Shirley Temple, American Film Actress. Autograph Letter Signed. Very good....

Description

Shirley Temple. Autograph Letter Signed ("Shirley / Mrs. Jack Agar Jr."). [N.p.]: November 23, 1945.  

Two pages, rectos only, 6 x 8.75 inches, on lavander laid writing paper. Fold line, one corner creased, a tiny bit of edge browing, else a fine autograph letter.   Text of letter: "November 23, 1945 / Dear ------, / I just talked to Jack / on the phone, and he was very / hapy to hear about you. He said / to be sure that you received his / address, so here it is! / Sergeant John G. Agar, / A.S.N. 39717470, / Sqd. "K", / Kearns A.A.F. / Kearns, / Utah. / Palm Springs is one of / my favorite spots, and it is the / first place Jack and I are going / when he is discharged. We / will be sure to look you up. / You should be very happy to have / such a pleasant job and especially / such an ideal climate. / Thank you so much for / your very interesting letter. It's / always nice to hear from a friend of Jacks'. / I hope that Jack and I will  / be able to steal some of wonderful [sic] / desert air away from you in the / near future. / Sincerely, / Shirley. / Mrs. Jack Agar Jr." 

Shirley Temple [Black], (1928- ), American motion-picture actress and ambassador, considered among the most successful child stars in the history of film. She was born Shirley Jane Temple in Santa Monica, California. Propelled by an ambitious mother, Temple made her film debut at the age of three, and at age six she was featured in Stand Up and Cheer (1934). Known for her blond ringlets and her appealing lisp, and recognized for her ability to sing and tap-dance, Temple became a celebrity in 1934, when she starred in four films: Now and Forever, Little Miss Marker, Baby Take a Bow, and Bright Eyes. At the end of that year she was given a special Academy Award "in grateful recognition of her outstanding contribution."  

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Temple was celebrated by an adoring public. A sophisticated performer who often seemed more mature than the adults around her, Temple had no difficulty upstaging her experienced costars, among them such veteran performers as Lionel Barrymore, Adolph Menjou, Sidney Blackmer, Alice Faye, Robert Young, Cesar Romero, Jimmy Durante, and C. Aubrey Smith. Among the films Temple made for Fox Film Corporation (her studio for all but her first two pictures) in the 1930s were The Little Colonel, Curly Top, and The Little Rebel, in 1935; Poor Little Rich Girl, Dimples, and Stowaway, in 1936; Wee Willie Winkie and Heidi, in 1937; Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and Little Miss Broadway, in 1938; and The Little Princess and Susannah of the Mounties, in 1939.

At the height of her popularity, from 1935 to 1938, Temple was the biggest box-office attraction in Hollywood, and the large gross revenues from her films helped to make Fox a major film studio.   Temple made a number of films as a teenager-among them Miss Annie Rooney (1942), I'll Be Seeing You (1944), Since You Went Away (1944), The Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer (1947), and Fort Apache (1948)-but her appeal had faded, and the films were not successful. In 1949 she retired from acting.    With such lighthearted charmers as The Little Colonel (1935) and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938), Temple became the No. 1 box-office attraction in Hollywood between 1934 and 1938, single-handedly pulling her studio out of the red.

A typical early hit was Bright Eyes (1934), costarring one of her favorite leading men, James Dunn, and introducing her signature hit, "On the Good Ship Lollipop" (an airplane -- not a boat, as is usually assumed).   By the end of the decade, Temple was no longer the baby of the lot. After her Fox contract ended in 1940, Temple went on to make a handful of modest films, including Since You Went Away in 1943 and The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer in 1947.  

Shirley Temple was married in 1945 to actor John Agar. They divorced in 1950. She married her second husband, Charles Black, in the same year.  She was supposed to play Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939), but 20th Century Fox refused to lend her to MGM, so Judy Garland was cast in the role.

Temple has served as a member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations, and as a U.S. ambassador.