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.
Goodnight My Love
Shirley Temple Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Goodnight my love, my moment with you now is ending
It was so heavenly, holding you, close to me
It will be heavenly to hold you again in a dream
The stars above have promised to meet us tomorrow
Till then my love, how dreary the new day will seem
So for the present, dear, we'll have to part
Sleep tight, my love, goodnight, my love
Goodnight my love, your mommy is kneeling beside you
Goodnight my love, to dreamland the sandman will guide you
Come now you sleepyhead, close your eyes, and go to bed
My precious sleepyhead, you mustn't play peek-a-boo
Goodnight my love, your little Dutch dolly is yawning
Goodnight my love, your teddy bear called it a day
Your doggy's fast asleep, my but he's smart
Sleep tight, my love, goodnight my love
Shirley Temple's Goodnight My Love is a tender lullaby that captures the bittersweet moment between lovers before they say goodnight. The song opens with the playful image of the tired old moon descending, as if a tired eye is closing on the day. As the lovers part, they express the ephemeral nature of their moment: so heavenly, holding you close to me; it will be heavenly to hold you again in a dream. The song conveys the longing and anticipation of looking forward to holding the other person again. The stars above have promised to meet us tomorrow, offering hope for the future, but until then the new day will be dreary without them.
At the midpoint of the song, the focus shifts to a parent comforting a sleepy child. This is a telling example of how the song can transcend the romantic context and apply to any relationship, in this case, the relationship between a mother and her child. The child's peaceful slumber is depicted through the imagery of a Dutch doll, a teddy bear and a sleeping dog. As the child falls asleep, the lyrics become more directive, encouraging the child to sleep tight and remember that they are loved.
In many ways, Goodnight My Love is a song of transitions. It's a song of lovers parting, of the moon disappearing from view, of a day coming to an end, of a child being put to bed. By capturing these intimate moments of transition, the song conveys a sense of sadness, but also of hope, renewal, and the cyclical nature of things. It reminds us that even when we must part ways, there is always the promise of tomorrow.
Line by Line Meaning
Goodnight my love, the tired old moon is descending
As the night comes to an end and the moon sets, it is time to say goodnight to my love.
Goodnight my love, my moment with you now is ending
It is time to end this moment with my love, and say farewell for now.
It was so heavenly, holding you, close to me
The moment of holding you close to me was pure bliss, it felt like heaven.
It will be heavenly to hold you again in a dream
I look forward to the time when I can hold you again, in my dreams.
The stars above have promised to meet us tomorrow
We have made a promise with the stars, that we will meet again tomorrow.
Till then my love, how dreary the new day will seem
Until we meet again, the new day will be uneventful, and seem unexciting.
So for the present, dear, we'll have to part
Sadly, for now, it's time for us to part ways.
Sleep tight, my love, goodnight, my love
Wishing my love a good night's sleep and a peaceful rest.
Remember that you're mine sweetheart
Always remember that you belong to me, my dear sweetheart.
Goodnight my love, your mommy is kneeling beside you
Saying goodnight to my love, as their mother kneels beside them.
Goodnight my love, to dreamland the sandman will guide you
As you close your eyes and drift off to sleep, the sandman will guide you to dreamland.
Come now you sleepyhead, close your eyes, and go to bed
It's time for you to close your eyes and go to bed, my sleepy little one.
My precious sleepyhead, you mustn't play peek-a-boo
As you drift off to sleep, you must remember not to play peek-a-boo.
Goodnight my love, your little Dutch dolly is yawning
Saying goodnight to my love, as their little Dutch doll is also yawning.
Goodnight my love, your teddy bear called it a day
As you fall asleep, your teddy bear is also calling it a day.
Your doggy's fast asleep, my but he's smart
Even your doggy is fast asleep, he knows how to rest well.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Harry Revel, Mack Gordon
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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.