Just when you think you know everything about Shirley…
Recently I was reading the book Dirt in the Skirt, by Pepper Paire Davis, which tells the true story of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1940’s. Not familiar with it? Perhaps you’ve seen the movie “A League of Their Own” directed by Penny Marshall. Pepper’s book is the real deal, and gives a colorful you-are-there feeling of what those times were like and will make you sigh with regret about how times are now. Davis was raised in Santa Monica, and as I turned the pages, I kept wondering if she and Shirley (also Santa Monica born) ever crossed paths. Davis was born in 1924; Shirley in 1928. As I became more interested in Pepper’s story, Shirley (shown in today’s photos at the Brown Derby with first husband John Agar) was pushed to the back of my mind until I got to the part about World War II. Pepper met John Agar on a double date!
Faye called me about midnight and said: “Get over here, Pepper. John Agar is serenading me on my door step and he’s got a cute friend with him.” I said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, and Clark Gable is over here with me.” Faye said: “No really, really, Pepper. He’s drunk as a skunk, and they’ve got a beautiful, red Cadillac convertible! They want to drive us around and they’ll let me drive, too!” Well, I knew I couldn’t let that happen, so I went over to check on things. Sure enough, it was true. There he was, big as life and twice as cute. The other guy wasn’t bad looking either. He was also an actor, but not famous like John. John Agar was a leading man, movie star and very handsome. He was one of Shirley Temple’s leading men after she “grew up”! After he got out of the Army, he starred with her in “For Apache” and they fell in love! It started out like a fairy-tale romance. Later on, they wound up getting married (but it didn’t end well). At first, I was a little worried about what the guys wanted from us, but they just wanted somebody to play games with. They already had beautiful women that would sleep with them anytime they wanted. John wasn’t married to Shirley Temple at the time. We weren’t really surprised when their marriage broke up later. We knew John really had a drinking problem. He was very handsome and talented! He was also a very nice guy, but his habit hurt his career. He could have been a huge star! Later on, he became clean and sober and went on to have a distinguished career, but he was past his prime and did a lot of sci-fi. John was a gentleman!
What an interesting connection! Only one problem…the timing does not line up. Pepper put this anecdote in her book as if it happened in 1941/1942 when she would have been seventeen or eighteen. Agar didn’t make movies until AFTER he married Shirley. So…either Pepper and Faye met Agar when he was single during the war and the years muddled her memory…or she met him while he was still married to Shirley and once again, the years muddled her memory. Unfortunately, based on the vivid surprise Pepper expresses about her friend being with movie star John Agar, I have a feeling it was the latter.
This previously posted shot shows Shirley and John on a Hollywood tour at the Beverly Hills Tropics for dinner. The same tour that had them dining at the Derby. They must have been very full that day!
See more Shirley Temple and John Agar photos at my main website.
It's sad that so many recollections are confused over time. I don't believe the people telling the stories are lying but certainly as you pointed out, they may have their facts confused. Time does that to the recollection of any story. Personally, I'm geeking out over that last picture and the fact that there's a huge picture of Duke Kahanamoku in the background. I'm currently wearing my t-shirt from Dukes Restaurant in La Jolla so how serendipitous.
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