Shirley Temple in The Little Princess (1939)
Actress and diplomat Shirley Temple Black has died at her home in Woodside, California, aged 85.
Temple was just three years old when she made her debut performance on screen in short films Baby Burlesks and Frolics of Youth, before finding a part in feature film Red-Haired Alibi later the same year.
It was Fox Pictures that then offered her first topline role in 1934 in a movie called Bright Eyes, and she charmed audiences as orphaned girl Shirley Blake with Rags the dog close by.
Temple remains the youngest Oscar winner, winning a special Juvenile Oscar for her work in 1934, and a team at 20th Century Fox dedicated a writing team to producing for the up-and-coming starlet over the next few years, with films including Littlest Rebel and Stowaway.
Temple was one of the most popular screen actors of the 1930s, demonstrating her skills in acting, dancing, and singing, but as she became an adult she found fewer roles available for her, and retired in 1950 aged just 22.
After leaving acting, Temple moved into politics and was appointed the US ambassador to Ghana and later Czechoslovakia. She also served on the boards of a number of charities including the National Wildlife Federation and UNESCO.
At home, Temple married fellow actor John Agar aged 17, but later divorced and remarried to Charles Alden Black.
In a statement, her family said:
“We salute her for a life of remarkable achievements as an actor, as a diplomat, and… our beloved mother, grandmother, [and]great-grandmother.”