Who was Shirley Temple? Google Doodle marks legacy of ‘Little Miss Miracle’

The actor, singer, dancer, activist, and international ambassador is best know for “On The Good Ship Lollipop”

The Google Doodle for 9 June marks the life and legacy of Shirley Temple

(Google Doodle)

The Google Doodle for 9 June marks the life and legacy of America’s most famous child star turned international ambassador.

On this day in 2015, the Santa Monica History Museum opened a special exhibit of rare Shirly Temple memorabilia in the actor’s hometown.

The opening came a little over a year after her death in 2014 at the age of 85.

Born in Santa Monica, California, in 1928, as the Great Depression gripped the country, she became a symbol of hope for struggling Americans.

Or as President Franklin D Roosevelt christened her, "Little Miss Miracle".

"As long as our country has Shirley Temple, we will be all right," he once said.

"When the spirit of the people is lower than at any other time during this Depression, it is a splendid thing that for just 15 cents, an American can go to a movie and look at the smiling face of a baby and forget his troubles."

She was best known for films like 1934’s Little Miss Marker, Stand Up, and Cheer and Bright Eyes, better known for her "Good Ship Lollipop".

After appearing in dozens of films she retired from Hollywood at the ripe old age of 22 before entering politics, being appointed as US representative to the United Nations in 1969. She was ambassador to Ghana in 1974 and Czechoslovakia in 1989

Her granddaughter, Teresa Caltabiano, wrote an homage to that legacy for the Google Doodle, saying her "movie world" experience during the Depression and World War II sparked a lifelong fascination with people and the world around her.

"If you’ve seen a Shirley Temple movie, you have in a sense gotten to know who she was as a person," Ms Caltabino wrote.

"The feisty heroines she played who loved their families and who wanted to make the world a better and happier place was a reflection of her genuine character."