| Show thousands of people to be cheering me as if there was nothing special going on I thought all children must live as 1 did “It wasn’t until a year later — in Boston — that I was aware of a crowd shouting 'We love you Shirley! We love ’ you I wondered why I asked my mother and she said ‘Because your films make them happy’” She remembers her parents fondly “My father was very outgoing” she said “with a great sense of humor — one of those people everybody liked I mean to like a banker during the Depression !” She laughed “My mother was a homemaker She’d had two boys before 1 was bom We lived in a modest house in Santa Monica My mother could do anything Plumbing electrical work She made all my baby clothes and my early movie clothes She w'as very shy the opposite of what one would think a stage mother would be “It was indirectly because of my father that I got into the movies My father when 1 was bom was bragging at the bank about having a little girl One of his customers was a lady who ran a dance school She told him how healthy it was for a child to dance 1 was allowed to be a baby for about 2 years and then I started dancing school So I had a couple years as a lazy baby I thought every child worked because 1 was bom into it” It w'as at her dancing school that a movie agent scouting for talent discovered her For about a year from 1932 to 1933 she appeared in Baby Burlesk a series of one-recomedies Then Fox cast her in a musical Stand Up and Cheer (1934) Her showstopping ! Had she ever felt cheated of a childhood? She was silent a moment “Well I started in Baby Burlesk films at about 3 and worked for the rest of my life The studio didn’t control my life but I went to work every day We hoped the contract would last I had a bungalow at the studio Fox that was decorated with furniture my size I had a school desk and a private tutor until 1 started at the Westlake School forGirls down in LA” “From childhood my life at the studio was not just making films” she continued “There were visitors from all over the world heads of state and ambassadors cabinet ministers Eleanor impressed her most? Without hesitation she replied “Eleanor Roosevelt! She greatly impressed me My family didn’t like her or Franklin Or Democrats M) mother grudgingly got to like her because Eleanor was a fascinating woman And I liked the President a lot Charming man with the most wonderful voice I had lost a tooth just before I met him Franklin said ‘I’m concerned! Shirley Temple is supposed to smile a lot ’Well I wouldn’t smile because I was trying to cover up my lost tooth because 1 was embarrassed by it” “President Truman was much colder” she remembered “I went to his inaue- ! O was trainedj i known? r jOr toreim ° aiana The box-offi- hard-time- PARADE MAGAZINE DECEMBER 7 1986 PAGE 5 Didn’t she ever break the rules? She laughed “A few When I first went toa real school I learned to smoke hVCft US U I heard I didn't know jokes l r llttlC QlTl 1 what they meant but I’d go home and tell them at the dinner table and my brother would act shocked Because I was the 7 lU prOtOCOl only student in my class until I went away to a real school I learned a lot WltuOUt quick ly: Sex and all the things people did that I’d never known” it) 1945: That was an important year in £ Shirley Temple’s life J She graduated from high school in June j SerVICe and published her autobiography My Young Life Then on Sept 19 at the aae A President and an she mani“d ambassador ° number Bow” made “Baby Take a her a star overnight That same year she starred in the movies Little Miss Marker and Bright Eyes The following February she received a special Oscar for her “outstanding contribution to screen entertainment during the year 1934” From 1935 through 1938 she remained the nation’s top star In 1938 she reportedly made S3070I4 — more than the president of General Motors She earned more than $5 million before entering her teens with profits from Shirley Temple products — dolls dresses and novelties — far exceeding her movie salary' She received more fan mail than Greta s Garbo The nation in its ordeal had taken her to its heart “I class myself with Rin Tin Tin" she said “People in the Depression wanted something to cheer them up and they fell in love with a dog and a little girl” lucky” off-col- full-leng- th song-and-dan- happy for me to go to work every day I had a fantastic childhood I feel that young people w ho start in show business if they become famous quickly — between the ages of 11 and 16 when their minds and bodies are changing — they really can’t accept fame so suddenly It goes to their heads and they think they're the greatest thing in the world or they feel they’re failures and turn to drugs But if you're very small and grow up through it you don’t have the problem “I don’t think I ever rebelled” She smiled at her conformity “I knew 1 was Mox if Still Archnes Roosevelt came to the studio and through her I met her husband Even as a little girl I was being trained in protocol in foreign relations and learned that individuals — even kings — are essentially the same I was fascinated by people and I had an excellent tutor Whenever we’d have a foreign visitor she’d assign me a week’s study about that country I got used to very important people at a very young age Without knowing it I was being tiained for what Td do later in life: foreign service” Of all those famous people who H hue Htmse uration I was too young to vote I spent the inauguration with J Edgar Hoover in his office watching the parade But at the ball I decided to get Truman’s autograph He was sitting up in a box with his wife Some fan was getting my autograph so I borrowed his pen As I started for Truman’s box the Secret Service stopped me and took apart the pen When I got it back I handed it up to Truman He just glared at me and said ‘You should know better than that Shirley!’ He wouldn’t sign any autographs but had to!” How had she avoided the disasters that had consumed the lives and careers of other young stars? “I had a very' close family And I couldn't get away with anything!" she replied laughing “We all knew about MGM giving Judy Garland speed It never happened to me I have a theory about my luck It seemed normal and P top billing in real life as weM as in films (inset: ftof Hagen Ctrl 1947) Army Air Forces Sat John whoateralso acfed in fllms It was be an unh aiance “I don’t like talking about it" she said “because from that marriage 1 have a beautiful child Linda Susan w'ho now has a daughter and I don’t want to hurt her Before 1 married John Agar I’d been ‘engaged to be engaged’ to seven boys They were wonderful servicemen coming back from the war They each thought we were going to get married didn’t I fell very hard for John — fell in love — and we married It was also very exciting to be the first girl In my class to be engaged Not a very good reason to marry” She laughed "There were a lot of problems and God how I tried to solve them during the four years we were together only to ind them insurmountable “I was very sophisticated when I was 17 When I was 14 I was the oldest I ever was I was learning French working for producer David well-educat- continued |
