With a career that began in 1932, Shirley Temple remains one of the biggest icons in Hollywood history. Thousands of children across America in the 1930s and ‘40s dreamed of a career like hers, filled with pay checks in the millions and box office hits.
But behind the scenes, Shirley Temple’s life was tragic. She experienced horrible things on the sets of her famous films, and in the studios where they were made. As a minor, she had to deal with things that no child should.
Reese Witherspoon has revealed the dark side of being a child star, so it’s hardly surprising that Shirley was made to suffer things that no child should go through. While she ended up prospering as an adult, entering politics and surviving breast cancer, there’s no question that her tragic childhood affected her.
Keep reading to learn how Shirley Temple’s life was so terrible behind the scenes of her most successful movies, and how the people in her life betrayed her trust.
What Happened To Shirley Temple On The Set Of Her Movies?
In 1932, Shirley starred in a series of shorts called Baby Burlesks. The content of the shorts was problematic enough, as Shirley played an exotic dancer while toddlers wearing diapers, playing satirized adults, gawked at her.
Grunge reveals that on the set of Baby Burlesks, any child who misbehaved was locked in a windowless sound booth where they were left in total darkness. In there, they were forced to sit on a block of ice. Shirley was sent to the sound booth numerous times.
Later, Shirley revealed that the cruel punishments didn’t do her lasting damage, but they did teach her that time is money, and wasted time means wasted money, which means trouble.
Ultimately, Shirley was treated like a money-making tool rather than a person by the people she worked for. In 1932, she got an ear infection and had to have her eardrum lanced at a hospital. Rather than showing any kindness, the producer demanded that she return to the studio the following morning, and threatened to fire her if she didn’t.
Aside from the awful punishments and pressure, Shirley also had to endure harassment as a child. When she first visited MGM studios as a minor, producer Arthur Freed exposed himself to her. Years later when she was 17, another producer chased her around his office trying to assault her. Thankfully, her superior fitness meant she was able to escape him.
Ranker reveals that Shirley was frequently groped, threatened, and terrorized by powerful men throughout the entirety of her career.
The star also had to fend off rumors and verbal attacks from the public. Fans would often pull her hair to see if it was a wig, due to rumors that her hair wasn’t real. Other rumors surrounding Shirley included that she wasn’t actually a child — which led the Vatican to send in a priest to investigate her — and that her teeth were filed to seem more babyish.
The public’s perception of Shirley even came close to ending her life in 1939, when a delusional woman tried to assassinate her. The woman believed that Shirley had stolen her daughter’s soul.
Did Shirley Temple’s Parents Take Her Money?
Shirley Temple did get paid better than most people at the time could imagine. But unfortunately, she didn’t get to keep her hard-earned money.
Insider reports that when Shirley first started in the business, her mother received $250 a week from the studio, but Shirley was only ever allowed access to $20 in pocket money every week.
By 1936, Shirley was making $50,000 per movie, which is equivalent to over $1 million today. Grunge reports that she was making more per year than most people in Hollywood.
However, in 1934, Shirley’s father George became her manager. He mismanaged her wealth and even spent some of it on himself, leaving Shirley with just $44,000 in her account by the time she was 22.
Despite being cheated out of her finances, Shirley never held a grudge against her father.
Who Was Shirley Temple’s Abusive Husband?
Shirley Temple eventually broke away from Hollywood and the struggles she faced there, but her problems weren’t over.
In 1945, Shirley married John Agar, an actor who was also an abusive alcoholic. The couple stayed together for five years, during which John was violent towards Shirley, cheated on her, and was often arrested for drunk driving.
The couple had one child, Linda Susan Agar.
In 1949, Shirley sued for divorce, citing that John was guilty of mental cruelty.
Thankfully, in 1950, Shirley married Charles Alden Black, whom she stayed happily married to until his death in 2005. They had two children, Lori Black and Charles Alden Black Jr.