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Shirley Temple Dies at 85 of Natural Causes

CBN

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Iconic child movie star Shirley Temple Black died Monday, according to publicist Cheryl Kagan. She was 85 years old.

The dimpled, curly haired actress sang, danced, and grinned her way into the hearts of Depression-era moviegoers.

"As long as our country has Shirley Temple, we will be all right," President Franklin D. Roosevelt said once.

"When the spirit of the people is lower than at any other time during this Depression, it is a splendid thing that for just 15 cents, an American can go to a movie and look at the smiling face of a baby and forget his troubles," he added.

The young entertainer was as adorable as she was talented, and became America's top box-office draw from 1935 to 1938, a record no other child star has come near. By the time she retired at 22 years old, she had starred in 43 feature films.

Later in life she became a U.S. ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. Temple also served as chief of protocol of the United States during her political career.

She was married to the late Charles Aiden Black for 55 years.

In 2006, she was awarded a Life Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild.

Temple was surrounded by family in California when she passed peacefully from natural causes.

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