Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple was the most famous child star of all time. At the height of her fame, she was the box office champ for three years running, beating out even Clark Gable. She won her first Academy Award for her work in eleven 1934 movies, the best of which was Bright Eyes. It was in that film that she sang "On the Good Ship Lollipop". She stopped believing in Santa Claus when he asked for her autograph in a department store. She was supposed to star in the Wizard of Oz, but MGM, which owned her contract, wouldn't let her. The producers had to settle for Judy Garland. She even appeared on the album cover of The Beatles's "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" when it came out 41 years ago.
Despite her incredible fame, her second husband, Charles Black, admitted that he had never seen any of her movies. As an adult, Shirley Temple Black became involved in Republican politics and was named ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. In 1972, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and became the first celebrity to openly discuss her disease. She beat cancer, and today lives outside San Francisco.
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