Bright Eyes at 35 2014-W07

I can't imagine what it must be like to be famous the world over.  Fun at first I'm sure, but then it must be wearying.  Now, try being the most famous celebrity in the world for half a dozen years, those years being the Great Depression.  Oh, and you're five years old when the fame wave hits.

So with all that in mind, I have to credit Shirley Temple for surviving all that and leading a fairly normal life...  if you call being a country-club Republican turned diplomat normal.  Two times an Ambassador and the nation's first female Chief of Protocol.  A distinguished career piled on top of another distinguished career.

It should give us all hope that we are right to always believe the best is yet to come.  Though probably not in the form of today's painting I think.

It depicts Shirley as merely Mrs. Black — before her first ambassadorial appointment; gone are the golden ringlets, replaced by an ultra-60's pre-groovy look.  For contrast, you can search online for a Salvador Dali work that features Ambassador Black from her days aboard the Good Ship Lollipop.  And to save you wondering, Bright Eyes is the name of the film that shot her to fame in 1934.

At the Time, Mrs. Black