The idea of actress Shirley Temple being MGM's first choice to play Dorothy Gale in 1939's The Wizard of Oz over Judy Garland stands as one of the latter. In fact, so deeply entrenched was this ...

(L-R): Judy Garland in 1939 | Herbert Dorfman/Corbis via Getty Images and Shirley Temple in 1938 | Hulton Archive/Getty Images While MGM heads wanted Temple for the box-office draw they were sure ...

“Judy Garland was not the popular choice among ... ‘You’re obviously not drinking a Shirley Temple,’” her longtime friend Barry Barsamian, who met the star in 1996 when she was 68 ...

Shirley Temple, the child star to end all child stars ... 20th Century Fox chief Darryl Zanuck refused to lend her out and Judy Garland landed the role. A year later, Fox let Ms. Temple go.

“Nothing was left for Mayer but to go with his already rejected option of Judy Garland. Sometimes the gods know best.” Yes, they do. By that time, Shirley Temple was only 11, but not so much ...

Nearly two decades ago, while researching a book about Judy Garland ... Joan Collins, even Shirley Temple — all of whom described being molested and other abuses in their own memoirs.