Toronto Star

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Shirley Temple Black may be 74, but she's still as energetic and cheerful as when her famous dimples and curly red hair captivated the country decades ago.

On Christmas, Fox Movie Channel scheduled ShirleyMania, a documentary about the continuing phenomenon of "the best little girl in the world."

"Who knew?" Black says. "I didn't."

She said when she previewed the program, she laughed at the idea she might have practised tap-dancing with Bill (Bojangles) Robinson at the Roosevelt Hotel.

"All of my tap-dancing was done at Fox Studios," she told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Black said she hasn't seen one of her movies on television in a while.

"But if there is one thing I would like to say, it is how much I enjoy that people think of me, especially those of all ages," she said. "You know, I get a lot of kids at my house for Halloween. And one year a little girl came up and said, `Are you really Shirley Temple?' And I said, `Yes, Shirley Temple Black.' She looked at me for a long time in silence and then she said, 'I see the resemblance.' "

"But if there is one thing I would like to say, it is how much I enjoy that people think of me, especially those of all ages," she said. "You know, I get a lot of kids at my house for Halloween. And one year a little girl came up and said, `Are you really Shirley Temple?' And I said, `Yes, Shirley Temple Black.' She looked at me for a long time in silence and then she said, 'I see the resemblance.' "