- published: 27 Dec 2015
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Benny Bartlett (August 16, 1924 – December 26, 1999) was an American child actor, musician, and later a member of the longest running feature-film series The Bowery Boys.
Benny Bartlett was a child prodigy on the piano at eight years of age. His first stage role was when he was ten days old. At age four he was playing the trumpet, directing and singing with his own dance orchestra. He played over radio. He appeared in an RKO musical, Millions in the Air (1935), playing the piano. The next year he appeared in a short for Paramount, performing a composition he had written at the age of nine. The studio signed him to a contract soon afterwards. Bartlett began appearing with many of Paramount's biggest stars, and became such a hot property that he was often loaned out to other studios.
By the early 1940s, with the onset of puberty, he had reached the awkward age where child actors couldn't play juveniles anymore.
Bartlett joined the military during World War II. After his enlistment was over he resumed his acting career, and was cast as a member of the gang in The Bowery Boys comedies.
Shirley Jane Temple (born April 23, 1928), later Shirley Temple Black, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. She began her film career in 1932 at the age of three, and in 1934, found international fame in Bright Eyes, a feature film designed specifically for her talents. She received a special Juvenile Academy Award in February 1935, and film hits such as Curly Top and Heidi followed year after year during the mid-to-late 1930s. Licensed merchandise that capitalized on her wholesome image included dolls, dishes, and clothing. Her box office popularity waned as she reached adolescence, and she left the film industry at the age of 12 to attend high school[clarification needed]. She appeared in a few films of varying quality in her mid-to-late teens, and retired completely from films in 1950 at the age of 22. She was the top box-office draw four years in a row (1935–38) in a Motion Picture Herald poll.