Shirley Temple: Hollywood's Most Famous Child Star — Depression-Era Stardom, the Studio System, and an Extraordinary Second Act

Shirley Temple was the most famous child star Hollywood had ever seen — a six-year-old who became the biggest box-office attraction in America, helped carry Twentieth Century-Fox through the Great Depression, and grew up inside a studio system built around keeping her little for as long as possible.From dancing lessons at three and the bizarre Baby Burlesks shorts that gave her her first screen roles, Shirley moved with astonishing speed from Poverty Row to Fox — where Stand Up and Cheer!, Little Miss Marker, Baby Take a Bow, and Bright Eyes turned her into a national phenomenon. Before she was seven, "On the Good Ship Lollipop" was a sensation, Shirley Temple dolls and merchandise were everywhere, and entire films were being designed around the curls, dimples, songs, and optimism audiences had fallen in love with.This episode follows Shirley through the extraordinary height of her childhood fame: her Academy Juvenile Award, her groundbreaking dances with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in The Little Colonel, four consecutive years as America's number-one box-office star, and films including Curly Top, Wee Willie Winkie, Heidi, and The Little Princess. It also looks behind the carefully constructed image — at the exhausting work schedules, the Twentieth Century-Fox publicity machine, the controversial Graham Greene libel case, and the uncomfortable ways Hollywood sometimes packaged her childhood innocence.But there was one problem Hollywood couldn't solve: Shirley Temple was growing up.By the end of the 1930s, the formula was beginning to fail. A proposed role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz slipped away to Judy Garland, The Blue Bird flopped, and at twelve Shirley left Twentieth Century-Fox. What followed was a difficult reinvention: MGM, teenage roles, Since You Went Away, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, marriage to John Agar, motherhood, divorce, and the discovery that the millions she had earned as a child had left her with remarkably little money of her own.But Shirley Temple's story didn't end when she walked away from Hollywood.After marrying Charles Black and retiring from movies, Shirley Temple Black entered Republican politics and public service. She ran for Congress with the support of Ronald Reagan, served under Richard Nixon at the United Nations, and was appointed U.S. ambassador to Ghana by Gerald Ford. In 1989, President George H. W. Bush named her ambassador to Czechoslovakia, where she represented the United States during the Velvet Revolution and the collapse of communist rule.From Depression-era Hollywood and the studio system to Republican politics, the United Nations, and the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, Shirley Temple's life became far bigger than the childhood career that first made her famous.This is the story of Hollywood's most famous child star — and the remarkable woman she became when the world finally stopped asking her to be one.—When They Were Making It is written, produced, and hosted by Patrick Rankin. Original artwork by Simone Beech and original music by Lionel Ziblat.Join WTWMI: The Backlot — our Patreon — for exclusive extras including mini and full-length bonus episodes, episode companion pieces, and behind-the-scenes materials at https://www.patreon.com/WhenTheyWereMakingIt.For episode information, show notes, upcoming episodes, and more, visit whentheyweremakingit.com.Follow WTWMI on Instagram and TikTok: @whentheyweremakingit. On Instagram, we share visual companion pieces for every episode, bringing the images, people, places, and atmosphere behind the story to life.New episodes of When They Were Making It drop every Tuesday. Follow now wherever you get your podcasts. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★