The patron saint for child stars took the Audrey Hepburn quote, “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’m possible’”, straight to heart. In the 1930s, families were making less than $2,000 a year, and 25% were not working at all because of The Great Depression. When America had no reason to smile, a little, curly-haired girl acted and tap-danced made the impossible possible, and America smiled.
Shirley Temple acted and tap-danced to the top of the American entertainment scene and into the hearts of struggling Americans when they needed her most. When she was only six-years-old, she starred in her first “Little Miss Marker” (1934). She went on to make a total of 23 films during The Great Depression.
She left the film industry at twenty-two and moved onto foreign diplomacy. From 1969 through 1992, Shirley Temple Black (now married) was a foreign diplomat on behalf of the United States. She served in the U.S. delegation to the United States, an ambassador to Ghana, and an ambassador to Czechoslovakia.
This past Monday, February 10, 2014, we lost our beloved American sweetheart and diplomat. As I was doing research in preparation of writing, I was amazed to learn that this woman was more than just a little girl with perfect golden ringlets. She was a woman interested in making the world a better place, whether she was tap dancing and acting on the silver screen or creating positive American relations with foreign countries. I encourage you to go look her up. It may seem like more homework, but be inspired by her life she committed to making the world a better place through the gifts, talents, abilities, and passions God gave her. A guestbook is being set up on her website (shirleytemple.com).
Here are a few websites to get you started on your own research of America’s Sweetheart:
CNN – http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/11/showbiz/hollywood-shirley-temple-death/
NY Times – http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/arts/shirley-temple-black-screen-star-…