EXCLUSIVE: Shirley Temple's Childhood Secrets Exposed By Her Oldest Friend Who Witnessed Her Path to Stardom
Shirley Temple's childhood secrets have been previously revealed by her oldest friend who witnessed her rise to stardom.
April 3 2026, Published 7:30 a.m. ET
Every year, little Shirley Temple's birthday parties were held in the commissary at the 20th Century Fox studio, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Marilyn Granas, her closest childhood friend and movie stand-in, who died in 2025 at age 98, remembered being seated next to the birthday girl and joining in with the other children of studio employees in singing Happy Birthday to the star.
Flashbulbs would pop as Temple blew out the candles next to a pile of expertly wrapped gifts.
Childhood Sacrificed for Stardom
Marilyn Granas said Shirley Temple's lavish 20th Century Fox birthday gifts were donated to charity instead of kept.
"But it was my understanding that Shirley never saw any of the presents," Granas recalled. "They all went to charity."
Giving away her birthday gifts is just one example of how Temple – the beloved dimpled movie star with a bright, outgoing personality – missed out on a regular childhood.
Shirley became a performer at just 3, and while her early years were filled with praise and encouragement, her life was carefully controlled and heavily orchestrated by her mother, Gertrude Temple.
Gertrude, who had aspired to be a ballerina in her youth, "did everything a stage mother would do," said John Kasson, author of The Little Girl Who Fought the Great Depression: Shirley Temple and the 1930s America. "She had no problem walking up to the president of 20th Century Fox, who produced the little star's films."
Gertrude was a regular fixture on set, helping build Shirley into the most familiar child star of all time, thanks to films like Little Miss Marker and Bright Eyes.
"She was her daughter's acting coach, her hairdresser and her defender," said Kasson.
Shirley Praised Mom Despite Control
John Kasson said Shirley's mother, Gertrude Temple, closely managed her career at 20th Century Fox.
Shirley, however, was grateful for her mother's devotion.
"She did not push me into anything. I loved what I did," the star once said.
After having two boys with her husband, George, a banker, Gertrude was overjoyed when Shirley arrived in 1928. "Mrs. Temple told my mother that she started training her when she was still in her crib," Granas said. "Her mother would say, 'Sparkle, Shirley,' and she would sparkle."
On set, Gertrude zealously guarded Shirley's innocence and made sure no other child upstaged her. Mom was also rigid about who she deemed a good companion or playmate for her daughter.
Her stand-in, Granas, was one of the few children who made Gertrude's "approved" list.
"I did feel sorry for Shirley because her childhood was so unnatural," admitted Granas, "but she didn't do that well academically. At 6, she really couldn't write. Her mother would always sign things on her behalf."
Shirley Temple Had Marriage Dreams
John Agar married then 17-year-old Temple, with the newlyweds living in a converted playhouse on her parents’ property.
As she grew up and moved away from the spotlight, boys became more exciting, and Shirley admitted, "I had marriage on the brain."
When she met John Agar, a classmate's brother, she felt her dream had come true.
They married when she was 17, and he was 24. But instead of moving away, the newlyweds lived in a little bungalow converted from Shirley's playhouse, on her parents' property.
First Marriage Ended in Disaster
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After divorcing Agar, Temple later married naval officer Charles Black and became a U.S. diplomat.
They divorced five years later, when Agar was an established actor. He blamed Gertrude for meddling – although Shirley insisted the split had more to do with his alcoholism.
"That first marriage was a disaster," she said.
Shirley remained devoted to her parents. "They shaped my inner life, my whole life," gushed Shirley, who went on to wed her second husband, naval officer Charles Black.
Shirley, who died in 2014 at 85, raised three children and became a respected diplomat.
"If someone asked me who I would choose to be if I could come back in another life, I would have to say, Shirley Temple Black."
