Shirley Temple was a secret smoker who died from lung disease

Publish date: 2024-10-15

EXCLUSIVE: Shirley Temple revealed to be a secret smoker and actually died from lung disease... but her family covered it up to protect her 'goody goody' image

By Will Payne

Published: 16:57 EST, 3 March 2014 | Updated: 19:54 EST, 3 March 2014

117

View
comments

Shirley Temple died from a crippling lung disease brought on by a lifetime of smoking, MailOnline can reveal today.

The woman dubbed America’s little darling, passed away earlier this month at the age of 85, and it was claimed that she died of natural causes.

But MailOnline can exclusively reveal she was actually killed by Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Secret smoker: Even though Shirley Temple was a self-confessed chain smoker by the age of 17, later in life she was said to have kept her habit very private. Here she is pictured in 1953 with cigarette in hand with her husband Lt Cmdr Charles Black

Secret smoker: Even though Shirley Temple was a self-confessed chain smoker by 17, later in life she was said to have kept her habit very private. Here she's pictured with cigarette in hand with her husband Lt Cmdr Charles Black in 1953

Official: Shirley Temple's death certificate puts the causes of death as pneumonia and COPD, which she suffered for years. Pneumonia is a common complication of COPD sufferers

Official: Shirley Temple's death certificate puts the causes of death as pneumonia and COPD, which she suffered for years. Pneumonia is a common complication of COPD sufferers

Temple's death certificate held at San Mateo County reveals the primary cause of death as being pneumonia, then COPD. Pneumonia is often a complication of the lung condition.

The condition is America’s third biggest killer and has symptoms similar to chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Sufferers have horrendous coughing fits in the latter stages of the disease.

It is well known that Temple chain-smoked all through her late teens but in her later life she tried to keep the habit a secret, fearing her homespun goody-goody image might be tarnished.

She did let her guard slip at certain times during her career, with one such occasion during an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1979.

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

Share

The interviewer described how Temple waited until the television cameras left the room before lighting up. She apparently said she felt guilty and did not want to be photographed smoking – not for vanity’s sake, but to avoid setting, ‘a bad example’ for her millions of adoring fans.

But in private she was still a heavy smoker and it seems the bad habit eventually caught up with her.

COPD claimed the lives of 133,965 Americans in 2009 and in 2011, 12.7 million U.S. adults were estimated to have the condition.

Other stars to have died having showing symptoms linked to COPD are Rat Pack legend Dean Martin, TV host and comedian Johnny Carson and American composer Leonard Bernstein.

Our stunning revelation that the disease has claimed another victim will stun Shirley Temple fans around the world, who were left devastated by her death.

The actress and singer passed away at her home in Woodside, California on February 10 surrounded by her family and caregivers.

Cause of death: The actress' death certificate said she died of COPD at the age of 85. When she died earlier this year the cause of her death was publicly given as 'natural causes'

Cause of death: The actress' death certificate said she died of COPD at the age of 85. When she died earlier this year the cause of her death was publicly given as 'natural causes'

'We salute her for a life of remarkable achievements as an actor, as a diplomat, and most importantly as our beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and adored wife for 55 years of the late and much missed Charles Alden Black,' her family said in a statement.

She was born in the Californian beach town of Santa Monica on April 23, 1928, the third child of George Temple and his wife Gertrude.

Temple was just three years old when she was spotted by talent scouts at her dance school and appeared on screen for the first time, in the one-reel short 'Poverty Row'.

But it was the 1934 film Bright Eyes that made her famous. The actress's face and voice are imprinted on generations around the world as a result of her performance of the song On The Good Ship Lollipop.

With her hair in ringlets, angelic face and wearing a checked pinafore dress, the unforgettable rendition made her one of the biggest box office draws of the era.

At the year's end she had entered the list of the world's top ten moneymaking stars at number eight.

She became the youngest actor ever to win an Academy Juvenile Award in 1935, at the age of six.

Her handprints were placed in cement outside Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood along with the biggest stars of the day.

She was the world's number one box-office star from 1935 to 1938 - leaving Clark Gable trailing in second place.

Her earnings were placed into a trust - during that time all she ever saw was $13 a month in allowance.

Her mother, Gertrude, worked to keep her daughter from being spoiled by fame and was a constant presence during filming.

Fatal: COPD is the third most common cause of death in America today, with the major cause being smoking

Fatal: COPD is the third most common cause of death in America today, with the major cause being smoking

She went on to star in films such as Curly Top and The Littlest Rebel, helping the U.S. cope with the Great Depression of the 1930s, becoming a nationwide sensation. Mothers dressed their little girls like her, and a line of dolls was launched that are now highly sought-after collectables.

Her immense popularity prompted President Franklin D. Roosevelt to say that 'as long as our country has Shirley Temple, we will be all right'.

She was credited with helping save the film company 20th Century Fox, which owed $42million, from bankruptcy.

Her career faltered in 1939 after Fox refused to loan her to MGM, she lost the lead in The Wizard of Oz to Judy Garland. 

However she struggled to maintain her cinematic career in adulthood, though she continued to work in television.

Despite retiring from Hollywood in 1950, Shirley starred in 43 feature films.

The actress married her first husband John Agar, a sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps, in 1945 when she was just 17 years old.

He is the father of her daughter Linda. The couple divorced four years later after the marriage disintegrated due to Agar's drinking and infidelity.

On holiday in Honolulu in 1950 she met and fell in love with California businessman Charles Alden Black, nine years her senior, who confessed that he had never seen one of her films.

They were married in December of that year and their son Charles Jr. was born in 1952 and daughter Lori in 1954.

They lived for many years in the San Francisco suburb of Woodside.

The couple were married for 55 years until Charles passed away in August 2005 at the age of 86 from complications from a bone marrow disease.

She described him as the 'love of her life' and kept his voice on the couple's answering machine.
In 2006, when receiving a lifetime achievement award a few months after Charles had died, the veteran star said that her greatest roles were as wife, mother and grandmother.

'There's nothing like real love. Nothing,' she added.

Although she had mostly retired from showbiz, by the early 1960s Temple's interest in politics soon brought her back into the spotlight.

Goody goody: Shirley was said to have kept her habit secret because she didn't want to spoil her image and also set a bad example

Goody goody: Shirley was said to have kept her habit secret because she didn't want to spoil her image and also set a bad example

She made an unsuccessful bid as a Republican candidate for Congress in 1967. After Richard Nixon became president in 1969, he appointed her as a member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations General Assembly.

In the 1970s, she was U.S. ambassador to Ghana and later ambassador to Czechoslovakia during the administration of the first President Bush. She was the first woman to serve as US chief of protocol in the Department of State.

'Politicians are actors too, don't you think?' she once said. 'Usually if you like people and you're outgoing, not a shy little thing, you can do pretty well in politics.'

'I have one piece of advice for those of you who want to receive the lifetime achievement award. Start early.'

In 1999, the American Film Institute ranking of the top 50 screen legends placed Temple at No. 18 in a list of 25 actresses.

In 2006, Temple received the Screen Actors Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award for having 'lived the most remarkable life, as the brilliant performer the world came to know when she was just a child to the dedicated public servant who has served her country both at home and abroad for 30 years'.

She is survived by her children Susan, Charles Jr., and Lori, granddaughter Teresa and great-granddaughters Lily and Emma.



ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKaVrMBwrdGtoJyklWJ%2FdoOPb2tsZ3WNkI2hsoKNfmWDnbazuMSyZI2dnaW5pnnLqKWgZaSeuqZ50p6aq52kYsCuu8qeqWacmZqxbrjUp55mnJmosqK%2FxGaYoJ2UYoV2esetpKU%3D