Who is Teresa Caltabiano? Shirley Temple's granddaughter honors her with Google Doodle note
Google celebrated the iconic actress Shirley Temple by dedicating June 9 Doodle to her legacy in the world of the American entertainment industry. In order to honor her, Temple’s granddaughter Teresa Caltabiano partnered with Google Doodle.
Caltabiano also penned a long note where she talked about her grandmother who is still remembered for her evergreen works, years after she died on February 10, 2014. "If you've seen a Shirley Temple movie, you have in a sense gotten to know who she was as a person. The feisty heroines she played who loved their families and who wanted to make the world a better and happier place was a reflection of her genuine character. Bright and highly intuitive, she quickly discovered that her 'movie world' experience sparked in her what would become a lifelong fascination with people and the real world around her. Growing up, her character was tempered by the Depression and World War II, as was her awareness of the need to serve others. Her brother's MS diagnosis and later her own mastectomy strengthened her conviction that she could have a positive effect, not only in her own family, but around the world," Caltabiano wrote.
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She continued: "As a Special Representative to the United Nations, among other responsibilities, she took on the role as an early environmental advocate. As ambassador to Ghana and later to the Czech Republic, the merging of her talents as a communicator and her gift for service to others gave her great personal satisfaction. Her last diplomatic position as US Chief of Protocol at the White House gave her the honor of welcoming the world to the country she loved. At the heart of everything was her family. We were blessed to know her, her love, her courage, and her strength. She is still deeply loved and truly missed, and we treasure our memories of her."
Who is Teresa Caltabiano?
Caltabiano is the daughter of Temple’s eldest child, Susan. Caltabiano got to spend quite some time with her grandmother when the latter was alive. When she was little, many people thought she looked a lot like Temple. Some even noticed that she had inherited her grandmother's cute smile.
The 'Bright Eyes' actress turned into a first-time great-grandma when Teresa gave birth to a daughter in 2007. She went onto have two more children — a girl and a boy. Caltabiano never followed in the footsteps of her grandmother and instead chose to become an English teacher at Northwestern Middle School in Alpharetta, Georgia. One of her students described her as “super cool” on Reddit. Unlike her grandmother, who was forever in the spotlight due to her profession, Caltabiano likes keeping her personal life private.
Shirley Temple, the legend
Temple was a famous child actress who retired from acting at 22, but she returned to the industry eight years later. It has been reported that the actress died from a lung disease brought about by her lifelong smoking habit. She was also an activist and the United States ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. She had three children from two marriages.
"Not only did Temple help millions of Americans through the hardships of the Great Depression as Hollywood's top box office draw, she also later shared her charisma with the world through her work in international relations. On this day in 2015, the Santa Monica History Museum opened “Love, Shirley Temple,” a special exhibit featuring a collection of her rare memorabilia," according to Google Doodle.
She was an instant sensation with her signature dimples and blonde ringlet curls when she landed a role in the 1934 toe-tapping musical 'Stand Up And Cheer'. She went on to star in a dozen films in 1934 alone, including 'Bright Eyes', where she performed what became one of her most famous routines 'On the Good Ship Lollipop'. She became the first child star to receive an Academy Award at just six years old!