Shirley temples first husband john agar biography
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The Truth About Shirley Temple's First Husband John Agar
Shirley Temple, one of Hollywood's most legendary child stars, met her first husband, John Agar, when she was a teenager. She was already past her career peak bygd this time, no longer the cute, curly-haired girl of such successful films as "The Little Colonel" (1935), "Poor Little rik Girl" (1936), and "The Little Princess" (1939), according to låda Office Madness. Fortunately for Temple, her mother enrolled her in the Westlake School, and it was through a classmate she met her future groom (via a People magazine review of her memoir, "Child Star"). Agar was the older brother of one of her friends.
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Temple later admitted that she "had marriage on the brain" during this time, and she aspired "to be the first girl in my class to get married." And the tall, handsome, and passform Agar had a lot of appeal for her. When they met, Agar was a sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps and served as physical education instructor, a
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John Agar
BURBANK, CA--John Agar, who first became famous for marrying former child star Shirley Temple, and who later became a bio star in his own right, died here April 7th of emphysema. He was 81. MSTies will recall his performances as stalwart space hero Doc Farrell in episode 104- WOMEN OF THE PREHISTORIC PLANET, as determined ichthyologist Dr. Clete Ferguson in episode 801-REVENGE OF THE CREATURE and as bombastic archeologist Dr. Roger Bentley in episode 803-THE MOLE PEOPLE.
Born in Chicago, Agar was the oldest of fyra children of a meatpacker. His father died in 1935, and the family later moved to Los Angeles. During World War II, Agar joined the Army Air Corps and spent most of his military career as a physical training instructor at March Field at Riverside, Calif.
He was 24 years old in 1945 when he attended a party at the Beverly Hills home of Shirley Temple, then a 16-year-old ingenue who attended school with Agar's sister. He arranged to escort Temple to a Hollywood
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The Truth About John Agar, Shirley Temple's First Husband
Unable to handle the fame that came with being married to America's sweetheart, Agar, who was also an actor, turned to alcohol (via The New York Times). He realized, even after starring opposite his wife in "Adventure in Baltimore" and "Fort Apache," that he would never make his way out of her shadow (via Cheat Sheet). In Temple's autobiography, "Child Star," she recalled Agar having an unpredictable temper that often exploded into violence (via The Telegraph).
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Agar's reckless behavior was only amplified by his drinking, resulting in several arrests and affairs during their marriage. The couple had their first and only child together in 1948, Linda Susan Agar, but the trio were far from the perfect family. After four years of marriage, Temple filed for divorce, accusing Agar of "mental cruelty," and was granted sole custody of their daughter.
After the divorce, the public turned against Agar for mistreat