Screenland (May-Oct 1939)

What Insiders Know About Shirley Temple Continued from page 28 liality to Shirley's instinctive feeling for "r scenes. However, Shirley is unquesnably beginning to comprehend that a ,r\ that is fun to film turns into a very 4" piece of entertainment. So when she jked for a second look at "The Little i-incess" her parents didn't make an issue j it; they took her to the early evening bw at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. There t'ts a line at the box-office of Hollywood's pbst famous picture palace. George Tem. : stepped into it, while Shirley and her nther modestly waited for him. Not a ,'igle autograph hound spotted her. No |e recognized her, although she looks exfiy as she does on the screen. Yet had r presence been made obvious the crush mid have been colossal. Had the Tem»<5 dashed up, tried to sweep in, there mid have been all sorts of a commotion. So don't feel sorry for Shirley's goldfish iwl existence, because she isn't being oked by the barbs of success. Common ise is prevailing. If you will stop a Dment, you will realize what we Hollyood insiders know about the Temple me, too. You may have seen shots of drley reading, at a desk, or playing with •toy. But you have never looked at a r-out of the Temple home, and you never 11. It was not built as a backdrop. It is ft a showplace. It was not run up for her blic. It is in Brentwood, one of Los igeles' most attractive suburbs, and it is mfortable rather than spectacular. The mosphere we find there is distinctly a mily one. Shirley's oldest brother Jack, e twenty-four, and her other brother iinny, age nineteen, each have their own ;oms, on a par with Shirley's bedroom, d there is only one spare room for comny. Shirley has twin beds, and looks forird to inviting her best friend, Mary Lou lieb, over for a week-end. Mary Lou, bosom pal since babyhood, was given the b of stand-in at the studio and there is my a star who behaves snootily towards l r stand-in who could take lessons in mocracy from Shirley. For that matter, Shirley is on chummy rms with the cook and often helps with e dinner. She can already cook biscuits lich melt in your mouth. She has house■ld duties to perform, straightening-up ■ligations. No, there is no front m?inined because the charming French proncial house the Temples live in is not typical movie mansion. The Temples are ill a sober, responsible family and they member they came from moderate cirmstances. None of them has gone on a ;arge account spree. There is no get-richlick streak. Gertrude and George haven't iltivated influential people ; they don't ink they are better than they used to be. hey are still loyal to the same family ictor and dentist they had before Shirley came a star. The man who worked next George as a teller is still a welcome iend. Their circle has enlarged slowly, ;' eir best friends among picture people ing the Harold Lloyds, the John Boleses, id Zasu Pitts — all of whom have unafxted children. There isn't an ordinary kid sister rela3nship between Shirley and her two "others, however, because they can tease :r but they can't talk down to her. Not aat Shirley rates special handling; she ist is too smart to be treated like a baby. ,;&ck was graduated from Stanford and p has become an assistant director at 20th entury-Fox. Of course being Shirley's "Other helped him get a start there, but his own request he is no longer assigned » any of her pictures ; he is determined to advance on his own merit. Sonny has been attending prep school in Los Angeles ; Shirley didn't get to any of his football games" last fall, but she figures she's almost old enough to be an active rooter this fall. We can't help but be impressed with the keen companionship between Shirley and her parents. They wanted a daughter for fifteen years before she was born, which explains so much. Gertrude has never hired a nurse or a governess ; she believes a mother should raise her children personally. They have encouraged Shirley's fondness for pets, until she now has three dogs, three birds, and three ponies. They trained her to like nearly all foods. No, Shirley doesn't like every kind of food ! They "didn't let her design their house, built since stardom came, but she was allowed to select her favorite colors for her bedroom. So it is vividly red, white, and blue ! Gertrude Temple does not think a child should be entertained too strenuously. Consequently, it is a fact that Shirley will play alone for hours at a stretch. Mrs. Temple doesn't think a child should be waited on hand and foot, so Shirley has been taught neatness and replaces everything where it belongs. You needn't pity her as a poor little rich girl. She hasn't sacrificed her childhood. Shirley has plenty of friends of her own age and she gets pushed around as much as any of them when they roughhouse, which they do. For the first five minutes strange children are apt to be deferential ; then they forget her reputation and accept her for herself. Evenings the family invariably sits down for dinner altogether, and afterwards Shirley is as much of a radio fiend as any child addicted to blood-and-thunder radio dramas. She turns on the radio and the living-room is filled with noise for one hour. Having adopted knitting as her new hobby, and currently being engrossed with an afghan of a hundred and forty-four squares, Shirley will sit solemnly, never missing a purl, as the radio chillers pile on death and destruction. The more killed the better, in her estimation. She listens with an invariably straight face, never so much as batting an eye at the damage being dramatized. To get the proper slant on Shirley you must know her parents as we do here in Hollywood. Her talent would not have carried her half so far if she hadn't been reared so wisely. Her parents are in their mid-forties. George quit his job as the manager of a branch bank and he has gone into partnership with a man who was formerly chief trust officer for another Los Angeles bank. They have incorporated as business managers for individuals and estates, and they have an office on Hollywood Boulevard. But George is not capitalizing on Shirley's name. He has not gone after a movie clientele. An astute business man, always laughing, always happy, he is the complete extrovert. Gertrude Temple is friendly, but more introspective. Like any genuine mother, she is more minutely concerned over minor points that could alter her daughter's happiness. So it is Mrs. Temple who has charge of all of Shirley's professional contacts, although she does consult _ George whenever a final major decision is to be made. To put you right, Shirley was discovered when she was three. She is ten now, is fifty-four inches tall, and weighs seventy-five pounds. 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