Shirley Temple

American actress and diplomat (1928–2014)

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Lived 1928–2014, aged 86United States

United States ActorsActor

Wikipedia
83 languages
Cross-language footprint
Era
1928–2014
Aged 86
Known for
Fort Apache
1948

Summary

Updated 2026-08-24

She was Hollywood's biggest star before she turned ten — a Depression-era child actress whose curls and songs carried entire studios — then walked away, resurfaced in diplomacy, and spent her second act representing the United States in Africa, Europe, and the UN.

Biography

About

Shirley Temple started in films at three and by 1934, with Bright Eyes, became the top box-office draw in America. She won a special Juvenile Academy Award in February 1935 and held that commercial throne through 1938, though her appeal dimmed as she aged; her last picture, A Kiss for Corliss, came in 1949. Twenty years later she began a diplomatic career, appointed to the U.S. Mission at the United Nations in 1969, then named Ambassador to Ghana and later the first female Chief of Protocol. She published her autobiography, Child Star, in 1988, then served as ambassador to Czechoslovakia from…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple

said11 Feb 2014

Politicians are actors too, don't you think?

— Quoted in: "Hollywood star Shirley Temple dies" BBC News, 11 February 2014.

Shirley Temple

saidFeb 2014

I have no trouble being taken seriously as a woman and a diplomat here.

— Quoted in: Johnson, Eric M. "Shirley Temple Black, child star who became diplomat, dies at 85" Reuters, February 2014.

Shirley Temple

said1988

Robinson walked a step ahead of us, but when he noticed me hurrying to catch up, he shortened his stride to accommodate mine.

— Shirley Temple Black, Child Star: An Autobiography (New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, 1988), pp. 90-91.

Shirley Temple

said10 Apr 1979

Some of you may recollect a little girl with clean and curled hair, starched skirts, ruffles, and bows. That perception was wrong.

— Quoted in: Shirley Temple Black, Movie Star, U.S. Ambassador - Landon Lecture" Kansas State University, April 10, 1979.

Shirley Temple

said1975

I think we all learn from the past. I just feel we shouldn't live there. We shouldn't live in the past. I live for today, and to me, the most important moment is now.

— Quoted in: "Madam Ambassador - Sixty Minutes" CBS, 1975.

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