--- title: Shirley Temple: Child Star, Political Player, Cultural Icon description: Paying tribute to Shirley Temple Black -- who performed as Shirley Temple in scores of movies -- who died one year ago today. canonical: https://time.com/3684429/shirley-temple-child-star-political-player-cultural-icon/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-02-11T17:37:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T18:58:17.000Z og:title: Shirley Temple: Child Star, Political Player, Cultural Icon og:description: Paying tribute to Shirley Temple Black -- who performed as Shirley Temple in scores of movies -- who died one year ago today. og:url: https://time.com/3684429/shirley-temple-child-star-political-player-cultural-icon/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cc4552bc4212407/69877c27524fc0899cdec27a/140211-shirley-temple-02.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Shirley Temple og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Shirley Temple: Child Star, Political Player, Cultural Icon twitter:description: Paying tribute to Shirley Temple Black -- who performed as Shirley Temple in scores of movies -- who died one year ago today. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cc4552bc4212407/69877c27524fc0899cdec27a/140211-shirley-temple-02.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Shirley Temple: Child Star, Political Player, Cultural Icon by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:58 PM UTCPublished: Feb 11, 2014 5:37 PM UTC  Shirley Temple arrives at the 20th Century Fox studio to celebrate her eighth birthday, 1936. Shirley Temple arrives at the 20th Century Fox studio to celebrate her eighth birthday, 1936.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:58 PM UTCPublished: Feb 11, 2014 5:37 PM UTC [Shirley Temple Black](http://topics.time.com/shirley-temple/) — known to millions as simply Shirley Temple, who acted in scores of movies and was arguably the greatest child movie star of all time — died one year ago today in her Woodside, Calif., home at the age of 85. The dimpled California native was a constant presence on the silver screen during the Great Depression, lighting up movies like [_Stand Up and Cheer!_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025829/) and _Bright Eyes_ with her singing, dancing and her sharp (but never cloying) wit. She retired from the movies when she was just 21, in 1950, and later made her name as a national and even an international political figure. She held a number of diplomatic posts during her lifetime, including U.S. ambassador to Czechoslovakia during that country’s convulsive years in the late 1980s. After her death last year, Temple Black’s family paid tribute to her in a statement that read, in part, “We salute her for a life of remarkable achievements as an actor, as a diplomat, and most importantly as our beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and adored wife for fifty-five years of the late and much missed Charles Alden Black.” _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at_ [_@LizabethRonk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  Shirley Temple walks down stairs at the Bel Air Country Club at her 11th birthday party, 1939. Peter Stockpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Shirley Temple arrives at the 20th Century Fox studio to celebrate her eighth birthday, 1936. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Shirley Temple celebrates her eighth birthday, 1936. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Shirley Temple celebrates her eighth birthday, 1936. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Shirley Temple celebrates her eighth birthday, 1936. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Shirley Temple, 1936. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Shirley Temple taking pictures of famous sites in Washington, DC, from the window of a car, 1938. Thomas D. McAvoy—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Shirley Temple at the Lincoln Memorial, 1938. Thomas D. McAvoy—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Federal Bureau of Investigation director J. Edgar Hoover shows Shirley Temple how to ride a mechanical horse, 1938. Thomas D. McAvoy—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Shirley Temple leaving the White House, 1938. Thomas D. McAvoy—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Shirley Temple walking on steps of the U.S. Capitol, 1938. Thomas D. McAvoy—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Shirley Temple, 1936. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Shirley Temple with Sgt. John Agar, to whom she was married from 1945-1950. 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