I can remember several movies we watched when I was young.  Some of my favorites included Ernest and Shirley Temple (and Charlie, Itchy, Milo, Otis and Hooch but we can talk about my life-long thing for dogs in another post).  I remember my parents going out for a date night and leaving Kim to babysit.  Oddly, this didn't happen that much.  I don't know why not as Kim was 9 years older than me, it was probably because I was such a terror.  But regardless, this time she was, and they'd rented us a special movie.  We had a 'girls night' with a new (note, new to me) Shirley Temple film.  And I was ecstatic!! It's odd that this one night remains so clearly in my memory, but it does.  I loved this little dimpled dancing gal.  Us girls loved when mom put the curlers in our hair over night to leave ringlets like hers.  I loved to dance around in our tap shoes.  I definitely dreamed of being like Shirley. She even made me love animal crackers more.  If that is possible.

She was lovely - long past her movie days. And she helped us all smile, long after the depression era.

I think she played a bigger role than I previously realized in the little girl I once was, and the woman I chose to become.



Her legacy according to Wikipedia:  

Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Temple; April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) was an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, and one-time U.S. ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. She also served as Chief of Protocol of the United States, 1976–1977.

Temple began her film career in 1932 at the age of three and, in 1934, found international fame in Bright Eyes, a feature film designed specifically for her talents. She received a special Juvenile Academy Award in February 1935 for her outstanding contribution as a juvenile performer to motion pictures during 1934, and film hits such as Curly Top and Heidi followed year after year during the mid-to-late 1930s. Licensed merchandise that capitalized on her wholesome image included dolls, dishes, and clothing. Her box office popularity waned as she reached adolescence, and she left the film industry in her teens.^[1] She appeared in a few films of varying quality in her mid-to-late teens, and retired completely from films in 1950 at the age of 22. She was the top box-office draw four years in a row (1935–38) in a Motion Picture Herald poll.^[2][3]

Temple returned to show business in 1958 with a two-season television anthology series of fairy tale adaptations. She made guest appearances on television shows in the early 1960s and filmed a sitcom pilot that was never released. She sat on the boards of corporations and organizations including The Walt Disney Company, Del Monte Foods, and the National Wildlife Federation. In 1988, she published her autobiography, Child Star. Temple was the recipient of awards and honors including Kennedy Center Honors and aScreen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.

Temple ranks 18th on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest female American screen legends of all time.