Shirley Temple

It's been a year this month, since American radio, film and television actress, singer, dancer, ambassador and best-selling author, Shirley Temple Black, passed away.

Born on April 23rd, 1928 in Santa Monica, California, she was the daughter of Gertrude and George Temple, who became famous as a child movie star. Shirley was a cute and dimpled, popular radio star during the 1940s and did much to help the Armed Forces during World War II. Some of the radio programs she starred in include:

Command Performance (April 19th, 1942)

Command Performance (July 28th, 1942)

Command Performance (June 16th, 1946)

Family Theater - Toledo Smith (April 8th, 1948)

Family Theater - Christmas in July (July 29th, 1948)

Family Theater - A Daddy for Christmas (December 15th, 1948)

Lux Radio Theater - The Littlest Rebel (October 14th, 1940)

Lux Radio Theater - Captain January (January 27th, 1941) 

Lux Radio Theater - Kathleen (December 27th, 1943) 

Bill Stern - 12th Anniversary Show (20th October, 1950)

Theater of Romance - Cradle Song (29th January, 1946)

In 1947, RKO (Radio-Keith-Orpheum) Pictures produced the sparkling and romantic comedy, The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer, starring Shirley Temple and Cary Grant. Grant played the part of the gay man about town and Shirley Temple was the ingénue who openly adored him.

A Lux Radio Theater adaptation starring Cary Grant and Shirley Temple aired on June 13, 1949. It was also dramatized as a half-hour radio play by The Screen Guild Theater on May 10, 1948 with Cary Grant, Myrna Loy and Shirley Temple all reprising their film roles, but I've been having bother locating that show.

My first memory of Shirley Temple was in the movie The Story of Seabiscuit, where she co-starred with several old time radio favorites, Lon McCallister, Barry Fitzgerald and Rosemary DeCamp. What are your memories of Shirley Temple?

Shirley was married to John Agar from 1945 until 1950 and to Charles Alden Black from 1950 until his death in 2005. Agar and Temple had one child, Linda Susan Agar and Black and Temple had two children, Charles Alden Black, Jr. and Lori Black.

In her later years, Temple became a public servant when she was named Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia and later was given the position of Chief of Protocol of the United States.

Shirley Temple had some tough as well as triumphant times during her long life. Her parents attempted to prevent her from ageing on screen by keeping her skirts shorter than most, filing her teeth down and binding her breasts to make her look younger.

When Shirley finally reached maturity, she discovered that her supposed fortune of millions was only worth a few thousand dollars – her parents had spent almost all of the money she made. But, she didn't let it get her down. 

Shirley Temple Black passed away of natural causes at her home in Woodside, California at 85 years of age. She was surrounded by her family and caregivers.

If you'd like to remember her by listening to any of the shows she starred in, click here to view her star biography on RUSC.

Happy listening my friends,

P.S. Why not share these shows with a friend? Simply click on the "Share this show with a friend" link for each show.