Perhaps the best child actor of all time, and then a fine statesperson as US Ambassador for both Ghana and Czechoslovakia, Shirley Temple Black has passed on this evening aged 85.
Natural causes were the cause and her family were with her when she passed away.
:( RIP
It's just a shame that actors and celebrities today seemingly don't have the same approach to life as she seems to had clearly.
From all reports she never had to undertake rehab, never did drugs or gross alcoholism, never involved in anything criminal.
I guess there is some selfish satisfaction when I think about our elderly celebs and the fact that they are still with us despite the realities of the mortal condition that make it hard to accept the loss of genuine legends of the screen such as Shirley Temple. Like Mickey Rooney and even a local Legend like Lou Richards I enjoy their longevity as we revere their exploits with the opportunity in some cases to acknowledge them personally.
I read a book about Shirley Temple (from starting her acting career at age 3 thru to becoming an Ambassador).
Her parents only allowed 4 movies a year and when she started school had to do her studies on set between breaks.
Her only child good friend was Mickey Rooney.
Adolescence for her was hard, as the studio did not know how deal with those 'budding breasts', she did a couple of movies but they didn't do well at the box office, then she married at 17.
Anyway
My mother watched her movies as a young girl.
I watched her movies as young girl.
My daughter watched her movies as a young girl.
RIP Shirley Temple, you entertained 3 generations of my family and millions of others.
After being compelled to watch Shirley Temple movies as a kid if it were up to me Ms Temple would have been moved on long before 2014.
Ungracious.
I watched them as a kid quite voluntarily, and loved them.
She grew from a sweet and enormously talented little girl into a poised and elegant woman. And I wouldn't be surprised if in the privacy of the Black family home they occasionally had gathered around the piano and had a bit of a sing-song.