Temple began her film career in 1932 at the age of three and, in 1934, found international fame in Bright Eyes, a feature film designed specifically for her talents. She received a special Juvenile Academy Award in February 1935 for her outstanding contribution as a juvenile performer to motion pictures during 1934, and film hits such as Curly Top and Heidi followed year after year during the mid-to-late 1930s. Licensed merchandise that capitalized on her wholesome image included dolls, dishes, and clothing. Her box office popularity waned as she reached adolescence, and she left the film industry in her teens. She appeared in a few films of varying quality in her mid-to-late teens, and retired completely from films in 1950 at the age of 22. She was the top box-office draw four years in a row (1935–38) in a Motion Picture Herald poll.
Temple returned to show business in 1958 with a two-season television anthology series of fairy tale adaptations. She made guest appearances on television shows in the early 1960s and filmed a sitcom pilot that was never released. She sat on the boards of corporations and organizations including The Walt Disney Company, Del Monte Foods, and the National Wildlife Federation. In 1988, she published her autobiography, Child Star. Temple was the recipient of awards and honors including Kennedy Center Honors and a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.
Temple ranks 18th on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest female American screen legends of all time.
Temple began dance classes at Meglin's Dance School in Hollywood in 1931, at the age of 3. Her film career began when a casting director from Educational Pictures visited her class. Although Temple hid behind the piano in the studio, she was chosen by the director, invited to audition, and, eventually, signed to a contract with Educational.
Temple worked at Educational from 1932 to 1933, and appeared in two series of short subjects for the studio. Her first series, Baby Burlesks, satirized recent motion pictures and politics. In the series "Baby Burlesks", Shirley would dress up in a diaper, but then be wearing adult clothes everywhere else. The series was considered controversial by some viewers because of its depiction of young children in adult situations. Her second series at Educational, Frolics of Youth, was a bit more acceptable, and cast her as a bratty younger sister in a contemporary suburban family.
While working for Educational Pictures, Temple also performed many walk-on and bit player roles in various films at other studios. She is said to have auditioned for a lead role in Hal Roach's Our Gang comedies (later known as The Little Rascals) in the early 1930s; various reasons are given for her not having been cast in the role. Roach stated that Temple and her mother were unable to make it through the red tape of the audition process, while Our Gang producer/director Robert F. McGowan recalls that the studio wanted to cast Temple, but they refused to give in to Temple's mother's demands that Temple receive special star billing. Temple, in her autobiography Child Star, denies that she ever auditioned for Our Gang at all. However, Temple had some connection with Our Gang in that Temple's carpool friend, David Holt, had a small role in the 1933 Little Rascals film Forgotten Babies.
Temple was finally signed to Fox Film Corporation (which later merged with 20th Century Pictures to become 20th Century Fox) in late 1933 after appearing in Stand Up and Cheer! with James Dunn. Later, she was paired with Dunn in several films.
Temple would stay with Fox until 1940, becoming the studio's most lucrative player. Her contract was amended several times between 1933 and 1935, and she was loaned to Paramount for a pair of successful films in 1934. For four solid years, she ranked as the top-grossing box office star in America. Shirley's birth certificate was altered to hold on to her babyhood; her birth year was advanced from 1928 to 1929. She was not told her real age until her twelfth (actually thirteenth) birthday.
Her popularity earned her both public adulation and the approval of her peers. Even at the age of five, the hallmark of her acting work was her professionalism: she always had her lines memorized and dance steps prepared when shooting began.
Temple also made pictures with Carole Lombard, Gary Cooper, Adolphe Menjou, and many others. Arthur Treacher appeared as a kindly butler in several of Temple's films.
Temple's ability as a dancer (especially a tap dancer) is well known and celebrated. Even in her earliest films she danced, and she was able to handle complex tap choreography by the age of five. She was teamed with famed dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in The Little Colonel, The Littlest Rebel, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and Just Around the Corner. Robinson also coached and developed her choreography for many of her other films. Because Robinson was African-American, and the South was replete with racism, his scenes holding hands with Temple had to be edited out in many cities in the South.
Aside from the films, there were many Shirley Temple product during the 1930s. Ideal's numerous Temple dolls, dressed in costumes from the movies, were top sellers. Original Shirley Temple dolls bring in hundreds of dollars on the secondary market today. Other successful Temple items included a line of girls' dresses and hairbows. Several of Temple's film songs, including "On the Good Ship Lollipop"(from 1934's Bright Eyes), "Animal Crackers in My Soup" (from 1935's Curly Top) and "Goodnight My Love" (from 1936's Stowaway) were popular radio hits. She frequently lent her likeness and talent to promoting various social causes, including the Red Cross.
Temple was the first recipient of the special Juvenile Performer Academy Award in 1935 for recognition of her outstanding contribution to screen entertainment in 1934. Seventy years later, Temple is still the youngest performer ever to receive this honor, or any Oscar. She is also the youngest actress to add foot and hand prints to the forecourt at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
Come And Get Your Happiness
Shirley Temple Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Why are grown up peoples faces
Wrinkled like a lot of prunes
Money money that's what chases them
Around like crazy loon's
I think they make a big mistake
Wealth and happiness that counts
Are free to all in large amounts
There's millions worth of golden sunbeams
That everybody can possess
All Gods children got success
Come and get your happiness
There's billions worth of silver moonbeams
Enough for everyone I guess
What's a million more or less
Come and get your happiness
Among the wildwood of your happy childhood
Where you were Jill's and Jack
In raggy britches there's a lot of riches
On which you don't pay any income tax
So get under their blue heaven
Away from trouble and distress
Just find Mother Nature's address
And come and get your happiness
In Shirley Temple's song Come And Get Your Happiness, the lyrics talk about the pursuit of wealth and how it can cause a lot of stress and wrinkles on a person's face. The song suggests that true happiness and success can be found through the beauty of nature and the simple pleasures in life. The lyrics use metaphors like "golden sunbeams" and "silver moonbeams" to represent the abundance of positivity and success that is available to everybody.
The song also reminds the listener of the carefree days of childhood, where happiness was effortless and thoughts of money were nonexistent. By going back to nature and rediscovering the simpler joys of life, one can relieve themselves of the stress and distractions of societal pressures and find true happiness.
The message of the song can be applied to our modern lives, where the pursuit of wealth, status, and material possessions can be overwhelming. Shirley Temple encourages people to remember the simplicity of life and find happiness in what truly matters.
Line by Line Meaning
Why are grown up peoples faces
Shirley Temple questions why the faces of grown-ups are wrinkled.
Wrinkled like a lot of prunes
She describes the wrinkles on grown-up faces as many in number like prunes.
Money money that's what chases them
Shirley states that it's money that chases after grown-ups.
Around like crazy loon's
She metaphorically compares grown-ups being chased by money like crazy loons.
I think they make a big mistake
Shirley expresses her opinion on how grown-ups prioritize money over happiness.
Wealth and happiness that counts
She believes that what counts in life is not wealth, but happiness.
Are free to all in large amounts
She states that happiness is free to everyone in large amounts.
There's millions worth of golden sunbeams
Shirley describes the value of sunbeams to be millions.
That everybody can possess
She believes that everyone can possess these valuable sunbeams.
All Gods children got success
She believes that all children of God have success.
Come and get your happiness
Shirley encourages everyone to come and get their happiness.
There's billions worth of silver moonbeams
Shirley describes the value of moonbeams to be billions.
Enough for everyone I guess
She believes that there are enough moonbeams for everyone.
What's a million more or less
Shirley implies that a million more or less doesn't really matter when it comes to happiness.
Among the wildwood of your happy childhood
She suggests that happiness can be found in one's childhood memories.
Where you were Jill's and Jack
She playfully refers to the nursery rhyme characters Jack and Jill to evoke memories of childhood.
In raggy britches there's a lot of riches
Shirley suggests that even in ragged clothes, one can find plenty of riches.
On which you don't pay any income tax
She humorously states that these riches don't require any income tax.
So get under their blue heaven
She recommends going under the blue sky to find happiness.
Away from trouble and distress
She advises to go away from trouble and distress to find happiness.
Just find Mother Nature's address
Shirley suggests that the address to finding happiness is by seeking nature.
And come and get your happiness
She ends by reminding everyone to come and get their happiness.
Contributed by Liam A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Reg
on I'm Gettin Nuttin for Christmas
This isn't Shirley Temple. She was 27 and long retired from show biz when it came out in 1955. The voice is Barry Gordon's, backed by the Art Mooney Orchestra.