Shirley Temple’s Children Remember Their Late Mother: “She Was an Amazing Person” (EXCLUSIVE)

She died at age 85 in 2014, but Shirley Temple‘s children and fans gathered in LA on Monday, April 23 to celebrate what would have been her 90th birthday. “We had a lot of parties,” the late star’s daughter Susan Black exclusively told Closer Weekly of her mom, who was a licensed interior decorator for most of her life.

“We had a lot of fun decorating the dining room,” Susan continued. Shirley took her domestic responsibilities just as seriously as she did being a movie star or, later a US ambassador. “Being a wife and mom is the greatest of her achievements,” Susan said. “We were shopping and travel buddies. We went many places together. She was one of my very best friends.”

Shirley with two of her children in 1957.

Being raised by Shirley and her husband, Charles Black, “seemed very normal to us,” her son Charles Black Jr. said. “The only time I noticed her star quality was when someone else would ask for her autograph. She was an amazing person.” Shirley’s children similarly opened up about life with their famous mom during another previous interview with Closer Weekly. “She was wonderful — and normal,” Charles Jr. shared. “We had dinner at the table every night all together.”

“She was devoted and generous, and she could be a little stern if we didn’t behave. But she was also a lot of fun. Very inventive and imaginative. She was all about her children and her husband,” Susan said.

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