Lifetime award for Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple Black's film career began was she was three years old

Former child star Shirley Temple Black will be given a lifetime achievement award by the Screen Actors Guild.

The Hollywood union will present Temple Black with its most prestigious award at its January ceremony, honouring her career and humanitarian achievements.

As Shirley Temple, she appeared in films such as Poor Little Rich Girl from the age of three, her signature tune being On the Good Ship Lollipop.

Now aged 77, she has supported a number of charities and became a US diplomat.

Helped brother

With her hair in ringlets, the child star was credited with keeping her movie studio, 20th Century Fox, from financial ruin during the US Depression.

Despite her success in films such as Curly Top, Captain January, Stowaway, Heidi and Little Miss Broadway, Temple's movie career dried up after she turned 20.

Her subsequent role as a diplomat evolved from her desire to assist her brother George, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1952.

Her contributions to the entertainment industry are without precedent Melissa Gilbert, Screen Actors Guild

Temple went on to co-found the International Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies and ran for Congress.

She was made the ambassador to Czechoslovakia in the final year of the Cold War and married marine entrepreneur Charles A Black in 1950.

Screen Actors Guild president Melissa Gilbert said: "Her contributions to the entertainment industry are without precedent, her contributions to the world are nothing short of inspirational.

"In everything she has done and accomplished, Shirley Temple Black has demonstrated uncommon grace, talent and determination, not to mention compassion and courage."