Shirley Temple Black’s family gives $5M toward new motion pictures museum

The family of the late Shirley Temple Black donated more than $5 million toward the construction of the planned Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, along with some artifacts from the actress’ fabled career, officials announced Thursday.

“Shirley Temple Black captivated audiences as an actor and her work as a diplomat touched countless lives,” said Bob Iger, who co-chairs the fundraising campaign for the museum. “Her gift to the Academy Museum ensures her work will continue to inspire future generations of film lovers.”

According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the museum’s education center will be named the Shirley Temple Education Studio in recognition of the gift. The studio will provide workshops on moviemaking techniques, while inspiring creativity and critical thinking, according to the Academy.

In addition the financial contribution, the donations also includes memorabilia such as the miniature Oscar statuette she received in 1934, the tap shoes and portable wooden practice steps she received from Bill “Bojangles” Robinson for their stair-dance routing in “The Little Colonel” and her first set-chair from Fox Studios.

“Our mother believed that the Academy Museum project will provide the key to broader public understanding both of the movie industry’s history and of its future,” according to a statement from the Black family. “We are so pleased with the Academy’s naming of the Shirley Temple Education Studio, and again encourage our mother’s many admirers to join us in supporting the museum and its new education studio with a donation honoring her memory.”

The museum is expected to open in 2018 at Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue.

—City News Service