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.
Hey What Did the Blue Jay Say?
Shirley Temple Lyrics
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Dimples (1936)
Hey What Did The Bluejay Say
Lyrics/Music T.Koehler/J.McHugh
Hey what did the bluejay say
To the little sparrow
On the fence one day
Will tell you what I overheard while passing by
The bluejay said how do you do
Mr sparrow how are you
The sparrow said how do I do
I do just as I please and then away he flew
Hey what did the bluejay say
To the little sparrow as he flew away
Say nobody ever heard
Because he didn't get a chance to say a word
The bluejay didn′t notice that
On the fence there was a cat
The sparrow flew but the bluejay sat
And now he's just a little bird on Nellie's hat
In Shirley Temple's song "Hey What Did the Bluejay Say," the lyrics tell a charming story of a conversation between a bluejay and a little sparrow on a fence. The song begins with the question of what the bluejay said to the sparrow, hinting at a secret to be revealed. The singer, who happened to be passing by, overhears the bluejay and is eager to share what was said.
The bluejay approaches the sparrow and politely asks how it is doing, to which the sparrow responds with a bit of sass, saying it does as it pleases. The sparrow then flies away, leaving the bluejay behind. The second verse reveals that nobody heard what the bluejay said because it didn't get a chance to speak. The reason being that the bluejay didn't notice that there was a cat on the fence, causing it to stay put while the sparrow flew away. The bluejay's unawareness led to it becoming a little bird perched on Nellie's hat, most likely referring to a girl named Nellie.
This delightful song showcases Temple's youthful and innocent charm, combined with the playful lyrics and catchy melody. It captures the curiosity of a child, wondering about a conversation between birds and adding a humorous twist with the bluejay's missed opportunity to speak due to its obliviousness to the lurking danger.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey what did the bluejay say
The singer is curious about what the bluejay said
To the little sparrow
The bluejay's conversation partner is a small bird called a sparrow
On the fence one day
The conversation takes place while both birds were perched on a fence
Say you'll never guess, so I
The bluejay implies that the sparrow won't be able to guess what he heard
Will tell you what I overheard while passing by
The bluejay is about to share what he heard when he was nearby
The bluejay said how do you do
The bluejay greeted the sparrow politely
Mr sparrow how are you
The bluejay asked the sparrow how he was doing
The sparrow said how do I do
The sparrow answered the bluejay's question about his well-being
I do just as I please and then away he flew
The sparrow proudly declares that he does whatever he wants and then flies away
Hey what did the bluejay say
The artist asks again what the bluejay said
To the little sparrow as he flew away
The bluejay's final words to the sparrow as the sparrow was leaving
Say nobody ever heard
Nobody had the chance to hear what the bluejay said
Because he didn't get a chance to say a word
The bluejay was interrupted and didn't have the opportunity to speak
The bluejay didn't notice that
The bluejay was unaware of something
On the fence there was a cat
There was a cat present on the fence
The sparrow flew but the bluejay sat
The sparrow flew away but the bluejay remained seated
And now he's just a little bird on Nellie's hat
The bluejay ended up as a decoration on Nellie's hat
Writer(s): Jimmy Mc Hugh, Ted Koehler
Contributed by Muhammad Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Polly Queiroz
Que menina fantástica rsrs linda!
Theresa P.
❤❤
Ellena Rochon
I play dimples or aplpleby