The Oscars: Shirley On Location

Over the years, The Oscars have bounced around from location to location. The very first one was held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in the Blossom Room on May 16, 1929. The Roosevelt still operates today; above is a 1950s image of the Hollywood Boulevard hotel. The Ambassador Hotel held the dinner for the second Academy Awards event on April 3, 1930, as well as in 1932, 1934, 1940, and 1943.



All were in the Cocoanut Grove nightclub (below) except for 1932, which was in The Fiesta Room.



The Oscars were held in downtown Los Angeles at the Biltmore Hotel in 1931 and then 1935 through 1939. Below, Shirley Temple gives Claudette Colbert her Best Actress award for “It Happened One Night” (1934):



On February 23, 1939, Shirley famously presented Walt Disney with his specially designed Oscar for “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937):



Shirley also hobnobbed with Tyrone Power:



Douglas Fairbanks:



…and Ann Sheridan (Hedy Lamarr is behind Shirley):



An outside vintage view of the Biltmore:



The Biltmore Bowl ballroom where the Oscars were held at the Biltmore:



Increased attendance and World War II made banquets impractical, so the ceremony moved to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre from 1944-1946.



John Derek (of Bo Derek fame!) and Shirley were at Grauman’s for the March 2, 1944 event:



On March 7, 1946, she walked down the red carpet with then-husband John Agar:



The Shrine Auditorium was the location of choice from 1947-1948:



Red Skelton and Shirley, circa 1947:



1948 with John Agar again:



The 1949 Academy Award Theater on Melrose Avene in West Hollywood hosted the 21st Academy Awards on March 24, 1949 (since demolished). The RKO Pantages Theatre on Sunset Boulevard followed in 1950 and remained on the event roster until April 4, 1960.



Zsa Zsa Gabor and George Sanders at the Oscars in 1951:



In 1961, the Awards moved to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Shirley posed with Annette Funicello that evening:



On April 14, 1969, the 41st Academy Awards ceremonies moved to the brand new Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Music Center of Los Angeles County. Shirley appeared there on April 9, 1984. Below she is shown holding her miniature Oscar from 1935:



Below, Shirley poses with Ginger Rogers, who she worked with on “I’ll Be Seeing You” (1944):



That’s it for my Oscar photo collection!

See more contemporary and vintage photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: 93rd Birthday Anniversary Blowout!

Last Friday (April 23rd) was the 93rd Anniversary of Shirley Temple’s birthday; I think that deserves a photo blowout supreme, don’t you? Shirley’s birthday was an annual event to top all events, both personally and in the movies. In 1934’s “Baby Take A Bow,” she received a coveted ballet dress AND performed for her guests. So giving! Shirley was also on hand for her friends’ birthdays, too, including Bill Robinson, who was celebrating at Fox circa May 1935 in what is now known as the Shirley Room:

In “Captain January,” Shirley received a cherished hand-carved doll from Cap (Guy Kibbee); unfortunately the birthday fun was temporarily dampened by an unplanned visit from the mean old truant officer (Sara Haden). How dare she!

On her eighth birthday (which she still thought was only her seventh) in 1937, British actress and music hall star Gracie Fields stopped by Shirley’s Brentwood home for a piece of cake. Looks delish, Shirley!

If you don’t think Shirley’s birthdays were a big deal, get a load of these pics showing her birthday parties at Fox. From 1938:

Here’s what the invite looked like:

And like every polite well-mannered girl of the time, Shirley wrote thank-you notes!

From April 1939:

Zooming in for a closer look at Shirley:

The Fox Studio Chef himself wishes Shirley a happy birthday in 1939:

One of Shirley’s most famous movie birthdays was in “The Little Princess.” Moments afterward, she learns her dad is dead and that she’s penniless. Happy Birthday, indeed!

On her eleventh birthday (which was actually her 12th), Shirley serves up her own birthday cake in between takes on the set of “Young People,” April 23, 1940:

Like the rest of us, the birthdays kept on rolling for Shirley, like her sweet sixteen which was held during the filming of “I’ll Be Seeing You.” Here she is allowing her stand-in Mary Lou Isleib to take a whiff of the perfume she received:

On the set of “Honeymoon,” Shirley cuts the cake with her then husband, John Agar:

Many of Shirley’s former costars/coworkers stopped by to celebrate with her, including Adolphe Menjou and James Dunn:

Shirley turned legal on the set of her 1949 film, “The Story of Seabiscuit”:

The last birthday photo of Shirley in my collection is from the Red Skelton show, which was in 1963:

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Shirley! I hope it was a good one!

See more Shirley photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Birthday Blowout

It’s a birthday photo blowout for La Temple today, on what would have been her 91st birthday. The first photo is from her 10th birthday in 1938. Don’t bother counting the candles; there are only 9, as one year was lopped off Shirley’s age at the time to make her seem more precocious.

80 years ago today in 1939, this photo was taken at the Café de Paris on the Fox lot. What a cake!



Her 1940 birthday occurred during filming of her last movie for Fox, “Young People.”



Shirley even had to dish up her own cake!



For her sweet sixteen party during the filming of “I’ll Be Seeing You,” Monty Woolley gave Shirley a gag gift of the book “Life Begins at 40.”



Here is Shirley with her stand-in and good friend Mary Lou Isleib:



For her 18th birthday, former costars gathered on the set of “Honeymoon” to help Shirley celebrate, including Adolphe Menjou, James Dunn, and Franchot Tone.



Jack Oakie from 1940’s “Young People” was also on hand:



Even into adulthood, Shirley worked on her birthday, as can be seen in this shot taken during filming of “The Red Skelton Show” in 1963:



See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Happy (Almost) 86th Birthday, Shirley Temple Black!

In honor of what would have been her 86th birthday, today's post is a tribute to the recently deceased Shirley Temple Black. This first photo is from 70 years ago when Shirley's sweet sixteenth birthday (1944) was celebrated on-set. Here's the accompanying publicity blurb:

A bottle of favorite perfume given her on her sixteenth birthday is shared with her close friend and stand-in, Mary Lou Isleib. The party took place on the set of Selznick International's "I'll Be Seeing You," her latest picture in which she appears with Ginger Rogers and Joseph Cotten.

Always working, Shirley's 35th birthday occurred on the set of the Red Skelton Show. Red seems to be enjoying the cake more than Shirley.



Happy Birthday, Shirley - hope all the stars in the heavens are celebrating your special day!

See more Shirley Temple Black photos on my Shirley web page.