Shirley Temple (1928-2014)

What happens when you are a gigantic child star and your career is based on cutsey-cutsey? Kids with more talent come along, push you into the background and eventually put you out of work. In Shirley Temple's case it was Judy Garland. Hard to imagine how different The Wizard of Oz might have been if 20th Century Fox had agreed to let her play Dorothy. Shirley could dance and but wasn't Judy's equal in acting, and not even in the same league as a singer. Shirley like a lot of child stars grew up too fast. But after a short failed marriage at 17, Shirley managed to make a normal life for herself, something Judy Garland never succeeded at. Folks my age will remember Shirley best as an attractive young woman narrating a TV series of older-kid versions of fairy tales. She and her husband must have been generous political donors, as she was named to a couple minor ambassadorships and a largely ceremonial diplomatic post or two. Shirley, you did all right.