Shirley Temple often dined at the Brown Derby Restaurant, as you can see in this 1945 shot. She appears to be intently reading Three Short Biers by Jimmy Starr.
Born February 3, 1904, Jimmy Starr was an American screenwriter and columnist. Starr began at MGM as an office boy at the young age of fifteen. In 1923, Starr was hired as motion-picture editor of the Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, where he wrote his “Cinematters” column until 1930. Starr worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood during the 1930s. From the 1940s he worked as a film writer and columnist, providing reviews and insights into the film world, and occasionally made cameo appearances in the movies. In 1947, his novel The Corpse Came C.O.D. was made into a film with George Brent and Joan Blondell. The nightclub in the film was a recreation of the famous Ciro’s on Sunset Boulevard. The Disneyland Connection: from March 1956-September 1959, in Disneyland’s Town Square, there was a shop called Jimmy Starr’s Show Business Souvenirs, which sold movie photos, autographs, and collectible movie book. The shop also had movie props on display, including a few from the “Zorro” TV series with Guy Williams that was all the rage at the time the store was open. When it closed, the store was replaced by Wonderland Music. Want to see Jimmy? Here he is from the back cover of the book Shirley is reading:
After retirement from the Hollywood scene, Starr moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he worked at the Ramada Inn headquarters as Director of Advertising and Public Relations. He donated many of his papers and photographs to Arizona State University in the 1970s before dying on August 13, 1990.
Here’s a color image of the book’s cover:
…and the inside flap from the dust jacket:
Back to Shirley, you can see the caricatures that surround her. Far left looks like Noah Beery and to her right would appear to be Ronald Colman.Directly above her MIGHT be Shirley herself, but it’s hard to tell. What do you think?
See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.
1 comment:
Very cool piece. I learned something today. I'd heard of this book before but new very little. One would assume that has to be Shirley's pic on the wall. Where else would they have staged that shot but under her own portrait?
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