Shirley Temple Dead: Former Child Actor, Dancer, U.S. Ambassador Dies At 85
The Huffington Post Canada | By Christian Cotroneo
Posted: 02/11/2014 5:45 am EST | Updated: 02/11/2014 9:59 am EST
She was the grinning, dimpled face of hope during one of America's darkest periods.
Shirley Temple Black , a former child star, diplomat and American icon, has died of natural causes at 85.
According to a statement issued by her family, she died of natural causes Monday night at her home near San Francisco.
The statement adds, "She was surrounded by her family and caregivers. We salute her for a life of remarkable achievements as an actor, as a diplomat, and... our beloved mother, grandmother [and] great-grandmother."
An actress, singer, dancer -- and former U.S. ambassador -- Temple entered show business at the age of three. She first caught the public eye as a five-year-old in 1934's Bright Eyes.
The New York Daily News writes, "she was a superstar before she was 10."
Indeed, the little girl towered over the American film scene exactly when she was most needed -- when the country was in the throes of the Great Depression.
According to the Guardian, by the time she was seven, Temple was earning $50,000 a year. (Adjusted for inflation, somewhere in the neighbourhood of $800,000.)
