Temple Tuesday: Shirley’s Lost Block

Besides the mystery drumhead, Shirley Temple also signed a cement block when she performed “The Blue Bird” on Christmas Eve 1939 as part of The Screen Guild Theater with Nelson Eddy. What happened to Shirley’s bird jewelry is a mystery, as it didn’t show up at any of the family estate auctions.

What isn’t a mystery is where Shirley’s performance took place, which was the Earl Carroll Theatre on Sunset Boulevard:

The Theatre was known for its Wall of Fame, which included signed cement blocks from the era’s biggest celebrities, such as Joan Crawford and Clark Gable.

This 1940 Ansel Adams photo shows the position of Shirley’s block, which was located on the bottom row between Earl Carroll and Ronald Colman.

The Wall of Fame even made the cover of LIFE magazine, February 14, 1944, which technically means Shirley was on the cover four times (also in 1938, 1942, and 1958). As the years went by, her block was obscured by the fence and the hedges in front.

The theatre changed hands in 1968 and the blocks were removed and stored in the basement. Not all of them came off very easily and some were broken during the removal process. I located the owner of approximately 80 or so of the blocks; unfortunately, Shirley’s is not among that grouping.

Apparently Milt Larsen, founder of the Magic Castle, once had a large grouping of the blocks. Here’s the response I received from a representative of Milt’s when I attempted to see if he still had Shirley’s:

Milt does not have any of the cement blocks; the broken ones were taken by the late Gene Autry. Milt did piece them together and did tracings, which were mounted on styrofoam blocks, that looked like cement, which were mounted at the old Variety Arts Building in downtown LA. They were removed when he gave up that location. They are in our storage unit.

The rep had no idea if Shirley’s had ever been in Milt’s collection, nor did he seem to have an easily accessible inventory list. I hate dead ends.

On a related Shirley note, here’s a vintage ticket from the Earl Carroll Theatre which just happened to be on Shirley’s 14th birthday, April 23, 1942:

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.