a record. ‘It’s the Czech national anthem,’ she said. ‘They are not playing it anymore.’”

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Twenty years later, as ambassador to Czechoslovakia, Temple delicately advocated for democracy and the dissolution of militarized rule, noting wryly that “nothing crushes freedom as substantially as a tank. ” Months after she became ambassador in 1989, the Velvet Revolution occurred, and the Communist government was eventually toppled, much to Temple’s delight.

“Shortly after Communism fell in Czechoslovakia, a seated Ambassador Black called her senior staff together into a private, closed-door meeting,” an entry on the official website for the U.S. Embassy in the Czech Republic notes. “Looking them sternly in the eye, she told them, ‘I’m only going to do this once, just once.’ And with that, she stood up, smiled, and pranced around the room singing, ‘On the Good Ship Lollipop.’”

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