Temple Tuesday: Aloha Shirley, 1969

Hawaii was a very special place for Shirley Temple, and not just because she danced the hula in “Curly Top” (1935)! Below, a seventeen year old Shirley gushed about it in her first autobiography, My Young Life (1945):

I’ve been able to do quite a lot of traveling. The three trips we’ve made to Hawaii were the best. I’m actually insane about Hawaii. The first time we got on that big boat I was so excited I nearly popped, and I’ve been hardly less excited on other trips. It’s definitely thrilling to go to sleep in a stateroom and know that while you’re sleeping, the boat is taking you closer and closer to Hawaii. The captain took me up to the bridge, and generally gave me the run of the ship. He usually let me hold the wheel at least once a trip. Then the boat gets in, and there’s a band playing on the dock, and everybody heaps you with flower leis. And the scenery is so beautiful. It’s the way a movie set looks when you see it on the screen—not like it looks when you’re working on it.

Shirley’s first trip to Hawaii took place after she wrapped filming on “Curly Top” in July 1935. It was the first time the little girl had left her native state of California.



Two years later, she would return with her family in July/August 1937. In the photo below, she poses with two local children at party held in her honor.



In the Spring of 1939, Shirley had no firm projects on the horizon and tensions had been building between 20th Century-Fox and the Temple family. As she described in Child Star (1988): 

Summertime and end of school left me with nothing to do and a future utterly blank, a situation never experienced since my start five and a half years earlier at Fox. Also never before had I had a real summer vacation. To my parents’ surprise, I suggested that we go to Hawaii for a third trip, this time for change, not work.

As always, she was surrounded by the Press. Her expression says it all!



Describing her first trip to Hawaii, Shirley let it be known that these “vacations” typically meant she was still hard at work:

The concept of vacation was almost meaningless for me. Routines of work and pleasures of leisure had always been commingled. In fact, this was what the studio had in mind—piggyback a maximum publicity program on our private plans for a Hawaiian vacation. Photographic opportunities and official contacts were carefully interwoven with press and radio interviews. Intense public exposure was the objective, at minimum cost. It would be our vacation, and so were all the expenses.

By 1950, Shirley’s career had fizzled along with her marriage to John Agar. Looking for change again as in 1939, she chose to get away from it all with daughter, Linda Susan, by traveling to her beloved vacation spot, Hawaii.



In My Young Life (1945), she had prophetically written:

After the war, I want to go to Hawaii again. Maybe it has honeymoon possibilities.

On that fateful trip in 1950, she met the love of her life, Charles Alden Black. The two had a whirlwind romance and married that same year.



Flash forward to August 1969, and we find Shirley back in Hawaii, ready to embark on a new career:

Mrs. Shirley Temple Black smiles as she  arrives at Kewalo Basin after a fishing excursion aboard the “Cutty Sark,” 8/29. Mrs. Black was named by President Nixon as one of the five U.S. representatives to the United Nations.



Although no longer the world famous “child star” of the 1930s, Shirley still generated her fair share of press coverage. From the Honolulu Star Bulletin, August 27, 1969:

[Postmaster General and Secretary of Transportation John A. Volpe] will attend the testimonial dinner for Sen. Hiram L. Fong Saturday night at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, where they stand to be outshone by two other loyal Republicans, former child star, Shirley Temple Black and former governor, William F. Quinn, especially if the latter work up a duet, “On the Good Ship Lollypop in Blue Hawaii.”

Two days later, the Honolulu Star announced Shirley’s appointment to the United Nations:

President Nixon today named Shirley Temple Black, former child movie star, as one of five United States representatives to the 24th regular session of the United Nations General Assembly. Mrs. Black was deep sea fishing in Hawaii’s waters when the Presidential announcement was made at the Western White House. She arrived in Hawaii yesterday to take part in tomorrow’s testimonial fund-raising dinner for GOP Sen. Hiram L. Fong. She will share master of ceremonies duties with Gov. William F. Quinn. A top appointment by the Nixon Administration had been expected, and Mrs. Black has been sidestepping comment for days by saying she was not at liberty to discuss it.…Mrs. Black, who is now a society matron in San Francisco with three teenager-children, was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for Congress last year in California. She has been exceptionally active in public service. Mrs. Black is staying at the Halekulani Hotel.

How the Halekulani looked in 1969 when Shirley stayed there:



The event was held at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, which I visited back in 2004:



The Honolulu Star gave this report of the evening:

At a fund-raising testimonial dinner last night, Republican U.S. Sen. Hiram L. Fong was praised, toasted and—in a surprisingly early turn of events—endorsed by the strong ILWU for re-election in 1970.…About 1,500 persons attended the $50-a-plate affair at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel highlighted by the appearance of two Nixon Cabinet members, top Federal employee union officials, and [Jack] Hall’s [ILWU vice president] electoral pats-on-the-back.

Below, Shirley poses with Senator Fong and former Gov. William F. Quinn:





Nancy Harlocker reported in the Honolulu Star Advertiser on September 1, 1969 about another reception that Shirley attended:

Washington Place was buzzing with a surprising number of Republican leaders at a reception Thursday night which seemed fitting considering Democrat Gov. John A. Burns’ and Mrs. Burns’ guests of honor. They were Postmaster General Winston M. Blount and Secretary of Transportation John A. Volpe, two of President Richard M. Nixon’s recent cabinet appointees. The two Washington VIPs and their wives were here over the long weekend to attend U.S. Sen. Hiram Fong’s testimonial dinner at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel Saturday night.…Shirley Temple Black was there — warm and friendly as ever and a standout in a two-piece white pique dress that showed off her tanned midriff. Lee Gray told Shirley that his father, Harry Joe Brown, a 20th Century-Fox producer, had directed her first movie, “Little Miss Marker,” a fact that Shirley, indeed, remembered. She was pleased to hear about Brown again. Mrs. Phillip Swatek told Mrs. Black that her 5-year-old daughter was a real fan of her early movies that are shown on local television Sundays. “I can’t wait to tell my daughter that I met you,” Mrs. Swatek told Mrs. Black. “Oh, don’t tell her you met me, just tell her you met my daughter,” replied the former child film star. Mrs. Black and Mrs. Emil Offer greeted each other like old friends, which they are. “We used to play with our Shirley Temple dolls together,” Mrs. Black recalled. The girls had played at the Diamond Head home of June Offer’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Allen Renton when Shirley vacationed here as a child. “We even exchanged our dolls,” recalled Mrs. offer. “I took Shirley’s and cut off all the curls.” Mrs. Black was in Hawaii to be mistress of ceremonies at Senator Fong’s party.

Actually, Harry Joe Brown’s first Temple movie was “Young People” (1940), her LAST film at 20th Century-Fox, for which he served as producer. Shirley was obviously being kind in agreeing with Lee Gray. Alexander Hall directed “Little Miss Marker” (1934), which was made at Paramount, not Fox, and definitely not Shirley’s first film!

Back to Hawaii! Below is a shot I took of Washington Place back in 2004, which was designated a National Historic Landmark three years later. I’m sure my photograph played a part in that! Washington Place is best known as the home of Hawaii’s beloved Queen Liliʻuokalani. Later it became the official residence of the governor of Hawaii.



Dave Donnelly told an amusing story in the Honolulu Star Bulletin on September 1, 1969:

Star-Bulletin photographer Jack Matsumoto asked A.P. Bureau Chief George Zucker to snap a picture of him with Shirley Temple Black at Washington Place last week. Jack first met Shirley in 1935 when she was the curly-haired film star and he was a bellboy at the Royal Hawaiian. Her parents were concerned because of a flock of fans at the hotel so they asked Jack to carry her up to her room. He did and now 34 years later Shirley thanked him for it.

Even after Shirley’s vacation was over, the Honolulu Star Bulletin continued to report on Shirley. From September 17, 1969:



Shirley Temple Black has been sworn in as one of the 10 U.S. delegates to the U.N. General Assembly and will specialize on environmental and social questions. After the ceremony yesterday, the former child actress told a news conference she was concerned with “air pollution and water problems.…I would hope we could work toward peace and human brotherhood and to improve the environmental situation in the world,” she said.



We could still use Shirley’s help today!

See more photos of Shirley Temple in Hawaii at my main website.

Tuna, Star Trek, Marilyn, and Project Runway

How do you combine Tuna, Star Trek, Marilyn Monroe, and Project Runway all into one post? If you’re asking, you’re apparently new to the Daveland rabbit holes. Welcome aboard! While doing my usual dinner on the couch with Willis and a movie/TV show, I put my Star Trek season one discs into the blu ray player. Watching the episode “Charlie X” (September 15, 1966) caused me to wonder what happened to Grace Lee Whitney, who played Yeoman Janice Rand. She is pictured above with Robert Walker, Jr. (son of Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones), who played Charlie. She was a more than capable actress and her chemistry with Kirk (William Shatner) seemed like it could have generated some interesting story lines. And yet, she disappeared before the first season was over. The official reason was that producer Roddenberry didn’t want to limit Kirk’s romantic adventures to Rand; the real reason was more rooted in budgetary concerns. In looking her up, I discovered an amazing (to me, at least) tidbit: Grace Lee Whitney was the original model for the Chicken of the Sea mermaid!



From the Chicken of the Sea website:

The first products sold under the Chicken of the Sea brand appeared in 1930. A little over 20 years later, in 1952, our mermaid mascot made her debut. The original illustration, with her tall blonde beehive and button nose, was modeled after Grace Lee Whitney—the actress who played Yeoman Janie Rand on the original Star Trek series. Over the decades, the mermaid has changed up her hairstyle and even the color of her tail, but her blonde hair and wand (or, most recently, her trident) have remained fixtures of her look.

She made radio show appearances with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy wearing the mermaid suit and a ton-o-hair! As she recalled:

Even though “Bergen and McCarthy” was radio, we did the show on a stage before a large studio audience, so the visual part of the show was still important. It was important that the mermaid who sang the tuna jingle look the part. Because I couldn’t walk in that costume, stagehands had to pick me up and carry me out onstage. I would sing the commercial, then they’d pick me up and carry me off again as I waved my wand to the audience.

She even had a doll modeled after; that’s how you know you’ve made it big!



All good things must come to an end, and in 2023, Chicken of the Sea changed their mermaid. Where was the outcry?!?



To think that at Disneyland, there was a Star Trek connection! The Mermaid on the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship restaurant was originally painted in all gold:





Eventually, she got the full-color treatment, as seen in this October 1966 image:





She could also be found on the bow of the ship:



When Chicken of the Sea left as a sponsor, the mermaid was turned into a ginger:



Finally, in a move of economy, she was converted back to all-gold again. No real craftsmanship needed to upkeep that!



Back to Grace…

She also had a bit part in one of my favorite Marilyn Monroe movies, “Some Like It Hot” (1959). As a member of the all-girl band, she can be seen at far left, along with Jack Lemmon and Marilyn.



And finally, the Project Runway connection. When I was looking at Grace’s hair in high definition during the “Star Trek” episodes, I couldn’t help but think it looked familiar. As Whitney later recalled:

It was so heavy it kept listing to the left, I swear they had to nail that thing to my head! It was gorgeous Max Factor hair. It cost a lot of money and somebody stole it. I still have visions of that damn wig turning up. I go down to Skid Row for my recovery program - I'm clean and sober now - and I keep expecting to find some bag lady or drag queen wearing it!



I’m not sure where the wig ended up, but it surely was the inspiration for this outfit from Project Runway, season 5, episode 7, where designer Korto Mormolu wove car seatbelts together to create a coat.



And there you have it. Another rabbit hole completed. I’ll leave this post with Whitney’s 2015 obituary from the ​​​Hollywood Reporter:

Grace Lee Whitney, who played the loyal Janice Rand, the personal assistant who served Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) aboard the USS Enterprise during the first season of Star Trek, has died. She was 85. Whitney, who reprised her role as Rand in four Star Trek films and in a 1996 episode of Star Trek: Voyager, died Friday at her home in Coarsegold, Calif., her son told The Fresno Bee. The attractive blond also appeared in two Billy Wilder films that starred Jack Lemmon: 1959’s Some Like It Hot (as one of the members of the all-girl band) and as Kiki the Cossack in 1963’s Irma la Douce. There was much sexual tension between Whitney’s Yeoman Rand and Shatner’s Kirk as the actress appeared in eight of the first 13 episodes of the 1966-69 NBC space drama. But then she suddenly was released from her contract. “There was a scene that Shatner and I did — and I remember when it happened — that scared the producers, because they said, ‘Uh-oh, they’re getting too close. This is getting too hot,’” she recalled in a 2011 interview. “We have to remove her because he’s going to look like he’s cheating when he falls in love with other women on other planets.” Whitney wrote in her 1998 book, The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, that she was sexually assaulted by an executive at Desilu, the production company behind Star Trek, and suffered from drug and alcohol abuse for years before turning her life around.

See more pop culture photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Treacher Tales

Besides having similar storylines, Shirley Temple’s childhood films often had similar supporting actors, like Arthur Treacher. Born on July 23, 1894 in Brighton, East Sussex, England, Treacher began his acting career in England as a chorus boy in “Maggie” (1919), moving to New York City in 1926 in the musical-comedy revue, “Great Temptations.” His first movie role was in “The Battle of Paris” (1930). His role of a butler in “Fashions of 1934” launched his career as filmdom’s favorite stuffy British butler. According to legend, the characterization came about because of an incident that happened during the filming of “Hollywood Party.” From one of his obituaries:

He became typecast in the role by accident in 1933 when he was playing a conventional and polite butler in a minor role in a film with Jimmy Durante. One day, Lupe Vélez, known as the “Mexican Spitfire” visited the set and told the 6-foot-3 actor she had a boyfriend as tall as he [note: that would have been Gary Cooper]. Unimpressed, Treacher replied: “Really?” The director took note said, “play the part like that” and a character was born.

And that is how he landed his first role in a Shirley Temple movie, “Curly Top” (1935). At 6'4", Treacher towered over the little star, adding a comic effect to their interactions.



Like most of the old codgers in a Shirley Temple film, Treacher’s character eventually thaws and becomes enamored with the little girl.



He was singled out in the reviews for “Curly Top,” despite his limited screen time:

Treacher’s butler is equal to his previous best. But when it’s all said and done these capable people are naught but “feeders” for the principal figure.…Arthur Treacher plays the proud butler, brought low by Curly Top’s winning ways and contributes his own bit of comedy.

In “Stowaway” (1936), Treacher’s butler actually gets a name: Atkins.



The actor was also given considerably more to do, playing straight man to Temple, Eugene Pallette, and Robert Young, who had the role of his wealthy playboy employer.



We even got to hear Treacher attempt to warble a lullaby for Shirley. It was not a pleasant experience!



In the Love, Shirley Temple auction by Theriault’s, two photos and a letter were sold from Shirley’s personal collection:



From the catalog description:

Comprising a photograph of Arthur Treacher napping while, unbeknownst to him, a humorous sign is placed on his chest reading "Exhibit 496 Cuttlefish (Extinct) Do not touch", and with his personally inscribed message and his autograph; a photo of Shirley Temple and Treacher during the filming of “Stowaway” as she applies make-up to his face; and a two-page 1937 letter signed "Arthur Treacher's Mother" in which she notes, among other things, “I understand from my son that he had to go down on his knees in homage to you before you would autograph your photograph” and “I think you are better on the screen than my little boy is - this is a great admission for me to make.”




Treacher’s best known film role at the time was as Jeeves, the valet in “Thank You, Jeeves” (1936) and “Step Lively, Jeeves!” (1937), based on the fictional character by English author P. G. Wodehouse. From a publicity caption that accompanied the two vintage photos below, which were shot at his 3252 Bennett Drive residence (the address listed on the above stationery):

Being the screen’s only buttling star has enabled Arthur Treacher, star of 20th Century-Fox’s “Step Lively, Jeeves,” to acquire his own home.



The home still stands today and looks very much the same:



While the two Jeeves films were a success, Wodehouse was not happy with the adaptations, which turned his beloved character into a naive bumbler. No other Jeeves films with Treacher were made after that.

His third film with Shirley was “Heidi” (1937), which gave Treacher very little to do and was a definite step backwards for the actor.



“The Little Princess” (1939) was the final film pairing of the two, and this was his most substantial role in a Temple film. Rather than a stuffy butler, Treacher played Hubert “Bertie” Minchin, a former vaudevillain who works for his greedy sister in a boarding school for wealthy children. Below is a deleted bit where the two share a card trick.



Shirley and Treacher dance together twice in the film, and while maybe not the level of a Bill Robinson-Temple duo, it is just as joyous. They truly had great chemistry - on screen, at least.



This is why it was surprising to me that Shirley only gave Treacher a small mention in her autobiography, excerpted below. Reading it, one could surmise that she was not overly fond of him. From Shirley’s autobiography, Child Star:

On a soundstage disappointment comes in more cloaks than simply technical incompetence….Sometimes it arrives in the person of someone just passing by. Practicing the rollicking jig “Knock ’em in the Old Kent Road,” Arthur Treacher, a reedy, hawk-faced butler type, was having trouble with one intricate movement. “For anyone as austere and towering as I am,” he complained, hiking up his pants, “well, it’s too complicated.”



The rehearsal was interrupted for us to be introduced to a man and woman, both thin and tall, with prominent noses and overbites, With his high forehead and lanky frame, the man reminded me vaguely of brother Jack. What set them apart was the name, James Roosevelt, eldest son of the President, and his wife, Betsy [sic]. Slightly inclined forward, he chatted quickly about nothing. Overwhelmed with respect for his name, I tried to answer carefully. In poor taste, someone joked that one of my Tennessee fan letters had repeated a rumor that Mother had once been married to the same James Roosevelt. For proof one needed only to compare my brother Jack’s strong resemblance to Roosevelt in build, facial structure, and high hairline. Roosevelt took the jest gracefully, but Betsy, judging by her face, found little humor in the comment. I was with her. Jokes were my stock-in-trade, but not where they deprecated the name of Roosevelt. To change the subject, I suppose, she turned to Treacher and bluntly asked what he thought of me. Tugging at his nose and then pulling thoughtfully on his chin, Treacher replied, “You have no idea, if she were indeed that way, she could be President of the United States.” Once again everyone tittered uneasily, except Treacher, who stood, shoulders thrown back, posing deadpan. Again I was annoyed. Flip remarks were more an insult to the President and his son than a compliment to me. As the Roosevelts went around meeting the rest of the cast, I tagged along to eavesdrop. “Did you get a police badge?” someone asked Betsy. “No, does she give them away?” “Well, your mother-in-law got some while she was here.” “That’s different,” Betsy replied. “We’re the unimportant members of the family.” In my mind’s eye the presidential family was a unity. Anyone who assaulted that unit insulted the whole. In my mind where the presidency was involved, nobody was unimportant. Tipping heroes from their pedestals offended me. When Betsy had jumped down from the pedestal, it left me disillusioned and resentful. I was less young than before.

In 1938, James and Betsey moved to Hollywood to work as an aide to Samuel Goldwyn. The two divorced in 1940, just a year after meeting Shirley. Betsey was granted custody of their daughters, along with child support. Allegedly…James had little to no contact with his children, and eventually married three more times. Betsey ended up with Jock Whitney, the publicity whiz for “Gone with the Wind” (1939). Below are the two in…happier times? Circa 1933:



Back to Treacher…



In a dream sequence for “Princess,” Treacher portrayed a court jester to Shirley’s princess.



A very good likeness was achieved with the jester puppet that Treacher holds:



Treacher’s character was pivotal to the happy ending achieved at the conclusion of the film.



While I don’t know if the two ran into each other socially, I do know that they performed together six years later. Treacher played George, the butler, and Shirley was Connie, the Cinderella character in The Camel Screen Guild Players adaptation of “First Love,” broadcast on CBS Radio, May 14, 1945.



You can hear the program on Stars On Suspense, starting at 37:17.

In 1960, Shirley had Treacher join the cast of “The Land of Oz” episode in her storybook anthology, “The Shirley Temple Show.” True to form, he played Graves, a butler; but this time, his character was on the side of the villains, scheming along with the evil witch Mombi (Agnes Moorehead) and General Nikidik (Jonathan Winters). It was delicious fun, watching these three hams work together. Shirley played Princess Ozma.



Treacher’s final film role was in the Disney classic, “Mary Poppins” (1964), as Constable Cody Jones.



He brings the Banks children home to their uninterested father (David Tomlinson).



Treacher and Temple were reunited again on the Mike Douglas talk show in May 1972, when Shirley acted as co-host for the week. After “Poppins,” Treacher had gained new fame as sidekick to Douglas’ talk show rival, Merv Griffin, from 1965-1970. When the Griffin show filming moved from New York to Los Angeles, Treacher decided to leave the show, stating, “At my age, I don’t want to move, especially to someplace that shakes!” For those who don’t live on the west coast, Treacher was referring to earthquakes.



At this same time, Treacher became known for the chain of Fish & Chips restaurants that bore his name.



$1.15?!? As one who ate there regularly as a tot on Sunday nights, I can personally attest to the portions being quite large!



Care to apply?



Treacher died in Manhasset, New York, December 14, 1975, at the age of 81 from cardiovascular disease. Few of his obituaries mentioned his teaming with Temple. Edited from the Newsday Suffolk Edition:

Though Treacher played in everything from Shakespeare to “Mary Poppins,” he was so identified as a disdained butler that he was made honorary president of the Butlers Club of America in 1939. Treacher made his home in Hollywood for about 17 years, playing not only butlers but a variety of character roles. “We were the backbone of the movie industry,” Treacher said. “You had a pretty boy and a pretty girl and the audience waited to see somebody like Slim Summerville come along. There were actors like Eddie Horton, Eric Blore, Alan Mowbray, Frank Morgan, and Charlie Ruggles.”…On television, he appeared on the Milton Berle Show, the Bob Hope Show and the Victor Borge Show, but he is perhaps best remembered for his stint as second banana on the Merv Griffin Show in the late 1960s. In that role also, he was anything but humble. “He asks me a question, and I answer him or I don’t,” Treacher once said of his role as a haughty aide on Griffin’s talk show. At times, he confessed, he has shut up and let the diminutive Griffin “flounder.” “Sweat, you little son of a ______,” Treacher said with a grin. Griffin’s guests often fared no better. “Do you mind,” Treacher once inquired of a particularly long-winded guest, “if I scream? Treacher was no longer active in show business, though his name is well known through the commercials for his Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips, a fast-food operation. At one time, Treacher had a company, Call Arthur Treacher Service System, providing temporary servants. Married to Virgiinia Taylor, Treacher had no children. “Neither blessed nor cursed,” he once remarked.

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.