Adolphe Menjou, her co-star in her first big hit, “Little Miss Marker,” described her as “an Ethel Barrymore at 6” and said she was “making a stooge out of me.” The 23 motion pictures her sparkling personality, golden ringlets, and sunny optimism lifted spirits and made her famous.
Successfully-selling Temple items included a line of girls' dresses and accessories, soap, dishes, cutout books, sheet music, mirrors, paper tablets, and numerous other items. Before 1935 ended, Temple's income from licensed merchandise royalties would exceed $100,000, doubling her income from her movies. In 1936, her income would top $200,000 from royalties. She endorsed Postal Telegraph, Sperry Drifted Snow Flour, the Grunow Teledial radio, Quaker Puffed Wheat, General Electric, and Packard automobiles
As she made the transition from child actor to adult actor the audience and her popularity slacked and she retired from the silver screen at 22.
Temple became active in the Republican Party in California. In 1967, she ran unsuccessfully in a special election in California's 11th congressional district to fill the seat left vacant by the death of eight-term Republican J. Arthur Younger from leukemia. She ran as a conservative and lost to law school professor Pete McCloskey, a liberal Republican who was a staunch opponent of the Vietnam War.
She was appointed Representative to the 24th United Nations General Assembly by President Richard M. Nixon (September – December 1969), and was appointed United States Ambassador to Ghana (December 6, 1974 – July 13, 1976) by President Gerald R. Ford. She was appointed first female Chief of Protocol of the United States (July 1, 1976 – January 21, 1977), and was in charge of arrangements for President Jimmy Carter's inauguration and inaugural ball. She served as the United States Ambassador to Czechoslovakia (August 23, 1989 – July 12, 1992), having been appointed by President George H. W. Bush.
She was on the TV almost every Sunday while I was growing up. I grew up on her movies and shorts. She definitely had sang and tap-danced her way into my heart. I always and still enjoy watching her. Her smile is infectious and she always makes me smile. I have my kids exposed to her so that another generation will be touched by her smile. And appreciate her movies and her carefree attitude. One of my favorites is "Bright Eyes" where she sings 'Good Ship Lollipop'. I think one of her earliest shorts was 'War Babies' it is actually still funny to watch even if it is black and white and lo-def. I encourage you all to watch some of her movies, I prefer black and white but that is becoming harder to find. The colorized versions are good too. I hope that TMC or AMC will have a Shirley Temple Marathon.
Shirley Temple died of natural causes on February 10, 2014, at the age of 85. She was at her home in Woodside, California, surrounded by family and caregivers
She is now singing and dancing while sailing on the 'Good Ship Lollipop' over the Rainbow.
She will be missed by many. Heaven now has a new dimple faced darling angel.
