Shirley Temple, smiling child star, knew how to cry

As a child actress, Shirley Temple was noted for being able to cry on cue for a movie scene. In a 1999 interview, she explained how she did it:

"I guess I was an early method actress. I would go to a quiet part of the sound stage with my mother. I wouldn't think of anything sad, I would just make my mind a blank. In a minute I could cry. I didn't like to cry after lunch, because I was too content."

The talent came in handy when she was 21 and driving up Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu in her new red convertible with leather upholstery. The Highway Patrol stopped her for speeding.

As the officers approached her car, she remembers telling herself: "You're an actress. Cry!" She did, and the officers were so sympathetic they escorted her back to her home.

Shirley Temple's films

1932: "Runt Page," "War Babies," "The Pie-Covered Wagon," "New Deal Rhythm," "Glad Rags to Riches," "Kid's Last Stand," "Kiddin' Hollywood," "Polly Tix in Washington" (all one-reel shorts produced by Educational Films)

1933: "Kiddin' Africa" (Educational Films), "The Red-Haired Alibi" (Tower Productions/Columbia), "Dora's Dunking Doughnuts" (Educational Films), "Out All Night" (Universal), "Merrily Yours (Educational Films), "Pardon My Pups" (Educational Films), "Managed Money" (Educational Films), "To the Last Man" (Paramount Pictures), "What To Do?" (Educational Films)

1934: "Carolina" (20th Century-Fox), "Mandalay" (First National/Warner Brothers), "New Deal Rhythm" (Paramount), "Change of Heart" (Fox), "Bottoms Up" (Fox), "Stand Up and Cheer" (Fox), "Little Miss Marker" (Paramount), "Now I'll Tell" (Fox), "Baby, Take A Bow" (Fox), "Now And Forever" (Paramount), "Bright Eyes" (Fox)

1935: "The Little Colonel" (Fox), "Our Little Girl" (Fox), "Curly Top" (Fox)

1936: "The Littlest Rebel" (Fox), "Captain January" (Fox), "Poor Little Rich Girl" (Fox), "Dimples" (Fox), "Stowaway" (Fox)

1937: "Wee Willie Winkie" (Fox), "Heidi" (Fox)

1938: "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" (Fox), "Little Miss Broadway" (Fox), "Just Around the Corner" (Fox)

1939: "The Little Princess" (Fox), "Susannah of the Mounties" (Fox)

1940: "The Blue Bird" (Fox), "Young People" (Fox)

1941: "Kathleen" (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

1942: "Miss Annie Rooney" (United Artists)

1943: "Since You Went Away" (United Artists)

1944: "I'll Be Seeing You" (United Artists)

1945: "Kiss and Tell" (Columbia)

1946: "Honeymoon" (RKO), "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer" (RKO)

1947: "That Hagen Girl" (Warner Bros.)

1948: "Fort Apache" (RKO ), "Adventure in Baltimore" (RKO)

1949: "Mr. Belvedere Goes to College" (Fox), "The Story of Seabiscuit" (Warner Bros.), "A Kiss for Corliss" (United Artists)