Happy birthday, Shirley Temple!

by chuckofish

Shirley Temple, as you know, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, and former U.S. ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. She began her film career in 1932 at the age of three, and in 1934, found international fame in Bright Eyes. She was the top box-office draw four years in a row (1935–38) and is No. 18 on the American Film Institute’s list of the greatest female American screen legends of all time, making her the highest-ranked living person on the list.

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I have been a big fan of the amazing Shirley since I was a child and watched her movies on “Shirley Temple Theater,” which was on TV on Saturday or Sunday afternoons. Our mother, two years older than Shirley, had grown up with her movies and loved her too. We always liked what our mother liked, so it was a no-brainer that we would be Shirley fans.

When my own children were little, we bought a lot of Shirley Temple VHS tapes, which, I think, my kids enjoyed a lot and watched over and over. Her films may have been in black and white and seemed somewhat dated, but Shirley herself never did. She was always the genuine article.

It is amazing how she could hold her own with the likes of Gary Cooper

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and Bill Robinson

Bill Robinson and Shirley Temple in

and Victor McLaglen.

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But she was one of a kind. Gloria Stuart, who worked with her in Poor Little Rich Girl (1936) and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938), said, “She was a miracle to work with. If you forgot a line, she gave it to you. She was polite, she was sweet, she was professional, she always knew her lines. She was a darling.”

Here she is in one of her last films, John Ford’s Fort Apache (1948) with John Wayne and Henry Fonda.

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You have to hand it to her–she knew when to throw in the towel. She retired from movies at age 22. Since then she has lived a long, eventful life, contributing meaningfully to her country and the world.

Watch this clip from The Little Colonel (1935) with the wonderful Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. When he says, “Say, you catch on quick,” it is the understatement of the world!

We wish her well on this, her 85th birthday! What is your favorite Shirley Temple movie?