Marilyn Granas, who served as the first stand-in for Shirley Temple in films, has died aged 98. The Hollywood legend appeared in hit films including Bright Eyes, Curly Top and The Little Colonel
Hollywood icon Marilyn Granas, who became the original body double for Shirley Temple in cinema, has passed away at 98.
The long-time Beverly Hills resident died in October, but her relatives have only recently announced the news.
Her nephew, cinema expert Arthur Grant, revealed she had been battling dementia.
Granas featured in several blockbuster Hollywood pictures including Bright Eyes, Curly Top and The Little Colonel.
During the filming of the latter, Granas stood mere yards away as Temple and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson delivered their iconic staircase sequence, reports the Express.
Granas remained tight-lipped about her collaboration with Temple until much later in her professional journey, worried it might overshadow her entire identity.
She remarked: “I made a new life and chose not to be remembered as being Shirley Temple’s stand-in.”
However, during an interview in her 40s, she revealed: “Shirley and I were best friends. We had a wonderful time together. We invented all kinds of games, and of course when the sets weren’t being used, we got to play ‘house’ in all these wonderful places.”
Speaking to Closer in 2016, Granas confessed she pitied Temple “because her childhood was so unnatural. She didn’t get to go to public school. She didn’t have a lot of friends or get to do kid things, like ride bikes.
“On the set, it was exclusively the two of us. We never played with other kids.”
Granas later transitioned into working as an assistant casting director at NBC, where she took part in a “Miss Cinderemmy” beauty competition organised by the Television Academy on New Year’s Eve in 1955.
Over a span of more than three decades in casting, she played a pivotal role in establishing William Morris’ casting department before launching her own agency based in Beverly Hills.
