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.
When I'm With You
Shirley Temple Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You looked at me
So sweetly
You smiled so discreetly
And I fell so completely
You came along
And your arms were there to run to
Since that moment
Darling, look what you've done to me
(Shirley Temple chorus)
Every single day becomes a holiday
When I'm with you
I have lots of toys
But I don't want to play
When I'm with you
Oh Daddy how I miss you
You're busy all your life
I long to hug and kiss you
Marry me and let me be your wife
Every word I hear
Becomes a lullaby
When I'm with you
Even funny spinach
Tastes like pumpkin pie
When I'm with you
Oooh oooh oooh oooh!
In every dream I caress you
Every night I play the Lord will bless you
The worlds a nursry rhyme,
Daddy dear when I'm with you.
Every street I walk on
Becomes a lovers lane
When I'm with you
I can see the sun
Though we're out in the rain
When I'm with you
To lose you would be tragic
Here is my heart unfurled
You have that certain magic
You're the seven wonders of the world
Snow is on the ground
But the leaves are in the trees
When I'm with you
Flowers sing a love song
There's music in the breeze
When I'm with you
Hmmmmmm
Please let me make this confession
You are my magnificent obsession
The world is all in rhyme
Lovely one when I'm
With you.
The lyrics of Shirley Temple's song "When I'm With You" express a feeling of complete infatuation with someone. The song describes how the singer falls in love with the person she is with, how every day is like a holiday when she is with them, and how everything tastes sweet and every street feels like a lovers' lane. The song emphasizes how much the singer enjoys being with the person she is singing about, and how she does not want to be apart from them.
The singer in the song "When I'm With You" seems to feel a strong bond with the person she is singing about. She longs to be with this person and dreams about them at night. The song even has some lyrical images of the world around them changing when she is with them; flowers sing love songs, and spinach tastes like pumpkin pie. The chorus of the song emphasizes how happy the singer is when they are together, and how much they enjoy each other's company.
Overall, the song "When I'm With You" conveys the feeling of complete infatuation and happiness that comes along with being in love with someone. The lyrics describe how much the singer enjoys being with the person they are singing about and how much they long to be with them, and the chorus emphasizes how happy the singer is when they are together.
Line by Line Meaning
You came along
I met someone special
You looked at me
They looked at me with attention and interest
So sweetly
In a kind and affectionate way
You smiled so discreetly
They smiled in a way that was subtle and reserved
And I fell so completely
I quickly and completely fell in love with them
And your arms were there to run to
They were there to be a source of comfort and support
Since that moment
Ever since that encounter
I'm spellbound
I'm under their spell, entranced
Darling, look what you've done to me
They have had a significant impact on me
Every single day becomes a holiday
Every day feels like a special occasion
When I'm with you
When I'm in their presence
I have lots of toys
I have many material possessions
But I don't want to play
But they don't provide me with the same joy as being with them
Oh Daddy how I miss you
I miss my father
You're busy all your life
He is occupied with work all the time
I long to hug and kiss you
I wish I could show him affection
Marry me and let me be your wife
I want to get married and spend my life with them
Every word I hear
Everything they say to me
Becomes a lullaby
Feels soothing and calming
Even funny spinach
Even unappetizing things
Tastes like pumpkin pie
Seem pleasant and enjoyable
In every dream I caress you
In my dreams, I am close to them
Every night I play the Lord will bless you
Every night, I pray that they will be blessed
The worlds a nursry rhyme,
The world seems like a cheerful and sweet nursery rhyme
Daddy dear when I'm with you.
When I'm with them, I feel like I'm with my dear father
Every street I walk on
Every place I go
Becomes a lovers lane
Feels like a romantic and intimate spot
I can see the sun
I can see the good in things
Though we're out in the rain
Even when things are difficult
To lose you would be tragic
Losing them would be devastating
Here is my heart unfurled
I am showing them my true feelings
You have that certain magic
They have a special quality that attracts me to them
You're the seven wonders of the world
They are a wonder of the world to me
Snow is on the ground
It is wintertime
But the leaves are in the trees
But there is still beauty and life around us
Flowers sing a love song
The flowers seem to express love
There's music in the breeze
The air feels musical and filled with joy
Please let me make this confession
I need to tell them something important
You are my magnificent obsession
They are the most important and wonderful thing in my life
The world is all in rhyme
Everything around me feels in sync
Lovely one when I'm
My love, when I'm with you
With you.
In your company.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Capitol CMG Publishing
Written by: REG PRESLEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Pat Keleher
this song is so true. she inspired so many, we need her know , the whole world needs cheering up , How can anyone not like her she brought so much joy and happiness. All she had to do is smile and those dimples and sparkle
Shannon MacLean
that baritone solo is actually the voice of my late grandfather. He was uncredited in this movie, but it's his voice. His name was Richard Eugene Webster. He has a short speaking part in the movie "flying down to rio." It's a one liner and it's sarcastic .... that was soooooooo him! His line was "amscray." He was a professional violinist, singer, radio host back in NYC. They called him "the adonis of the airwaves" fun huh?
Texas Girl
Shannon MacLean I was related to John Boles
Star buono
Oooh that is sooo coool ! Were you really related to John Boles ? I think he was one of most handsome men in the Hollywood of the past ,and one of most handsome men i have ever seen ! I've had a crush on him since I first saw him in a Frankenstein movie :)
Monika Temple
WHAAAATTT
Eric Johnson’s Dover
@Brian Brady what-
Lee Mclaury
She is a national treasure . She grew up to be an ambassador and work in the White House. She served her country well as a child and as an adult .
audrey guyton
Sweet little Shirley Temple! Every movie of hers that would come on the T.V., I would be sitting on the floor, staring at the tube, trying to think of how to be person like her, & how I could try to be like her in my life! Truly thought of her as my role model! Wanted to be that wholesome person that just automatically knew what would make people happy, & at the end of the day, who could be paired together & love each other, forever!! She will Always and Forever, hold a Very Special place in my heart! Rest in Peace, my special little princess!🌹❤🙏🧚♀️
Yesenia Eguia
I cried first hearing this song.
How lovely. RIP Shirley:,)
jenny watterson
I was drawn to this song because of the baritone's beautiful voice and his interpretation.l now find myself singing it everywhere!