At age 85, Shirley Temple Black passed away in her home in Woodside, California. All dimples and cheeky charm and pin curls, Black’s career as a child actor was prolific and precocious: She started performing in 1932, at age 3, and retired from film in 1950, at age 21. The exemplar child star, she skipped the best frolic, laughed the ultimate giggle, and sulked the best pout. (She deserves credit for transforming stubbornness into a kind of charm.) Black also held her own with some of the most talented adult performers of the era — famously reminding Lionel Barrymore of his lines (The Little Colonel) and keeping step with one of Hollywood’s best dancers, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.
She followed her 45-film show-business career with an adult life in diplomacy, serving in the U.S. delegation to the U.N. General Assembly and as an ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia.Click through to see her remarkable life in pictures.
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Shirley Temple in 1930.
Shirley Temple sledding in 1934.Photo: 2013 Imagno
Shirley Temple and her birthday cake in 1935. Photo: KEYSTONE-FRANCE
Shirley Temple and Santa in 1935.
Shirley Temple learning to drive, 1935.
A nautical Shirley Temple in 1935.
Shirley Temple in 1935.
Shirley Temple in a fancy dress and a baseball cap in 1935.
Shirley Temple at home with her dog in 1943.Photo: 1944 Earl Theisen
Shirley Temple in 1948.Photo: 2006 Getty Images
Shirley Temple, her husband, John Agar, and their baby daughter, Linda Susan, in 1948. Photo: KEYSTONE FRANCE
Shirley Temple, her husband, John Agar, and their baby daughter, Linda Susan, in 1948.
Shirley Temple with her parents in 1949.
Shirley Temple and her daughter, Lori Black, in their home in 1957.Photo: 2012 NBCUniversal Media, LLC
Shirley Temple in her home in 1957.Photo: 2012 NBCUniversal Media, LLC
Shirley Temple, sitting in a garden.Photo: 2012 NBCUniversal Media, LLC
Shirley Temple, gardening with her boxer dog, Chris, in 1960.Photo: Mondadori Collection
Shirley Temple Black during the inaugural gala for President Jimmy Carter at the Kennedy Center in 1977.
Shirley Temple Black at the Princess Grace Foundation Gala Honoring Cary Grant in 1988.Photo: 1988 Ron Galella, Ltd.
American Ambassador to Czechoslovakia Shirley Temple Black in the residence with her husband, Charles Black, and their dog Gorby.Photo: Terry S...American Ambassador to Czechoslovakia Shirley Temple Black in the residence with her husband, Charles Black, and their dog Gorby.Photo: Terry Smith
American Ambassador to Czechoslovakia Shirley Temple Black in her office at the American Embassy in 1989.Photo: Terry Smith
Shirley Temple at the Academy Awards in 1998.
Shirley Temple Black and Dakota Fanning in 2006 at the Screen Actors Guild.
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