Shirley Temple’s Hand Prints

The forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles has preserved the handprints, footprints, signatures, and sometimes unusual personal objects of Hollywood performers since 1927. The tradition is said to have begun when actress Norma Talmadge accidentally stepped into wet concrete while the theater was under construction, although several versions of the story have been told. The first official impressions belonged to Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. Over time, these concrete squares became a kind of permanent record of Hollywood history, allowing visitors to compare their hands and feet with those of the actors they knew from the screen.

Shirley Temple added her impressions on March 14, 1935, when she was only six years old. Along with her small handprints and footprints, she wrote, “Love to you all,” and signed her name. Her square is especially touching because it captures not only one of Hollywood’s greatest child stars, but also the actual size of the little girl whose smile, songs, and optimism brought happiness to audiences during the Great Depression.

Our daughters had watched every Shirley Temple movie, so finding her impressions was far more meaningful than simply visiting a famous Hollywood attraction. They knelt beside the concrete and placed their hands inside hers, creating a physical connection with someone they had come to know through her films. Shirley Temple belonged to an earlier generation, but in that moment the distance between her childhood and theirs seemed to disappear. They were touching a small piece of Hollywood history—and the handprints of a little girl who had already become part of their own childhood.