Remembering Shirley Temple Black

The Girl who Lit Up the Darkest Days

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Shirley Temple Black,
who lifted America's spirits
as a bright-eyed, dimpled
child movie star during the
Great Depression and
later became a US
diplomat, died late on
February 10th at the age
of 85, a family
spokeswoman said in a
statement.
['dimpld]
adj.

[d'pre()n]
19291933


['dplmt]
n.
A bigger star never came in a package() so
small. She sang and danced her way to super-
stardom by the impossible age of
six years old. In the year 1934, she acted in nine
films, one called Stand Up And Cheer.
Shirley Temple Black
talked to NPR(
) in 1985 and says when she
was a child, she didn't know
she was extraodinary. But it
wasn't just talent that made
her a hit onscreen. She was
born just as films with sound
were invented. If she had been
born a few years earlier, her
singing and tapping()
talent would have gone
unnoticed.
Also Temple's innocence,
maturity and merriment were
qualities that brought hope to
people during the Depression.
[kstrrdneri]
adj.
['merm()nt]
n.
[m'trt]
n.

The Little Colonel()

During a seven-year contract with Fox,
she brought them back from the brink
of bankruptcy. She had became the top-
grossing movie star in
the world. But Temple's films weren't
without controversy. She made a string
of films with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson,
a black actor and dancer. A middle-
aged black man and a small white girl
holding hands, tapping side by side,
caused a stir in the South.
['kntrkt] n.
['bkrpts] n.

[st] n.
[kn'trvs] n.
By the time Temple hit 12, her
career was essentially over. At 21 she
gave up acting entirely. She
went on to become a
diplomat.
In her later years,
Temple Black said she
never regretted leaving the
movie business. She took on
the roles of actress, wife,
mother, diplomat with
passion and dedication, the
same qualities that made her
a star in the first place.

['senl] ad
v.
[r'gret]
v.
[ded'ke()n]
n.
Question Time:
What's the exat
meaning of
'the Darkest Days'?