Gertrude Temple

Biography

Gertrude Amelia Krieger was born on July 15, 1893, in Chicago, Illinois. In 1903, her father, German-born Julius Otto Krieger, relocated the family to Los Angeles, California. Because her parents worked long hours and her father died when she was 15, Gertrude spent much of her childhood caring for her younger brother, Ralph. When Gertrude was 16, she met 21-year-old George Francis Temple; they married in 1910. Their first child, John Stanley Temple (Jack), was born in 1915. Another son, George Francis Temple Jr. (Sonny), followed in 1919. The couple's only daughter, Shirley Jane Temple, was born on April 23, 1928. Gertrude soon noticed that her daughter was born with a remarkable sense of rhythm; at 8 months, she was standing up in her crib and dancing to the popular music that her parents played on the phonograph. Gertrude convinced George that they should enroll Shirley in a local dance school. When Charles Lamont visited her dance class looking for young talent, he noticed 3-year-old Shirley and cast her in two of his short film series, Baby Burlesks and Frolics of Youth. Gertrude read Shirley her lines, sewed her early costumes, and was always with her at the studio. Her perseverance and dedication to her daughter's career got Shirley her first major role in a full-length movie, Stand Up and Cheer! (1934), after which her career took off. As Shirley's success made an international star, Gertrude remained the guiding force and constant presence in her daughter's life.