Shirley Temple is an Academy Award-winning actress most famous for being an iconic American child actor of the 1930s, who enjoyed a notable career as a diplomat as an adult. After rising to fame at the age of six with her breakthrough performance in Bright Eyes in 1934, she starred in a series of highly successful films which won her widespread public adulation and saw her become the top grossing star at the American box-office during the height of the Depression. She went on to star in films as a young adult in the 1940s. In later life, she became a United States ambassador and diplomat.

Temple was born to George Francis Temple, a businessman and banker, and Gertrude Amelia Krieger in Santa Monica, California. Her mother loved dancing and this directed Temple towards performing. Gertrude was a constant presence on the lot during Temple's childhood acting years, helping her learn her lines, and controlled her wardrobe. At the age of 17, Temple was married to soldier-turned-actor John Agar on September 19, 1945. They had one daughter, Linda Susan Agar (later known as Susan Falaschi). Later on, she got divorced. In early 1950, while vacationing in Hawaii, Temple met and fell in love with California businessman Charles Alden Black. They married on December 16 that year. Together, they had two children: Charles Alden Black Jr. and Lori Black. They remained married until Charles's death from myelodysplastic syndrome (a bone marrow disease), at age 86, on August 4, 2005.

Temple's popularity earned her both public adulation and the approval of peers. At the age of five, the hallmark of her acting work was her professionalism: she always had her lines memorized and dance steps prepared when shooting began. In Temple's earliest films, she danced and was able to handle complex tap choreography. She was teamed with famed dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in The Little Colonel, The Littlest Rebel, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and Just Around the Corner. Robinson coached and developed her choreography for many of her other films. At the age of three, Temple began dance classes at Meglin's Dance School in Los Angeles California. Her film career began when Charles Lamont, a casting director from Educational Pictures, visited her class. Although Temple hid behind a piano in the studio, she was chosen by Lamont, invited to audition, and eventually signed to a contract with Educational.

After appearing in Stand Up and Cheer! with James Dunn, Temple was signed to Fox Film Corporation (which later merged with 20th Century Pictures to become 20th Century Fox) in late 1933. Later, she was paired with Dunn in several films, notably her breakthrough film Bright Eyes, produced by Sol M. Wurtzel. This was the film that saved Fox from near bankruptcy in 1934 at the height of the Great Depression. It was in Bright Eyes that Temple first performed the song that would become one of her trademarks, "On the Good Ship Lollipop". This was closely followed by the film Curly Top, in which she first sang another trademarked song, "Animal Crackers in My Soup". Temple became Fox's most lucrative player. Her contract was amended several times between 1933 and 1935, and she was loaned to Paramount for a pair of successful films in 1934. For four years, she was the top-grossing box-office star in America.

In 1940, Temple left Fox. Working steadily, she juggled classes at Westlake School for Girls with films for various other studios, including MGM and Paramount. Her most successful pictures of the time included Since You Went Away with Claudette Colbert, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer with Cary Grant, and Fort Apache with John Wayne. She retired from motion pictures in 1949.

Temple was the first recipient of the special Juvenile Performer Academy Award in 1935 for recognition of her outstanding contribution to screen entertainment in 1934. Six-year-old Temple was and is the youngest performer ever to receive this honor, or any Oscar. She is also the youngest actress to add foot and hand prints to the forecourt at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. The role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz was originally meant for Judy Garland. However, Temple was considered for the role, although she was unable to appear in the film when a trade between Fox and MGM fell through. In 1940, Temple starred in The Blue Bird, another fairy story with plot similarities to The Wizard of Oz. It was her first box-office flop. Temple appeared in her first Technicolor film, The Little Princess, produced by Fox in 1939, near the end of her contract with them.