R.I.P: Shirley Temple Black, Former Child Star, Dead at 85

Shirley Temple, the former child star who was known for her dimple-faced depression-era movies which lightened the hearts of Americans, has died of natural causes. Temple was also an international diplomat serving as a one-time U.S. ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. She also served as Chief of Protocol of the United States, 1976–1977.

Temple was surrounded by family and caregivers at her Woodside, CA., home when she passed. Her publicist, Cheryl Kagan, confirmed her death.

The New York Times obtained a statement from her family which reads: “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 fifty-five years of the late and much missed Charles Alden Black.”