Shirley Template



Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple; 1928-2014) was one of the most famous and influential child actors in film history.

Her sweet and innocent charm won the hearts of the American public during the Great Depression, and as such her public image as a wholesome, feel-good cherub became rife for pastiche and parody as a stock child actor character in fictional works. Expect such parodies to be toddlers or early school age girls (or at least those who appear to be of such age) with curly blond hair, a short frilly dress, and an (ostensibly) sweet personality. Interestingly, such parodies also tend to be Spoiled Brats, even though Temple herself was never known for bratty behavior (except when a role called for it).

Sub-Trope of Fountain of Expies, Stock Parodies and No Celebrities Were Harmed. Compare Bruce Lee Clone, Elvis Impersonator and Mr. Alt Disney for other parodic depictions of real-world performers.

Film

 * The 1997 Disney TV film Tower of Terror has Sally Shine, a Temple-esque 1930s child actress who just had the misfortune of having a vengeful sister named Abigail who envied her so much that she hexed her to death in a lighting strike, also sending four other people to death.
 * In Mister Lonely, a struggling Michael Jackson impersonator stumbles upon a motley crew of celebrity impersonators living in a commune after meeting a Marilyn Monroe lookalike. Among those performers was a Shirley Temple impersonator, who turns out to be "Marilyn"'s daughter.
 * Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? was a 1962 thriller starring Bette Davis in the title role. She had been a vaudeville child star in the 1910s but her fame had long vanished, and her only reminder was a portrait doll that was made in her likeness as a blonde girl with ringlets.

Literature

 * "Markie" from the MythAdventures novel Little Myth Marker is a classic Shirley Temple expy, which is to be expected considering the title and half of the plot of the novel comes from the Shirley Temple movie Little Miss Marker. The trope is played with when the book's plot diverges from the movie.

Live-Action TV

 * A recurring sketch in The Carol Burnett Show has Burnett play a parody of Temple, aptly named "Shirley Dimple", later named "Rhoda Dimple" likely due to legal issues. One such sketch mocked Temple's (unsuccessful) bid for politics.
 * A similar sketch in Mad TV had parodies of both Temple and Bill Robinson in "The Littlest Hoochie", taking place in a high school setting.

Periodicals

 * An article about Los Angeles in the January 1979 issue of National Geographic shows a group of celebrity impersonators, among them a child performer dressed up as Shirley Temple.

Video Games

 * One of the pre-made Sims in the Roaring Heights world for The Sims 3 is Shirley Templeton, a composite of both Temple and Little Orphan Annie, perhaps playing on the popular misconception that Shirley once played the role of the comic strip icon.

Western Animation

 * Darla Dimple from Cats Don't Dance. Despite having a sweet and innocent public image, Darla turns out to be a scheming, vengeful and manipulative egotist bent at taking down Danny and the other animal actors.
 * Sugar Dimples from the Madeline animated series is a clear dig on Temple, complete with the initially bratty off-set personality along with the film Sugar Dimples in The Alps being a thinly-veiled parody of Temple's appearance in a Heidi adaptation. It is later revealed that her crass attitude towards others was due to her loneliness, and Sugar and Madeline eventually made amends and became close friends, occasionally joining Madeline, the other girls and Pepito in their adventures. Ironically enough, Temple herself had actually produced a Madeline adaptation in an episode of The Shirley Temple Show.
 * In Batman: The Animated Series, Mary Louise Dahl, aka Baby Doll, was a failed actress born with a rare medical condition, confining her into an appearance of a toddler despite her actually being in her thirties. Like most other examples, she also bears the hallmarks of a Shirley Temple expy, having appeared in namby-pamby roles as well which she resented as it forever typecast her, just as how the real Shirley's acting career declined as people associated her more with her younger roles than as a teen actress.
 * "Little" Vicki Valentine in The Simpsons is also loosely based on Temple, and is portrayed as a former child star-turned-dance instructor, a reference to Shirley's talent as a tap dancer. Temple herself was offered the role to voice Vicki, but was unable to record her part.
 * In the Eloise: The Animated Series episode "Eloise Goes to Hollywood", a blond, curly-haired actress named Debbie is angered at what she perceived as Eloise stealing her spotlight. Temple's handprints at the Grauman's Chinese Theater did however appear at some point during the episode.