Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple; April 23, 1928 – February 1… Read Full Bio ↴Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple; April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) was an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, and one-time U.S. ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. She also served as Chief of Protocol of the United States, 1976–1977.
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 Grow Up
Shirley Temple Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I get a terr'ble awful ache
'specially when it rains.
At first I was a 'fraidy cat
But now I know it's growing pains.
Gosh! oh gee! oh can't you see,
I'll soon be grown up tall,
So I've got to think what I will be
When I'm no longer small.

When I grow up
In a year or two or three,
I'll be happy as can be
Like a birdie in a tree.

When I grow up
There's a lot I want to do.
I will have real dollies too,
Like the woman in the shoe!

I want to be a teacher so the children can say,
Teacher dear
The gangs all here
With apples today.

When I grow up
I will have a big surprise,
For I'll bake the kind of pies,
That'll make you roll your eyes.
And if you see
That you need some company,
You can call me up and I'll come down
When I grow up!.

When I am sweet sixteen I'm going to a ball,
Of all the ladies there I'd like to be the best of all;
I'll wear a dress of silver and lace, they'll call me Princess Curly,
I'll be like Cinderella 'cept I won't run home so early.
I want to meet a handsome prince with a uniform of gold,
But I won't lose my slipper 'cause my tootsies might get cold.
I'll talk with queens and dance with kings like a little princess would;
If I could only do these things, I promise I'll be good.

When I am twenty-one I wish that I could look
Like the picture that I saw in a pretty story book;
A laur little girls were standing there much tinier than me
And they all carried baskets, they looked happy as can be,
Every one was smiling and having lots of fun;
I wish that I could be like that when I am twenty-one.

When I get very very old I'll stay at home all day,
But I haven't quite made up my mind,-- it's much too far away.
I think that I would like to be like the lady on the wall,
She looks so nice and comfy in her rocking chair 'n' all.
With that little cap upon her head she looks real pretty, too,
I like her long and funny dress, I like her hair, don't you?

It must be oh,-- so quiet you can hear the tick of the clock,
But it must be fun to have nothing to do but rock, and rock, and rock.

Overall Meaning

The song When I Grow Up by Shirley Temple is a classic children's song that captures dreams and aspirations of a young girl as she grows up. The song is about the excitement and anticipation of growing up and fulfilling your dreams. The main theme of the song is the desire to be independent, creative, and successful. The song starts with a girl experiencing what she calls "growing pains", but it is actually her restlessness to grow up and achieve her dreams. As she fantasizes about the future, the girl envisions herself as a teacher, baker, and even a princess. The song portrays the beauty and excitement of childhood and the nostalgia of growing up.

The lyrics of the song reflect the child's perspective of the world around them, where everything seems fascinating and perfect. When the girl sings about becoming a teacher, she imagines a class full of happy children with bags full of apples, eager to learn. Similarly, when she dreams of being a master baker, she imagines baking the most delicious pies that would leave people stunned. The song also captures the innocence of childhood as the girl dreamily thinks about being a princess and her desire to be the best at the ball.

In conclusion, the song When I Grow Up by Shirley Temple is a delightful and catchy tune that captures the spirit of childhood dreams and aspirations. The song reflects the yearnings and hopes of children and highlights the beauty and innocence of childhood.

Line by Line Meaning

I get a terr'ble awful ache 'specially when it rains.
I feel pain and ache in my body, especially when it starts raining.

At first I was a 'fraidy cat But now I know it's growing pains.
I was initially scared, but now I understand that the pain is a part of my growth.

Gosh! oh gee! oh can't you see, I'll soon be grown up tall, So I've got to think what I will be When I'm no longer small.
I will soon be an adult, so I need to think about what I want to do when I grow up.

When I grow up In a year or two or three, I'll be happy as can be Like a birdie in a tree.
When I grow up, I will be happy and carefree, like a bird perched on a tree.

When I grow up There's a lot I want to do. I will have real dollies too, Like the woman in the shoe!
When I grow up, I have many aspirations and hopes. I also wish to have real dolls, like the woman in the famous nursery rhyme.

I want to be a teacher so the children can say, Teacher dear The gangs all here With apples today.
I desire to become a teacher so that I can educate children and also receive appreciation from them in the form of apples.

When I grow up I will have a big surprise, For I'll bake the kind of pies, That'll make you roll your eyes.
In the future, I will become an excellent baker and surprise everyone with my amazing pies.

And if you see That you need some company, You can call me up and I'll come down When I grow up!.
When I grow up, I will be there for those who need me, and they can rely on me for company.

When I am sweet sixteen I'm going to a ball, Of all the ladies there I'd like to be the best of all; I'll wear a dress of silver and lace, they'll call me Princess Curly, I'll be like Cinderella 'cept I won't run home so early.
When I turn sixteen, I am going to a ball where I will dress beautifully, and people will call me Princess Curly. I will enjoy myself at the ball the way Cinderella did, but will not leave early.

I want to meet a handsome prince with a uniform of gold, But I won't lose my slipper 'cause my tootsies might get cold. I'll talk with queens and dance with kings like a little princess would; If I could only do these things, I promise I'll be good.
I desire to meet a charming prince, but will be careful not to lose my slipper due to cold feet. I also want to interact and dance with royals like a typical princess would. I promise to behave well if I can experience these things.

When I am twenty-one I wish that I could look Like the picture that I saw in a pretty storybook; A laur little girls were standing there much tinier than me And they all carried baskets, they looked happy as can be, Every one was smiling and having lots of fun; I wish that I could be like that when I am twenty-one.
By the age of twenty-one, I wish to look young and happy like the little girls I read about in storybooks. I aspire to carry baskets and have fun like them.

When I get very very old I'll stay at home all day, But I haven't quite made up my mind,-- it's much too far away. I think that I would like to be like the lady on the wall, She looks so nice and comfy in her rocking chair 'n' all.
As I age, I plan on staying at home all day, but I am still undecided on this. I would like to be like the lady who appears in a painting on the wall, looking comfortable in her rocking chair.

With that little cap upon her head she looks real pretty, too, I like her long and funny dress, I like her hair, don't you? It must be oh,-- so quiet you can hear the tick of the clock, But it must be fun to have nothing to do but rock, and rock, and rock.
The lady in the painting looks beautiful, with her lovely cap and hair, and flowing dress. Her surroundings seem peaceful, as one can hear the clock ticking in the silence. I imagine it to be enjoyable to have nothing on your hands but to rock your chair back and forth.

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: EDWARD HEYMAN, RAY HENDERSON

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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