Child star Shirley Temple made her feature film debut aged six in ‘Stand Up And Cheer’, released at the height of the Depression, on 19th April, 1934 - and never looked back. In one year alone she would star in a further six films, and become a firm favourite of President Roosevelt.

Fox Studios were soon employing a 19-strong team of writers just to crank out projects for the pint-sized star, and pretty soon Temple was responsible for her entire family’s income. But as she got older, it became increasingly apparent she wasn’t as good an actress as her peers…

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider Temple’s incredible second career as a groundbreaking American diplomat; come to wish they’d never committed ‘Baby Burlesks’ to their browsing history; and reveal the secret addiction Temple took to her grave… 

Further Reading:

• ‘On The Set Of Shirley Temple's Creepy First Film, The 'Baby Burlesks'’ (All Thats Interesting, 2019):

https://allthatsinteresting.com/shirley-temple-baby-burlesks

• ‘Shirley Temple: 10 political facts’ (POLITICO, 2014): https://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/shirley-temple-politics-103371

• ‘Shirley Temple in “Stand Up and Cheer” (Fox, 1934):: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVJv4K-niTo&t=57s

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.

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