When the Great Depression hit Americans the hardest, Shirley Temple stepped up to lift the burden, even if just for a few fleeting hours. The dimpled, curly-haired child danced, acted, and sang in an effort to give America the hope it needed during one of the darkest times in its history. As President Franklin D. Roosevelt himself said in 1935, "As long as our country has Shirley Temple, our country will be all right."
America made it out of the Depression, and Shirley Temple returned to, yet again, serve her country, this time as a politician and diplomat.
Click through this gallery to celebrate her life and legacy.