Shirley Temple Black, the beloved 1930s child movie-star who reinvented herself in later years as an American diplomat, died Monday at her Woodside, California, home at the age of 85.
She was tremendously successful on the international stage as a film star (she is ranked as number 18 on the American Film Institute's list of top female screen legends), but found less success in national politics. In 1967, Black mounted an unsuccessful campaign to represent California's 11th congressional district. (Superstar Bing Crosby was on her campaign's finance committee.) A Republican, Black ran on an anti-racism, anti-crime, pro-war platform.
