Shirley Temple died on Monday at the age of 85. She was a child star of the 1930s. She retired from Hollywood in her early twenties, while she was still famous. Shirley Temple was the youngest person ever to receive an academy award at the age of six years old. I've previously looked up a few video clips of her singing and dancing, because my dad named me after her. It's one of the few facts I know about him because my mother never spoke of him; she was too heartbroken at his early death from meningitis, which happened when I was six months old.
I saw the news of Shirley Temple's death and I did more research into her life and I discovered a few things I didn't know about her, for example, that she later went into politics. I am struck by how different the influences from generation to generation can be. My grandparents knew of Shirley Temple, and her fame carried through to my father and my mother, yet I wouldn't have known about her if I hadn't known I was called Shirley because of her. When I was a child, I watched E.T., a movie that was gripping and sad, and Jaws, which terrified me. I remember Back to the Future, Star Wars, McGyver, Maya the Bee, V and the X Files. At school I watched Justin Morgan Had a Horse, a wonderful movie with an amazing message, yet children of today won't see it, unless, as I've now done for my children, their parents buy it and show it to them.
How amazing the different influences each generation experiences, which moulds some of our outlook on life into our later years.
Link to an article about the life of Shirley Temple: What Modern Day Child Stars Could Learn From Shirley Temple
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