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.
The Right Somebody to Love
Shirley Temple Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Six or sixty or sixteen
When you think that fate has been unkind
'Cause you haven't many toys
Like some other girls and boys
Here's a little rhyme worth remembering sometime.
What makes life the sweetest,
Not a big doll house,
Or a Mickey Mouse,
But the right somebody to love.
Ice cream, cake and candy
May be fine and dandy,
But if you ask me there not one two three
With the right somebody to love.
One you really care for,
And is yours to have and keep;
One you say a pray'are for
In your "Now I lay me down to sleep".
Tho' you're not quite seven,
What is most like heaven?
It's the joy that's found
With your arms around
The right somebody to love.
What makes life the sweetest,
Bestest and completest?
Not what you and I,
Can go out and buy,
But the right somebody to love.
You may have a bankful,
For which to be thankful,
Nothing you possess,
Brings you happiness,
Like the right somebody to love.
One you really care for,
And is yours to have and keep;
One you say a pray'are for
In your "Now I lay me down to sleep".
All the milk and honey,
Pockets full of money,
Cannot take the place of the sweet embrace
Of the right somebody to love
The song "The Right Somebody to Love" by Shirley Temple is a cheerful tune that highlights the importance of having someone to love rather than material possessions. The lyrics encourage listeners of all ages to appreciate the joys of having a significant other, no matter what their age or circumstances may be. The song suggests that love is the most vital and joyful aspect of life.
The first few lines of the song welcome listeners of all ages, stating that age is not a barrier when it comes to love. The song then goes on to remind listeners that material possessions such as toys, dollhouses, or Mickey Mouse, are not the key to happiness. Instead, the focus is on finding the right person to love. The chorus emphasizes this point by stating that while ice cream, cake, and candy are delicious, they are no match for the happiness that comes with having the right person to love.
The verse also mentions that it doesn't matter if you are seven or seventy, finding the "right somebody to love" is most like heaven. The song then concludes with the idea that no amount of money or possessions can take the place of the love found in a sweet embrace. The overall message of the song is that having the right somebody to love brings the most joy and makes life complete.
Line by Line Meaning
Young and old and in between
No matter what age you are
Six or sixty or sixteen
Whether you're six or sixty or anywhere in between
When you think that fate has been unkind
When you feel like life hasn't been fair
'Cause you haven't many toys
Because you may not have many material possessions
Like some other girls and boys
Like some other kids do
Here's a little rhyme worth remembering sometime.
Here's a little poem to remember
What makes life the sweetest,
Bestest and completest?
What makes life the sweetest, best, and most satisfying?
Not a big doll house,
Or a Mickey Mouse,
It's not about having a big doll house or a Mickey Mouse toy
But the right somebody to love.
The most important thing is having someone to love
Ice cream, cake and candy
May be fine and dandy,
Although ice cream, cake, and candy are nice
But if you ask me there not one two three
They're not as important as having someone to love
With the right somebody to love.
If you have someone to love
One you really care for,
And is yours to have and keep;
One you say a pray'are for
In your "Now I lay me down to sleep".
Someone you deeply care for, who is yours to have and hold, and who you pray for before bed
Tho' you're not quite seven,
Even if you're not even seven years old
What is most like heaven?
What is the most heavenly thing?
It's the joy that's found
With your arms around
The right somebody to love.
It's the happiness you feel when you're hugging the right person
You may have a bankful,
For which to be thankful,
You may have lots of money and be grateful for it
Nothing you possess,
Brings you happiness,
But nothing you own can bring you happiness
Like the right somebody to love.
Like having someone to love
All the milk and honey,
Pockets full of money,
Cannot take the place of the sweet embrace
Of the right somebody to love
All the riches in the world can't replace the feeling of being hugged by the right person
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JACK YELLEN, LEW POLLACK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Karen Clifford
I sang this song for my son at bedtime when he was small. I thought about it today in the tributes to Shirley. A very classy human being
Hannah Hensley
My Great-Grandma used to sing this to me before she passed away in August of this year.
MTN - A Rainbow Pastures Company
This song was from "Captain January" and if you listen carefully to the first verse, she mentioned Mickey Mouse. This was considered to be the earliest predictions before Disney owns Fox. The movie was from 20th Century Fox, and Disney owns the studio since December, and the prediction got it right. The reasons why she said, it was from 1936, and it was a good example of predicting the future.
Madeline magnificent77
i love this song"
Joy McReynolds
What makes life the sweetest,
bestest and completest?
Not a big doll house,
or a Mickey Mouse,
but the right somebody to love.
Ice cream, cake and candy
may be fine and dandy,
But if you ask me there not one two three
with the right somebody to love.
One you really care for,
and is yours to have and keep;
One you say a pray'r for
in your "Now I lay me down to sleep".
Tho' you're not quite seven,
what is most like heaven?
It's the joy that's found
with your arms around
the right somebody to love.
What makes life the sweetest,
bestest and completest?
Not what you and I,
can go out and buy,
but the right somebody to love.
You may have a bankful,
for which to be thankful,
Nothing you possess,
brings you happiness,
like the right somebody to love.
One you really care for,
and is yours to have and keep;
One you say a pray'r for
in your "Now I lay me down to sleep".
All the milk and honey,
pockets full of money,
Cannot take the place of the sweet embrace
of the right somebody to love
Songwriters: J. YELLEN / L. POLLACK