10 Grown-Up Pics Of Shirley Temple You May Not Have Seen Before

Nearly a century after she made her acting debut, Shirley Temple is still an instantly recognizable household name. Most people would be able to identify the little girl with ringlets and puff-sleeve dresses in black-and-white stills from the 1930s, but would you know the icon if you saw her as an adult? Since Temple retired from Hollywood at the tender age of 22 and then majorly changed the direction of her life, many people who would recognize the singing little girl in bobby socks probably wouldn't match her with the elegantly dressed woman who became a delegate and ambassador for the U.S. government. 

"I loved what I did," Temple told People in 1988 of her career as a child star. After her 1934 breakthrough in "Stand Up and Cheer!" she began performing in up to 10 movies per year, and had accumulated over 40 by the time she hung up said bobby socks in 1950. She married twice, first in 1945 and then in 1950, deciding with her second walk down the aisle that she wanted to focus on family life. While the decade was largely spent raising her three kids, the photos we have of Temple during this time show that she loved to embrace the trends of the era. 

She looked every bit the '50s pearl-clad housewife before the '60s and '70s rolled around, when again the former child star's look evolved to keep up with the times. By her 40s, the charming little girl with corkscrew curls had become a sophisticated ambassador with the intentional style to match. But no matter the decade or what season her life was in, the former child star kept alive remnants of her signature image with her classic red lipstick (which is always a good idea), her brown curly hair, and her statement-making 'fits.

It may be hard to imagine for a modern reader, but Shirley Temple was only 17 years old when she got married in 1945. She tied the knot with Sgt. John Agar, who later acted opposite her in a few films. Competing with the most timeless wedding dresses of Old Hollywood, her classic silk gown featured piping detail around the collar, small pearl embellishments on the bodice, and a sweeping train. Fittingly for the former movie queen, Temple finished her look with a tiara that matched the trim on her dress.

Shirley Temple knew how to keep up with the trends of her day. In 1947, the 19-year-old posed for a portrait decked out in post-war garb, including a cropped blazer with a rounded collar and padded shoulders (they weren't just something people found attractive in the '80s!), a full skirt, and leather gloves. She also rocked something similar to victory rolls in her brown hair — quite the change from her signature corkscrew curls. Temple looks so babyfaced in this photo that it's hard to believe she had her first baby Linda Susan just a year later.

By the 1950s, Shirley Temple had evolved once more to keep up with the aesthetic demands of the decade. One 1955 portrait saw her looking like the epitome of the quintessential '50s housewife, complete with pin curls, pearls, and ultra-feminine bow graphics on her dress. She also rocked a classic red lip and rosy blush in line with the beauty standards of the time. By this time, she'd already been retired from acting for five years, after marrying her second husband, U.S. Naval officer Charles Alden Black, in 1950. 

Once she'd left acting behind, Shirley Temple threw herself into domestic life. After welcoming daughter Linda Susan with John Agar in 1948, she had Charles in 1952 and Lori in 1954. This photo, snapped in June 1956 when Temple was 28, showed her enjoying the stay-at-home-mom life with all three of her kids. Again, she was settling comfortably into the image of a traditional housewife of the era, perhaps with a glamorous edge in her full skirt, gold necklace, and curled hair pulled up into a refined updo.

Shirley Temple was in her 30s by the time the 1960s arrived. A photo of her and actor Annette Funicello taken in April 1961 shows that the former child star was still every bit as elegant at the dawn of a new decade. The mom of three sported a halo of curls along with her go-to red lip and rosy cheeks. Though she'd been retired from showbiz for over 10 years by this point, she channeled her inner movie star with a silver-and blue strapless gown that featured a red-carpet-worthy sheer cape held at the base of her neck with a brooch. 

In March of 1965, Shirley Temple was photographed visiting the iconic Tower of London in London, England. Her look was toned down and serious, pairing a high-neck sweater with a buttoned-up coat, as she gradually moved toward politics. Temple ran for Congress in 1967, identifying as a Republican-Independent. Unfortunately, her bid wasn't successful, and she later expressed her disappointment to the press: "I think men are fine and here to stay but I have a hunch that it wouldn't hurt to have a woman's viewpoint expressed in that delegation of 38 men" (via USA Today).

While her Congressional bid was unsuccessful, Shirley Temple was President Richard Nixon's pick as a delegate to the United Nations in 1969. During this time, she was understandably doing more jet-setting, and looked glowing with happiness when spotted at London's Heathrow Airport in June 1972. She was rocking her own version of the '70s beehive, as well as a refined, Washington-coded iteration of the boho cape that people found attractive in the '70s. Two years later, she'd be named as the ambassador to Ghana, before becoming the ambassador to Czechoslovakia in 1989. 

Despite her budding political career, Shirley Temple never forgot her roots in Tinseltown. In January 1988, at the age of 59, she attended the American Cinema Awards with an '80s dress to boot. The baby-blue number was studded all over with pearls, making an even bigger statement than her glitzy metallic purse. Though Temple still had the brown curls, blushed cheeks, and red lips that she'd been rocking for decades, this look fit firmly in the Neon Decade with its maximalist energy. Like many celeb outfits from the '80s, this would probably look even cooler today.

Shirley Temple made a triumphant return to the red carpet in March 1998, when she attended the Academy Awards as a veteran of the silver screen. She was there to make a splash just ahead of turning 70, and she did just that in a bold cobalt 'fit comprised of a dress with a modest slit and a matching blazer. Her pointed-toe black pumps featured silver caps which finished off this look with a hint of glimmer, balancing well with the chunky beaded necklace she wore. 

In one of her last public appearances before her death in 2014 at the age of 85, Shirley Temple attended the Screen Actors Guild Awards in January 2006. The living legend dazzled in a multi-colored sequined jacket, perhaps letting the world know that she still wasn't done shining. Matching her coral nails and lips, she also let everyone know that she still had coordinating prowess at 77. And in the ultimate iconic move, she posed for a photo with Dakota Fanning, taking a child star of a new era under her wing.