Shirley Temple Dies At 85: ‘America’s Little Darling’ Is Gone

Shirley Temple has died at her home in California at the age of 85.

Her publicist Cheryl Kagan issued the following statement of behalf of the family:

“We salute her for a life of remarkable achievements as an actor, as a diplomat, and most importantly as our beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and adored wife for fifty-five years of the late and much missed Charles Alden Black.”

Shirley Temple, known in her private life as Shirley Temple Black, died on Monday surrounded by family at her home near San Francisco.

The star, once called “America’s Little Darling,” died from natural causes at 10:57 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

Shirley Temple was a talented singer, dancer, and actress. She starred in a number of movies and was easily recognizable by her curly hair and impish smile. At the age of seven (in 1935) she was the hottest draw at the box office.

Her movies were credited with helping save 20th Century Fox from bankruptcy with titles such as “Curly Top” and “The Littlest Rebel.”

Shirley Temple was born in Santa Monica, California, in 1928.

She married her first husband, John Agar in 1945. They had one daughter prior to their divorce in 1949.

In 1950 she married Charles Alden Black. They had two children, and stayed together until Black died in 2005.

Although Shirley Temple grew to be an attractive young woman, audiences lost interest, and she stopped making films at the age of. 21. She then spent her time her family, but later she took an interest in politics.

She was appointed Representative to the 24th United Nations General Assembly by President Nixon in 1969, and was appointed United States Ambassador to Ghana from 1974 to 1976) by President Ford.

She was also ambassador to Czechoslovakia during the historic collapse of communism in 1989.

In spite of her political activities, she still maintained contact with the entertainment industry through her work in television. In 1958 she hosted a children’s program for NBC, and continued working in TV spasmodically over the next 40 years.

In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Shirley Temple at No. 18 among the 25 “screen legends” actresses.

When she was honored by the Screen Actors Guild with a lifetime achievement award in 2006 she joked, “I have one piece of advice for those of you who want to receive the lifetime achievement award. Start early.”

And not that many people have had a cocktail named after them. Do you know what is a “Shirley Temple?” It’s a non-alcoholic mixed drink made with ginger ale and a splash of grenadine, garnished with a maraschino cherry.

For a generation which is now diminishing, Shirley Temple represented the innocence of childhood as only Hollywood could depict it.

She was unique.