Temple Tuesday: All Dolled Up

For her 1934 starring vehicle, “Bright Eyes,” Shirley Temple’s character got to dress up in over-sized adult clothes and parade around as if she was an elegant society lady. Here is candid shot of Shirley with director David Butler, in between takes at the Pasadena location for this scene. The accompanying publicity blurb:

WHAT, NO LOLLIPOP? —Shirley Temple is positive Director David Butler will buy her that chocolate lollipop now she’s donned a feathered hat and long dress. The dimpled starlet plays at being grown-up for a scene in Fox film’s “Bright Eyes,” in which she is featured with James Dunn.

Little Shirley patiently awaits her next scene:



SMALL GIRL. IN A BIG CHAIR — Shirley Temple takes a few moments off for rest in Director David Butler’s set chair. Butler is directing Shirley in his own story, “Bright Eyes,” which will be her last picture for 1934.



In the scene, Shirley pushes a baby carriage around the property with her doll. Below is a screenshot of the house that was used for exterior locations:



How that house looks today:



Jane Withers and Shirley pushed their baby carriages up that very same driveway ninety years ago!



Shirley’s character was kind and loving to her little dolly, whereas Jane Withers’ bratty counterpart constantly swatted hers. Hey Jane, careful — that’s a very valuable Lenci doll!



You can see tensions boiling between the two; who is going to get to keep the dolls once the filming is done?



Named “Pinkie,” the 37” tall Lenci doll began the worldwide tidal wave of dolls gifted to Shirley in real life. From her autobiography Child Star:

For props we were each issued a doll, mine modest and frumpy, befitting my role, and hers a giant glorious Lenci from Italy with dangling blond curls and exquisitely costumed in ruffles and a velvet bonnet garlanded with lifelike flowers. Following her stage role, Withers became possessive, denying me even a peek, clutching it and turning away. Ultimately it developed into a quiet offstage competition for something she really did want, but I did not. Toward the end of “Bright Eyes,” Sheehan caught wind of the doll competition and offered Mother the Lenci doll in order to gain her cooperation on some other minor matter. Believing I really coveted it, Mother acepted his bribe, thinking perhaps to employ the doll in some secondary inducement with me. Her hope vanished when Sheehan publicly announced that I was starting a doll collection with the Lenci as my first. This action was tantamount to removing a finger from the dike. From all over the box-office world a thousand dolls of every type and nationality flooded in. In fact, the concept of a collection of anything beyond slingshots had no appeal whatsoever. It was a Pyrrhic victory; winning the Withers war imposed the unwelcome burden of becoming curator for an unwanted collection. 

Below is a photo I shot when the doll came up for auction in 2015.



Pinkie had a place of prominence in Shirley’s Santa Monica bedroom (photo below).



Sorry, Jane - you shouldn’t have messed with Shirley.



Shirley and Jane Withers’ December 1976 reunion at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel was captured by the photographers. Note that Shirley is covering Pinkie in the photo in her left hand. Why stir up old wounds? Always the diplomat!



In a quieter moment, you can just hear Shirley: “Really Jane, if you hadn’t been such a pill, you could have had the darn doll for yourself!”



This darling costume also graced the cover of one of Saalfield’s many 1930s Shirley Temple publications:



In 2003, the Danbury Mint released a limited edition porcelain doll of Shirley recreating the same scene (minus the carriage) in honor of Shirley’s 75th birthday:



Sorry, Jane - you weren’t part of that tribute, either!

See more Shirley Temple in “Bright Eyes” photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: 96th Birthday Bonanza!

Today marks the 96th “Heavenly Birthday” for Shirley Temple Black, actress, diplomat, wife, mother, and author. One of the most infamous tales about Shirley was how her movie studio, Fox, got her mother to agree to shave a year off of her birthdate to make her antics appear all the more precocious. Above, you can see her original Santa Monica Hospital birth certificate, with the true year of 1928. Below is a shot of Shirley at age one.



For the earliest deep dark secrets about Shirley, look no further than this Important Event card, diligently recorded by her mother, Gertrude:



Gertrude also charted Shirley’s growth progress:



Shirley’s studio birthday parties at Fox were legendary. Here’s the first one, from April 1934. Is that little boy on the right actually using a toothpick while the camera is snapping his photo? Such poor manners - bet he wasn’t invited back again!



By the time of her 1936 birthday, Shirley looks a little bored with it all, despite the spectacular cake! Shirley would later recall:

Fox would have (a party) for a large number of people I didn’t know, a lot of children I’d never seen in my life and never saw again. And I was hostess. It was kind of strange. I figured it was part of the job. Fox would pay h alf the cost of the parties and my mother and father - or I - would pay the other half. Why I had to pay for the parties at all is a mystery, but that’s how it went. And there’d be two hundred kids, maybe more. I thought those parties were a big bore.



Shirley’s first stand-in, Marilyn Granas, had this recollection about the parties:

They always had lovely food and lovely prizes. Everybody got a favor and I remember one of the favors was a beautiful leather autograph book that Shirley had autographed. I’ve still got mine.

Shirley’s last studio birthday at Fox was held during the filming of “Young People.” Stand-in Mary Lou Isleib is two over from Shirley’s left.



For 1940, Shirley got not one, but TWO incredible birthday cakes! That’s what happens when you’re the most beloved child star of all time. The shot below was from her party at the studio commissary, which had a Dutch theme. Dickie Moore, Shirley’s first on-screen kisser in “Miss Annie Rooney” (1942), recalled this birthday celebration in his autobiography,  Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star:

The day of Shirley’s party all guests parked their cars in the main parking lot and were met by buses and driven to the commissary. There Shirley stood at the head of a long reception line, gravely shaking hands with all arrivals, telling each of us how glad she was we had come, and thanking us for the presents we had brought, which were passed along to join the growing mountain of unopened packages, most of which were later sent to an orphanage. Everyone ate cake, while mothers tried to get Hymie Fink to take their children’s pictures. There were many party favors, including a pen with a magnifying glass on one end and Shirley’s name inscribed on it.



If you’re wondering about the art on the wall, here’s a closeup:



By 1944, Shirley was working for Producer David O. Selznick. Her sweet sixteen birthday party was attended by her costars from “I’ll Be Seeing You.” L-R: Dorothy Mann, Tom Tully, stand-in Mary Lou Isleib, Guy Madison, Shirley, and John Derek.



In 1946, Shirley turned eighteen and celebrated the milestone birthday on the set of “Honeymoon” with then husband, John Agar.



Shirley’s last movie-birthday party was held during the filming of “The Story of Seabiscuit” (1949). At left is co-star Barry Fitzgerald, Director David Butler, Shirley, and John Agar.



See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Cinderella in Santa Monica

In the 1930’s, Shirley Temple merchandise was the rage, including dresses for little girls that were inspired by the costumes that the child star wore in her movies. Brothers Gustave, Fred, and Sidney Rosenau of Rosenau Brothers, Inc. in Philadelphia were responsible for these Shirley Temple “Cinderella Frocks” that sold approximately 15 million garments from the initial seven-year period of 1934-1941. They approached the Temple family about using Shirley to help promote a line of dresses when she was making her “Frolics of Youth” series in 1934. Mrs. Temple had approval of all the designs and images of Shirley wearing each design were photographed to inspire mothers to purchase them for their own budding starlet. This publicity shot of Shirley sporting a Cinderella Frock was especially interesting to me because it was shot at her (second) Santa Monica home on the patio. The back of the photo lists it as Style No. 4257 for sizes 3-6.5 and 4557 for 7-12.



A closeup of the matching vintage tile, for which I’m an avid fan of!



A vintage postcard of the exterior of the home:



This is what Shirley’s bathroom looked like. Even at the tender age of seven, Shirley was concerned about her figure!



A previously posted shot of Shirley posing with her beloved brothers inside the same home:



Final shot for today is what the home looks like today. Well, maybe not exactly this very day, but the last time I was in Santa Monica a few years back:



See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Shirley Palooza Four Pt. 5: The Temples of Temple

Today we take a tour of the Temples of Temple, aka the homes of Shirley Temple. Amazingly enough her first three residences are still around, starting with the first two which are in Santa Monica. The trees and the car in the driveway prevented me from getting a very good shot of Shirley’s first home.

By 1934, the Temples had enough money (thank you, Shirley!) to leave their modest residence and move into one that was a bit nicer. Here’s how it looked back in the day:



And how it looks now:



Only two years later, the Temple family moved again, as the money kept pouring in and so did the fans who wanted a glimpse of Shirley. A larger home with more security was called for so it was off to the exclusive area called Brentwood. But before we leave Santa Monica, let‘s take a look at what that beautiful city has to offer! The “spiritual” end of Route 66 was right here on Ocean Avenue at the Santa Monica Pier:



Just down the way on Ocean Avenue is the lovely Palisades Park:



A brick path to take you to the beach:



The Georgian Hotel is across the street, ready to bathe you in its Art Deco splendor:



For good food and drinks, you can’t beat the Ivy at the Shores:



Back to Shirley…

Here’s the estate her family purchased in 1936, located in Brentwood:



Photographing it today is a bit complicated, as it was divided into three parcels and sold off, and the main house was split into two in the process.



The cool weathervane has survived!



Here are the three blue birds, Melissa (aka “The Colonel”), Shirley Jean, and Mary, proud as peacocks as they got to tour Shirley’s childhood home. What a thrill!



Knowing she would be visiting Shirley’s place, Melissa brought a childhood dress of Shirley’s from her personal collection…



…and stood in the same place Shirley did when she wore it many years ago:



Home #2:



Home #3, aka “The Playhouse,” where Shirley and first husband John Agar lived after they were wed in 1945:



John and Shirley descend the spiral staircase of the main house as they are pelted with rice on the way to their honeymoon:



A shot of them inside the Playhouse, which was more akin to a mini Tudor mansion than anything most people would “play” in:



The backyard of the estate:



After an exhausting day, I headed back to the Chateau and sipped their delicious sangria while lounging at the pool. Ahhhhhhhh…



Melissa and I typically end the weekend with dinner and a recap at the Chateau. Sunday night is my fave with the Fried Chicken special:



And Melissa enjoys the Spaghetti Bolognese!



I hope you enjoyed this year’s Shirley Palooza posts!

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.