Shirley Temple Black

"Reach for the stars and one day you will get there," as Shirley Temple said. Shirley Temple Black would be placed in the artist category, which means, painters, musicians, photographers, film makers, actors and designers who have shared their talents and brought us a new vision of life.

Shirley Temple Black had a very good childhood for the most part, some parts could have been better at times, but those were the parts that she could not change. Shirley Jane Temple was born in Santa Monica, California, on April 23, 1928. She was the third child of Gertrude and George Temple. Shirley was born during the Great Depression, and she lived through it. Shirley had a mom, a dad, and two older brothers. Her mom's name was Gertrude, her dads name was George, one of her brothers names was George Jr., which they all called "Sonny", and her other brothers name was John, which they all called "Jack." Shirley surprisingly had a pretty good education while working in the movie business, because she went to a movie studio that was called "Educational Studios." Educational Studios promised not to take over Shirley, or any other children in the business. With that they guaranteed to provide three hours of real schooling and a limited number of hours of filming each day. Eventually Shirley became very smart, smart enough that when she got older, she became a diplomat! She was an actor from the time she was two years old, through the time that she was in her late teen years. Every once and a while, Shirley and her parents went on a small family vacation so that she could spend time away from the movies, and have some family time with each other. Shirley had a very nice childhood, except for the Great Depression.

When Shirley was really young she made one of her dreams come true. That one dream was to become a movie star, but after a while, that was an old dream. As she got older, she realized how much she was interested in with politics. She started as an actor, then became a politician. She was an actor for a long, long time though. She was an actor from the time she was two years old, through the time that she was in her late teen years. After someone in her family, that she loved very much, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis she worked very hard to find medicine to help cure it. Shirley had many major accomplishments in life. Shirley had three major awards in her lifetime. She also had other awards, just not as important. Shirley got a small, fake, award when she was very young, in fact she was only seven years old. She received it at the academy awards in 1935. She won an adult sized, real Oscar award, in 1985, when she was 57 years old. She also won a bigger Oscar award than the one she won in 1985, but she won this one in 1988, when she was 60 years old. Shirley won a few Oscars in her lifetime, and a few smaller awards when she was very young.

Shirley had a few obstacles in her lifetime. When she was 44 years old she got diagnosed with breast cancer, and had to take a break from her job. Another obstacle that Shirley faced was when she got to be a teenager, was being rejected by movie directors, because no movie director wanted to film a movie with the adult Shirley Temple, they wanted to film a movie with the toddler Shirley Temple. Another obstacle that Shirley faced was when she ran for congress but didn't come in first place, she came in second place. The last problem that Shirley faced was when she got in a divorce with her first husband, Jack Agar. Shirley Temple had a few obstacles throughout her life, but she overcame them, and didn't let them change her entire life.

Shirley did many good things for her community, and for a lot of other people, when she didn't even know it. When Shirley was a young child, and preformed in movies, it was during the Great Depression. Even when people had almost no money, they gathered up as much as they could to go to the movie theaters to go see one of Shirley's movies. After those people saw her movies, they had a big smile on their face because they saw Shirley in a movie, and that was enough for them. Another thing that Shirley did for the community was helping to get votes for presidents like Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush. As you can see, Shirley did all different types of things for the community, and many things to put smiles on people's faces.

Shirley Temple has many quality traits that helped her become successful in life, but I am only going to name a few. Shirley show that she had determination when she came in second place in an election, she didn't give up, she kept on trying until she finally did it and came in first place. She also was determine when as she got older no movie director wanted her to be in her movies, she kept on trying until she got into another movie. Shirley was also very hard working, like when she got home from work, when she worked for congress, she would take home extra books and other things, just to get ahead and be more prepared for what was going to happen in the future. The last quality trait that described Shirley Temple is compassionate. I think that she is very compassionate because after someone in her family was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, she worked very hard to find medicine for it. Throughout Shirley's lifetime, she had to have a lot quality traits that helped her become a very successful actor/politician.

I consider Shirley Temple a hero because from a very young age, she recognized the importance of helping people. She used her fame as a child actor to encourage people to vote and to be involved in politics. She involved herself in many human rights projects. She also was very public about a very private manner hoping that it would help women world wide. She is not only a hero, but a role model as well.