One Fat Frog, like the rest of the world, saw the loss of a silver screen icon on Monday night. Shirley Temple Black died in her California home at the age of 85. Though she has no specific tie to the restaurant industry in which we work, Shirley Temple had an appeal that crossed all boundaries. Generally, when a famous drink is named after you, you’re the type of star that has worldwide appeal regardless of a person’s interest. Such is the case of the classic Shirley Temple cocktail (a nonalcoholic cocktail, though alcoholic versions now exist) that was created by Hollywood’s Brown Derby restaurant.
Temple’s heyday was the Depression era, when she starred in 23 Hollywood films as a child. Her charming demeanor and cheerful optimistic movies helped serve as a break from the harsh reality of the bleak 1920’s which were largely characterized by unemployment, bread lines, and the New Deal.
The child star retired from the screen early, leaving the silver screen career at age 22, but she didn’t just rest on her laurels. Temple enjoyed a second career in politics, serving as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly under President Nixon, an ambassador to Ghana under President Ford, and ambassador to Czechoslovakia under President George H. W. Bush.
What were you doing at age 6? Learning your alphabet and how to count? At age 6, Shirley Temple won an Academy Award. I’ll bet you feel like a slacker now! Temple was inducted by the Kennedy Center Honors in 1998. She received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 and left her hand and footprints outside Grauman’s Chinese Theater in 1935.
All of those achievements aside, Temple will always be known as someone who was a prominent positive influence in the world. Whether as a curly-haired child star bringing smiles to the faces of moviegoers during the Great Depression or as an ambassador working for peace, justice and prosperity abroad. Oh yeah, and she will also be known for the cocktail. So pour yourself a Shirley Temple in tribute.
A good recipe for a Shirley Temple cocktail can be found here.