Sunday, October 26, 2014

Shirley Temple Black




There is a video on YouTube that I have tried to get on this post but I have been unable to do so... it is "Larry King Live with Shirley Temple Black" and it is from 1988 and is about 30 minutes long.  I know...I just did a post about Shirley Temple, and I did one back in February when she passed away... but I am telling you that it is 30 minutes of your time that you will not regret!  What a TREASURE we had in Shirley Temple Black and we didn't even know it!  When you listen to her in the video, her great intelligence and common sense just shines through and she is so KIND.   It occurred to me that when I told you that I had been unwell and not just sitting around watching Shirley Temple movies, perhaps you might think that I was insincere in my admiration for Shirley Temple...and we can't have that, can we?  So....I searched and searched until I found the most PERFECT video of Shirley Temple Black for you, and yet...I am unable to get it to link here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_KacEMBJg0 

There!  Click on that above and see if you can't see it! 

Just in case you are unable to see the video, I will just tell you a bit about it....

Shirley Temple Black talks openly and honestly about her famous childhood. She tells us of her great love for her mother (she is promoting her autobiography, "Child Star" here in 1988 and it is dedicated to her mother.)  We find out that her father and his business partner mismanaged her money and she was left with very little compared to the millions that she had made for 20th Century Fox, the studio that she and she alone, brought out of bankruptcy.  (Any bitterness?  NO! This is Shirley Temple Black!)  We learn of her great love for her family....she married at 17 and that marriage did not last, but it was her second marriage to Charles Black that brought her much happiness.  She tells us the story of how a studio executive from MGM came on to her when she was only 12 years old! (You might think that could have really messed with her mind, but her mother handled it in such a way, that Shirley and her mother just laughed it off, making it the MAN's warped problem and they simply never went back to that studio!)

Now, here's the thing...when she speaks of her great love for ALL people, and this is just what she said...."I love ALL people...I might not like them all, but I love all people".   She speaks of the work that she did as an ambassador and diplomat and it makes me long for more like her.  We are very much in need of love like that...respect and love for ALL in the world.  (And Larry King let her state this with hardly a mention...I wish I could have interviewed her!)

I did see the TV special that was shown on PBS.  It was called "Shirley Temple: America's Little Darling".  There was nothing at all wrong with it, but it made me sad to hear people talk about how Shirley had "changed".  You see, it seems to me that when we have an extraordinary talent, we simply don't know how to handle it...we tend to put people into boxes and leave them there, not allowing them to grow or to change, and I think that applies to people in general but it certainly does to child stars like Shirley Temple.  We will always have the movies that Shirley Temple made as a child but we should also realize that her childhood was just a brief time in her life, and her life was a long and fulfilling one,  I just wish we could have better appreciated the sincere and earnest heart of Shirley Temple Black, a gift to the world.

Shirley Temple was born just one year after my Dad and they are of the generation that some have called "The Greatest".  Many of that generation find that labeling a bit unsettling, but it is only because we don't have the words or expressions to convey to those who lived through the Great Depression the great respect that we have for them.  We just try our best.


13 comments:

  1. Kay, I have always love Shirley Temple. I have her autobiography. She was a genuine person. xoxo,Susie

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  2. Oh how I love those Shirley Temple movies . She was such an upbeat character always made me smile. Seems even as she stopped acting she still did a great deal with people as Ambassador.

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  3. I agree with your admiration for Shirley Temple. She was indeed a national treasure. She kept the whole movie industry alive at a time when the world was seeming to fall apart. I think she could have been recognized as a good, perhaps not great, actress even as she matured. The problem was that we were still looking for that adorable child. I liked a couple of the movies she did before she retired from that business. Fort Apache was a favorite as well as The Bachelor And The Bobbysoxer.

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  4. This is a wonderful post, Kay. She really was a special person and I am sorry that there were not more accolades given to her at the time of her death. She was a beautiful child that grew into a beautiful woman. My grandchildren still watch her movies and love them as I did when I was a child. GREAT post, Kay- xo Diana

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  5. None of our computers will play that right now, but maybe when i go to work i can use that one while i work, i can listen. And of course she "changed," she grew up! That doesn't mean her inner self really changed, much of the inner self never really changes. We just experience life and it changes how we express ourselves.

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  6. I have always loved her and I really enjoyed this video! The child actors of today could learn a few things about life and handling success. Of course she was lucky to have a wonderful Mother who kept her grounded. I don't think any family member should be in charge of monies that the kids make...it never seems to turn out well! Thanks for sharing this!

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  7. She certainly was unique as a child and as an adult. Great video. :)

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  8. This was another great post on a wonderful lady! I'm tired from staying up late reading "Unbroken." I couldn't put it down the entire time they were in the raft ~ the sharks! Yikes! Have a happy and well week!

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  9. She shows that the outward face should be what is inside too. People tend to look at someone from the outside and it is sadly rare nowadays to find someone who is beautiful inside too, especially with the child actors who have so many easy temptations to destroy them. A lovely woman!

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  10. I enjoyed that video - and David Letterman was right, she would have been the perfect hostess for his show! But I think she was simply perfect at anything she undertook anyway.

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  11. Oh, Shirley Temple. I loved her. Enjoyed watching a few minutes of the video too. When Sophie was small, everyone always told her she looked like Shirley Temple because of her curls. Complete strangers....all the time. One day she finally asked who Shirley Temple was so we watched some of her videos and movies together. :-)

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